Bachelor Happy Hour - ‘Winter Games’: Same Roses, New Rules | Happy Hour

Episode Date: January 6, 2026

Today on “Happy Hour,” Joe and Serena break down Episode 1 of “The Bachelor Winter Games.” From the completely different format to the unexpected dynamics it created, we dive into what immediately set this season apart. Then, we share behind-the-scenes perspective from the real-life connections with the cast and reflect on how relationships from “Winter Games” evolved long after the cameras stopped rolling!  Be sure to subscribe so you never miss an episode and make sure to check out Season 1 of “The Bachelor Winter Games” on Bachelor Nation’s YouTube channel! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. If you only listen to one thing to make sense of the news this year, make it this. The final episode of this season of Next Question pulls together the most important conversations of the year. You'll hear David Graham on Project 2025, Liz Oyer on the plethora of presidential pardons,

Tina Brown on the year's biggest scandals here at home and across the pond, plus much, much more. It's a crash course in the last 12 months, how we made it through the year and a look at what might be coming in 2026. Listen to next question with me, Katie Couric on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, everyone. Welcome back to Bachelor. Happy Hour. I'm Joe. And I'm Serena. And we are here today with a little holiday recap. We have decided to recap Bachelor. Winter Games that came out back in 2018. Maybe this will correlate a little bit with the new Bachelor Home Reno show in a sense because there's a little bit of competition involved.

Yeah, actually, I didn't even think about that. Oh, really? That was the first thing I thought about. Well, it's definitely one of a handful of Bachelor spinoffs. I mean, they had that singing show at one point. I think it was called Listen to Your Heart. Oh, yeah. They did Winter Games.

I've never seen Listen to Your Heart. I don't think I've seen it either. It was a bunch of like aspiring singers, right? Yeah. Yeah. But I heard it was, I heard from. Actually, I think I did see some of it. I haven't seen any of it, but I remember hearing from people that worked on it that they really enjoyed it.

Well, I'm sure it's fun for people that work on the show to switch it up and do something different. And I'm sure Winter Games was one of those things. Like, you know, they're in a house in the winter, different location, all-star cast. people from different countries. There was a lot to be excited about. I feel like when this launched and it was the concept of Bachelor Winter Games was that it was airing in alignment

with the Winter Olympics. So it was kind of Bachelor's take on a Winter Olympics meets Bachelor competition dating show. I remember because I watched the first episode because the day the first episode came out was the day I found out that I was cast on Becca's season.

And I was like, all right, I actually, like what the fuck is going on? here like I got to really I got to pay attention I remember watching I don't think I got through the whole thing but I remember watching it like a majority of it and like okay I don't know what I'm doing now like this is really throw me up I actually have never seen winter games this is my first time watching it but a lot of these people ended up being on your season of paradise which is yeah it was the next season of paradise the people that ended up single on winter games filtered their way on to yeah it was funny because

Bibiana, Kevin, and Eric were all original cast in Paradise on my season two. So they weren't even like, oh, it didn't work. You come down. They were all original cast, which is kind of crazy. Yeah. So, I mean, if you didn't find love on winter games, it kind of set you up for success, probably going on Paradise because you were able to make it down there earlier than you might have if you didn't do winter games.

Yeah, definitely. One thing I will say, before we recap it, which we can start recapping it now. um my favorite part of this was the house like i i love that also that like winter cabin look um that's that was my favorite part i like it too because bachelor is so identified by the mansion this like beautiful spanish home in l.A and to see these people in a very different aesthetic i think is fun and it's just giving like cozy winter cabin vibes like it's a good it's a good feel it's a different setting it's not a beach it's not LA I feel like rarely do we see them in the setting from longer than like one episode that they've like flown somewhere for definitely okay so starting from

the beginning of the episode um we get some intro packages which is fine um they carry on for the intro of this show was just too long. It was really long. We have like a, we have like a Olympic ceremony-esque style intro that I'm just like, all right, but this isn't the Olympics. So, so like. Yeah, they're definitely trying to mimic an opening ceremony for the Olympics, but doing

it bachelor style. And what's unique about this season is they're pulling contestants from different places in the world. So like they pulled someone from Bachelor China, from. Bachelor, New Zealand, Australia, Australia, Japan, Germany. So it's this coming together of the countries, which is really cool concept. But they do this parade that dead ass is the first 30 minutes of this show. Yeah.

They could have picked up the pace. Now, I know this is 2018. TV moves a lot faster now, I think, than it did. Just media in general. Our attention spans are shorter. Social media is, you know, playing a role in that. So it could just feel outdated more than anything. Yeah.

But it's slow. It's a long intro. But we're introduced to some of our Bachelor nation phase. We've got Ben Higgins. We've got Bibiana, Dean, Claire Crawley, Ashley I. So some really strong people that they've cast on this show. And I will say they're at the, like, you're so used to, if you're watching a spinoff of Bachelor, you're used to watching. Bachelor in Paradise

where you know like the first episode you know ever even if like you've never seen even if you don't remember the person from their current season you after the first episode you know everyone who's there

at the end of this episode I was like I haven't seen like eight of these eight of these people when they're doing the row ceremony I'm like who how many there's like 30 people in the house

oh yeah no it was wild wild and kind of interesting because obviously the show is about this coming together of the countries but they don't show really any of the people from the other countries unless they are forming a relationship with one of the American Bachelor faves

which I guess makes sense because we don't know half of this cast and you're more invested in the people that you do know, right? Like you know Ashley I you want to see her. You are, it's harder to get you invested in like all of these people from Germany and the UK etc. However, it's like well what's the point of having all of these people here and there's also an intense language barrier for some of them not all of them yeah like yuki yuki who was also on my first season in a paradise as a bartender but yeah she didn't speak any english no so it it is challenging to date when there's people in the house that are fluent in your language and then there's people in the house that really don't speak your language at all yeah yeah so there was a little bit of that they have tristan ryan come out with the flame of love

lantern situation to end off the opening ceremonies which was kind of just like so hilarious to me because like I just still feel like that is something they would do today is called Tristan and Ryan

and be like get back here for like our opening ceremonies like they I would love to know the number of times Trista has appeared on a season of Bachelor

Bachelor at Bachelor in Paradise Bachelor with like anything bachelor related who has not been a contestant on the most, but who has made a guest appearance the most in this franchise, without a doubt it has to be Trista.

I mean, she has to be, I would say if I were to throw out a random number, I would say over six, over six or seven. Yeah. Right? I would think. I mean, I get it. She's their first bachelorette. She's so beloved. She's so fantastic. But yeah,

it was just funny. I was like, oh my God, I feel like 2018. This could be 2025. Like Tristan and Ryan coming out for the opener. Yeah. And then they had two musical performances, which just truthfully felt really unnecessary. I was like, can I just see some people to date?

Can I see any of these contestants talk to any other contestant at this point? Like, I've been watching for 30 minutes. I'm about to watch two musical performances. Not really necessary, but necessary to play into like the opening ceremony element. I mean, we're both in agreeance. It was too long in the beginning.

Like the ceremony was, unnecessary. And I don't think anyone's going to be mad at that because this show's from 2018. Yeah. Then we get kind of more into the show element. Yeah. They get to the house. And we find out that there's going to be these competitions. The first one is a skiing competition. And whoever wins, one guy, one girl, they get to take someone on a date. Which honestly could be a fun integration.

into bachelor and paradise yeah like maybe we keep these competitions these games and whoever the guy or the girl that wins like you get the date card or maybe you introduce that halfway you know what i mean well i think i think this i think this show what had to be part of the inspiration of bachelor in paradise this year yeah i think so because i do think like when we had our talk with and alex and andrew mentioning like they're and i remember even going back there we we had just like we would do nothing like there was like majority of the days unless you were and even if you were involved in like the drama there's just so much downtime which is is just boring and kind of exhausting and it's yeah and it almost like i think i think winter games what i realized from watching this first episode is they they did a good job of like incorporating the games

but this one really still felt drama relationship bachelor esque heavy like they didn't stare away from that you see actually I cry five times more yeah more seven so yeah I did feel like as much as I think

the games on the season of paradise are a little more exciting to watch it did feel like the ski competition it it wasn't like they were trying to make it a competition show it still felt like they were focusing on like people falling on the skis the girls waiting to see who wins like rooting for the guy that they want to win because they want to go on a date like the competition did feel still very ingrained in the dating element and like both sides had something to gain and something to lose and I thought it was fun watching like leslie be like i like dean and we hit it off last night i want him to win so he can take me on a date and then yeah so we see kevin wins for the guys yeah canadian skiing competition naturally also also Also, did I mention Kevin?

Yeah, I said he was on my, he was on Paradise, yes. Yes. And then Rebecca wins for the girls. Rebecca is from, wait, let me check. I can't fully remember. She's from Sweden. So that was good because honestly, I don't know if we would have gotten introduced to her had she not won. Yeah.

And Kevin is kind of in this little love triangle situation with Bibiana and Ashley I. Ashley I is I don't think he really knows it yet though He doesn't know he doesn't know he thinks he's just hitting it off with Bibiana Yeah because Ashley as much as she's expressing in her interviews that she's into Kevin I don't know how much she's actually Opening up to him at this point No I would agree with that Yeah

He had definitely hit it off with Bibiana already he ends up taking her on a date That's not really a surprise to anyone except Ashley Who I think like has Kind of locked in on Kevin and is like that's the guy I want which I like I like that about her that she's like I know who I'm looking for and it's him and I'm all in on this person and I'm going to figure out how to make that work yeah we don't have that as much nowadays on this show and she's shameless about it like she's like I'm devastated that he took someone else even though we haven't really talked yet I want that guy and I'm going to be vocal about him until everyone I'm disappointed like she really is a wear her heart on her sleeve like there's no gameplay or strategy to her the way she moves it's all about her feelings i mean she is someone that like yeah like it makes like she it just makes so much sense that she was casted on this on this show she's so good because she really like i want and like i know there's like all this um i don't love it but like yeah

like they're for the right reasons and all like like i watched whenever ashley i is on this show i'm like that she's she is there to fall in love oh yeah like ash i She is like, I'm going on the show because I'm going to fall in love on this show. Yeah. And she really wants to. And she's like, I, that's, if there's alternative motives, they don't even come close to how important finding love is for her. Yes. And I love it.

Which is great. I'm so excited. Okay. So she doesn't get asked on the date. She's crying. She's crying in an interview. She's crying to Ben. She's disappointed.

What's interesting to me is watching this first episode, it does. seem like Kevin and Bibian are kind of hitting it off. It seems like maybe like there could be something between Ashley and Kevin, but it's so early. But spoiler alert, we obviously know, because this came out in 2018, that Ashley, I and Kevin end up together after the show, right? I think so. They are like in a relationship when they leave the show.

Yeah, I don't know how long it lasts, but I think so. And then I don't know how it ends up playing out, but then Ashley and Jarrett start dating again. Yeah. And then they get married and now they have two kids. So Kevin's also married. has two kids yeah which is so lovely but i'm watching the first episode you wouldn't see it going that way necessarily oh like them yeah like if you if i just watched that first episode

not knowing how it ended and you were like those two actually end up together i'd be like oh whoa like how does that come to be really oh i i because him and bibiana to me i'm like oh that kind of makes sense i can see them going the distance oh see i no but i'm viewing it from a different lens because you know these people too i know them so i only know actually and like like Kevin and Bibiana both being on my first season of Paradise. I never thought that was like Kevin and Astrid I think hooked up pretty soon. But like I never thought I was like Bibiana and Kevin, I don't see that. Really?

Okay. Interesting. Rebecca takes Luke on the date. Luke is from Jojo season of the Bachelorette. That's pretty nice. Nothing too juicy there. The other two couples that we are introduced to are Leslie. who was on Sean Lowe's season of The Bachelor and Dean,

who we now know as Dean and Kalin. Yeah, but I think they actually dated off of that season as well for a little bit. Oh, they do? Yeah. They have a good thing going in the first episode. Yeah, they both seem to be like chill and like, okay, let's see where this goes. Yeah. And then we have Claire Crawley who is just another like, oh my God, she's just so good on camera. Like I just, I love watching her.

Well, I mean, I only saw her on her. her latest season of when she was the bachelorette yeah um but like what but you've seen like her iconic moments i've seen clips and then just like even watching this first episode i'm like oh it makes because like when she was named the bachelorette you were kind of like this is a blast from the past yeah like isn't this out of left field if you're like newly watching the show or even like just like yeah you're like that's that's an that's an interesting choice mainly because most of people they pulled at that time were all from like previous seasons like like the season right before yeah she was the first one i think since like ory

maybe that they dug back into the archives where they hadn't just pulled someone off of the previous season who had come runner up and was kind of the obvious choice but it makes it makes it makes total sense like i watch even watching her episode one i'm like oh i'm every time she's on screen i'm paying attention you know i'm not really scrolling on my phone yeah because i'm like she's she makes for good reality television she does and you know what is great about her and there's there's a few things but she is really good at creating chemistry and flirting so these guys you do see like they're interested like they're hooked and i mean she's beautiful obviously but i do like watching people on these shows And I've said this about Victoria Fuller before, too, who are just kind of smooth and good at flirting, good at creating chemistry, good at creating connection.

And I do feel like she's one of them. Like, she's skilled in it. Well, it's also interesting, like, listening to her then, like, start flirting with the guy from Germany who's like. Well, yeah, because we watch her lock in with Benoit, who's from Canada. And then at the end of the episode, she starts locking in with this guy Christian who's from Germany and, But he, but he, but in his head, he's like, well, wait, like, if you, if you're talking to someone else, like, I'm already clocked out. Yeah. And she's like, what do you mean? I can talk to both of you. She's like, this is a, this is the batch. Like, this is, this is what the show is. And he's like,

that's not like how I do things. Like. And she's like, well, it's about to be how you do things. Which is, which is. She's like horsing him into this love triangle. Yeah, which I think was probably the fun part of, of bringing people from other countries who, you know, different cultural backgrounds and different you know well and Claire had done Paradise once or twice prior to this right I would assume yeah I'm just trying to I know she had I'm just trying to remember the timeline so if she had paradise is very love triangle friendly of like go on a date with this person try this person and if these guys have come on only having been the bachelor the concept of like talking to multiple people is probably a little bit more foreign to them well I think she might

did that bachelor pad which was which is pretty similar which is the origin of bachelor in paradise and pretty similar to this too yes okay did she do bachelor pad i think she might have done a season a bit she didn't do the season that we watched a couple episodes of yeah i'm pretty sure she was on that i think so which makes sense god she's a true veteran of this franchise um yeah i forget how many people like I think the beginning of this franchise like especially when they like you forget that like it was only the bachelor then when they I think once they like rolled the bachelorette out they were bringing people back constantly and like different characters and I think people were more willing to come back because there wasn't online hate yeah and it must

have been a fun time in the franchise once they were like okay it's not just the bachelor we're going to do bachelorette now we're going to roll out bachelor pat like they were developing all these new shows and all these opportunities that you didn't have as a contestant before started to be put on the table of like, well, if it doesn't work out here, maybe you could be the Bachelorette. Maybe you could go on Bachelorette.

Yeah. Yeah. I feel like that would have added a lot of motivation to contestants when they were on the show. Yeah. I would be like, yeah, this is fun. And then it's almost like you're a part of like this sorority, you know, fraternity type gig. Well, yeah, well, think about it for like 10 years. It was just a bunch of girls.

release and one dude every season there's only 10 years was it 10 seasons I don't think it was that many no way no way anyways so what else anything else big happened in this episode before we hit the row ceremony um no that's kind of it I mean not a ton of drama yet just I would say the most like the the biggest cliffhanger what you're waiting to see is Ashley I what's happening with her and also there's Ben Higgins, who at the time was, you know, his bachelor season was massive. He's back on this show after his breakup. What's going to happen with him? Yes.

This is kind of his reemergence. He had a huge season of The Bachelor. He got engaged. Him and Lauren, I think, did like a spinoff show after, didn't they? Yeah. Yeah, I think so. And then it obviously didn't work out for them at the time. You know, they're both married with kids now, which is so fantastic.

But that story is definitely playing a role into him on this show. there's this talk of like is he ready he doesn't feel fully present and the vibe you're getting from ven is he doesn't know if he's ready or not either so you're kind of waiting to see his journey unfold and I would imagine a lot of people who I mean so many people were huge Ben fans were very locked in on him in this season yeah and then we see how they're doing Chris comes out and basically announces like we're doing I I would have thought like yeah whoever you give your rose to the rose ceremony was interesting because people gave out row is but then at the same time it was like everybody went in and voted for the person they didn't want in the house it's like the same as the new paradise it's like bachelor cannot end episodes without a rose ceremony but the reality is like this was survivor style it's survivor style where you all go vote someone out yeah and um you see people then like start like uh you know like campaigning for themselves um we see eric go home which was kind of like like like out of like out of

a left field. Yeah, you didn't even really see him in the entire episode. Yeah. So, I mean, you didn't see half this cast in the entire episode, but it was a bummer to see him go. Did he end up on your season of paradise? Yeah, he was, he was original cast too. Okay.

Yeah, yeah. Bibiana, Eric and Kevin were all original cast. Okay, gotcha. Benoit made an appearance. Yes. Yuki was the bartender. Was Yuki the bartender with Wells? Yeah, they were, they were together.

And she was fun. met her I met up with her in Tokyo did you really yeah yeah yeah she took us to like a restaurant that's awesome that's so funny oh my gosh and then so yeah we see Eric gets voted out we see the girl from the UK get voted out the girl from China get voted out I need to get these people's names okay Zoe from China Laura from the UK and then Jamie Eric and Lauren G from the US yeah um a big elimination However, they needed to get rid of some people. Yeah, I mean, you might as well eliminate 15 people at this point. I mean, I only saw literally people on my screen for most of the episode.

So it's fine, you know, get rid of them. Yeah. Yeah, so I think curious to see where they take this, but we know, like the results. So not. Who did, did Claire end up with that guy, Benoit? I don't, I think, I think there was, I think, like he might have got, I think they like, I think he might have got down on like one knee at like the reunion show or something. Oh my God. He proposed to her? I think there was something like

that, but he was definitely, it definitely didn't work because he was on my season. Yeah. Yeah. So like they got engaged, but I don't think it was, uh, yeah, I mean, clearly, it didn't work out. Clearly it didn't work. I don't, did any of the relationships from Bachelor Winter Games work out? I don't think so. No, I don't, I don't think so. Sounds like it was Leslie and Dean, Claire and Benoit, and then Kevin and Ashley I are the ones that I'm aware of and none of them are still together. Yeah. The most, I mean, the most successful show has truly been proven to be Bachelor in Paradise. It is interesting diving back in.

Obviously, we've recapped a little bit of Bachelor Pat on this podcast, talking about winter games. You know, we were on the old version of Bachelor in Paradise. We've got the new one kind of seeing how they draw inspiration from all of their different spinoffs and they build on it every single time. Yeah, but there's clearly one winner. Like, there's clearly, like, clearly, whatever it is, people on a beach from Bachelor and Bachelorette, it's, it works. Well, because watching people on vacation in bikini's fall in love is fun.

Yeah. You know? Well, I mean, obviously the show work, but I'm saying it works amongst the contestants. Like, the most, the most engagements come from Paradise. Yes, 100%. Well, Bachelorpad didn't even really have that option. And I don't think Winter Games was really ending in engagements either. Yeah, but I'm curious if they keep the competition element in it,

will it produces many engagements or successful relationships as it has in the past? I think over time it won't, but this season did. Well, this season of Paradise with the competition element, it did. There's still successful couples. Yeah, there's three, Jeremy and Bailey, Alex and Andrew. and Jess and Spencer are all still together. They all seem very happy. Yeah, which is a lot.

I mean, when you have three that are still going after, I mean, it's been, it hasn't been a year. No, it's been about six months. But I mean, Justin Spencer are engaged. Like, it's definitely a successful season. But I do wonder if the competition money element continues to play an active role. if people will go in with a competitive mindset and there will be more strategy about how to win the money

because this season, as much as the competition played a role, it was told to them that they were going for love. So they all came in with the mentality of wanting to find a relationship. I think it will all depend on A, how much money and B, if there's a clear path to winning the money. I think, like, even, I don't know if there's money involved in this winter games. They didn't really address any money being involved. I think it was just competition.

Yeah. I like winter games because I like the fact that, like, the competition of it plays out of, like, who's this person going to take on a date? Because then the reward is, is potential, like a potential relationship. Well, and as you see the relationship start to evolve, that competitive spirit is going to escalate because you're going to see guys and girls be like, I've been with this guy for three weeks. We haven't had the chance to go on a date yet.

Get me out of this house. Like, I want to win. And it's all going to be these fun winter Olympic themed activities. So I do think it's a fun layout. Yeah, I would think that's, in my opinion, I think that's where they should pivot, like, in paradise. I think it should be more of like the competition as a result of, like, who gets to stay, who gets to go, who gets to take someone on a date, make it more personal like that. Yeah, like the reward of these competitions is a date, is a relationship activity. And if it is money at the end, tell me how I get it.

And then when I get to the end, don't tell me like, oh, but then it gets split in half. And then this person gets a choice. And then wait, you didn't win the money you picked love, but like pick out of this card and win some money anyways because this is deal or no deal now. Well, I feel like on this past season of paradise, if someone had picked the money, it would have been like you don't get any money because you failed because it's your final test and the show is about love. You know what I mean? Whereas if you picked love, it was like, oh, you won and here's some cash. But they need to refine it a little bit more. I feel like it needs to be clearer next season.

And I think it will be. But overall thoughts on Winter Games. I thought it was fun. Let's chop the beginning down a little bit. And it's good. They do a good job. And they have a strong cast of characters for sure. I agree.

Honestly, I wouldn't be mad about. seeing another season of winter games. Yeah. I think it's great. I do feel like I would love to see more of just like the hanging out, the chatting, like the conversations between people. But otherwise I thought it was great. Yeah.

Okay. That is an episode. Thank you guys so much for tuning in and listening to our recap. Make sure you download and subscribe to Battery Appiah. We will have new and exclusive interviews for you every single week. Thanks for listening. Bye. If you only listen to one thing to make sense of the news this year, make it this.

The final episode of this season of Next Question pulls together the most important conversations of the year. You'll hear David Graham on Project 2025, Liz Oyer on the plethora of presidential pardons, Tina Brown on the year's biggest scandals here at home and across the pond, plus much, much more. It's a crash course in the last 12 months, how we made it through the year and a look at what might be coming in 2026. Listen to next question with me, Katie Couric on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.