The Ben and Ashley I Almost Famous Podcast - Almost Famous OG: Paradise Lost with Mercedes Northup

Episode Date: January 20, 2024

Our Bachelor Nation OGs Bob Guiney and Trista Sutter hang out with Mercedes Northup who’s fresh off the sand in Paradise! Mercedes shares an update from her close friend Kylee Russell after her breakup with Aven. We finally hear HOW she found out he was cheating! Plus, we hear how things are going with Mercedes after ending her relationship with Tyler Norris!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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

Now, hold up. Isn't that against school policy? That seems inappropriate. Maybe find out how it ends by listening to the OK Storytime podcast and the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hi, my name is Enya Umanzor. And I'm Drew Phillips. And we run a podcast called Emergency Intercom. If you're a crime junkie and you love crimes, we're not the podcast for you.

But if you have unmedicated ADHD... Oh my God, perfect. And want to hear people with mental illness, psychobabble. Yes, yes. Then Emergency Intercom is the podcast for you. Open your free IHeartRadio app. Search Emergency Intercom and listen now. Every case that is a cold case that has DNA.

Right now in a backlog will be identified in our lifetime. On the new podcast, America's Crime Lab, every case has a story to tell. And the DNA holds the truth. He never thought he was going to get caught. And I just looked at my computer screen. I was just like, ah, got you. This technology is already solving so many cases. cases. Listen to America's Crime Lab on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you

get your podcasts. Everyone thinks they'd never join a cult. But it happens all the time to people just like you. And people just like us. I'm Lola Blanc and I'm Megan Elizabeth. We're the host of Trust Me, a podcast about cults, manipulation, and the psychology of belief. Each week we talk to fellow survivors, former believers, and experts to understand why people get pulled in and how they get out. New episodes every Wednesday on Exactly Right. Listen wherever you get your podcasts. This is the Almost Famous Podcast with IHeartRadio.

Hello, Mr. Gini. Well, hello, Trista Sutter, Neyren. How are you? And welcome to Almost Famous, the OGs. Yeah, but I think we're almost famous, just almost famous, because we're filling in today, I think, right? We are just almost famous today. And I think that that is pretty spectacular.

In fact, we're going like current times. Speaking of current, hi Mercedes. How are you? Hi, Mercedes. How are you? Great. I'm good. How are you?

I'm so excited that we actually get to like poach almost famous because we never get to like current, as we just said. And I just loved you on Bachelor in Paradise. Thank you. I love your sparkly, positive energy, and just want to thank you for coming on the show. Yeah, thank you for having me. I'm so excited. So I assume Bob, I don't think that Bob watched.

Is this true, Bob? It's true. I did not watch. However, I do know who Mercedes is. Of course. I do not. There's some standouts, right, from every season. And so right when I saw your face, I'm like, hey, wait a second.

I know who she is. So, yes, you're a very refreshing person to see on the screen. So thank you for joining us and thanks for being on the show. So, yeah, I'm excited to get to interview you as well. So even though I didn't actually get to see all the antics from the season, I can know some of the scoop. So I'm excited to have that. He's always in the know.

He does his homework. That's right. That's perfect. Yes, they love that. Our producers do a bang-up job. They sure do, actually. Okay. Okay. So how is life after Paradise? Are you in Nashville or Iowa or where are you now and how is life?

Yeah. So I came back to Nashville. I've been in Nashville for five years now. Amazing. Yes, I absolutely love it here. It's such a fun city at the young adult. I am kind of thinking about moving to San Diego. I know a lot of people do that after they go on the show. But I have a few friends that are going out there. so that's kind of the plan right now just job searching and trying to figure it out amazing are you dating is sandy become the hot spot is that where everyone goes after yeah yeah that's interesting because you remember trista back in the day i mean when we did the show it was like everybody you know like just immediately took off to be the new ben affleck and trista and i didn't we stay we we kept to We stuck to our guns. We stayed local.

Where are you by that? Well, I'm back in Michigan, which is where I grew up. But I ended up, I went to Manhattan first, and then I ended up in L.A., but it took me a while to get there. But Nashville is where I would have always wanted to go. I love Nashville. Yeah, and you know what? There's a lot of Bachelor Nation here, and I feel like a lot of people from California are moving here. Oh, yeah.

Yeah, there's so many California people here. San Diego is awesome, too, though. I love, it's one of my favorite areas of California. Yeah, for sure. And it's, I feel like it's close enough to L.A. where you guys, you could be a part of anything that comes up. And then it's far enough away where you can actually, like, get away from it from it all. Yeah.

Okay. So are you dating currently? No, not dating. Definitely keeping my options open. I went into 2024, being like, okay, I'm not going to, like, force anything. or like look really and if it comes to me it comes to me um but right now i'm just really doing like a lot of like self work and trying to be like the best person i can be because i want to be that for my partner when they decide to come around so yeah right now so i when i watched bachelor in

paradise um the thing that stood out to me about your story is um the end with tyler and how he like I mean, I'm sitting there watching the show, yelling at my phone or television, whatever I'm watching on. Because he was like, you know, the spark. It just wasn't there. And I'm like, didn't he literally, like, literally tell her that you guys had sparks on the first date? I was like, literally. And so I went back today and I just Googled Mercedes, which, of course, lots of cars come up. But I googled, you know, and then I googled your last name.

And I watched. And I was like, that's exactly. what he said on your first date he said there was all these signs and there were sparks and then he's like breaking up with you and saying he couldn't find a spark like how did you feel about that yeah it definitely i felt like i kind of knew it was coming i felt like we're both we liked each other but it was neither one of us were really like trying to take it a step further like we were just like almost comfortable you know like i feel like our first date it was amazing and we both agreed that like there was definitely something there but then i felt like after we had that

high it just kind of like plateaued you know so yeah it definitely caught me for a surprise when he said no spark i was like what do you mean no spark like what like that's like a relationship we have to have a spark like what are you talking about yes so definitely when he said that i was like taken aback but i also think that at the end of the day we just weren't we're we're better as friends and I love Tyler I think he's great I'm really happy for him he's in a relationship and everything um which absolutely nothing but the best for him I think at the end of the day we just knew that we were better off friends and unfortunately you know we were in front of cameras and all that so it was kind of like forced and so I feel like we were trying to make it work

when in reality we kind of both knew that it like wasn't it you know yeah yeah that that's a great outlook and a great way to look at things you know I all really relationships are not going to work out. And I think if you have that kind of attitude, then you're going to be just fine. Yes. I feel like when someone's using the same words, I feel like when someone's using the same words, like spark too much, that that's a producer in their ear going, you know, because he obviously didn't realize that he said, oh, my God, I feel such a spark, right? And then to be like, I'm just not feeling any sparks. It's like, you know, no one uses that.

I know. When they did like in the show and they did the little flashback, I was like, ooh, that does not look good. Yeah, that's not going to age well. That's going to come back and bite you. Yeah. It's like, I feel such great chemistry. And then at the end, you're like, I don't feel any chemistry. Yeah.

Dude, this is not going to age one. I know. I should be more in the know and realize that there probably isn't a producer behind all that. But I was like, dude, you literally told her that there were sparks on your first date. And then you told her there weren't any, like, I don't know. Yeah. It was crazy. So I know that you've got your girl gang.

from Bachelor of Paradise. So tell me about the trip. And I love that you guys are still getting together, especially like, I know Bob, you probably still are mad about not being able to go to the cold. Yeah, I'm a little hurt.

A little hurt. Gary and I are going to talk. Me too. I'm in on that call. I don't go either. I know. So I have told Bennett and other producers. They asked me if it was chicken or fish, you know.

Between that, between that and being left off the short list for the Easties, I'm just so ass-chapped over here. You had no idea. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. So I told Bennett and other producers and execs, like, we need to have a massive reunion with, like, everybody, because the show is, like, what I've, I used to explain it as, like, a, you know, a dysfunctional kind of crazy family.

But I've come to realize that it's more like a Greek co-ed Greek group, like a fraternity sorority combined with girls and guys where we're like family, but, you know, not really. And you like some people and you don't like some people. And you love some people like their family. So I love that you have found your crew. Who did you walk away? Yeah, your tribe. Who did you walk away with the closest relationships? Um, I would say out of Bachelor. I was definitely closest with, um, Katie and Kylie. Those were like my two girls that I went to for everything. Um, me and Kylie, when we started traveling, we were roommates. Um, so. Awesome. Yeah. And so, um, when you travel, you know, you don't, you are always my, do you have some like downtime where you can like, you know, just, just chill out and like be able to talk to them. And so it was like, me and her got really, really close because we were having.

that time together. So definitely out of Bachelor, I was definitely closest to probably Kylie and Katie. And then obviously, once everything ended, we all hung out and then relationships like continued building. But I'm really close with like Jess, Kat, Kylie, obviously, Katie, Gabby, Ariel, the whole group. Davia. We have a whole clan. I love it so much.

It's awesome. I love that. I know you're super close with Kylie, as you just said. How is she doing with the breakup? I think she's doing the best that she can. Obviously, like, that news is horrible to receive on both ends. Like, it's just, it was horrible. And so I think that she's doing her best,

and I know that she's working on healing herself. And I know she just went on, like, Nick Vial, too. So I know you guys will hear from her soon about her side. which I'm really excited for her to put out and just let the world know what happened. Yeah. And for Bob, he cheated on her, right? She found out that he cheated on her.

Yeah. That's never good. No, that's a bummer. Yeah. It's pretty simple. I feel like in circumstances, it's like, break up first if that's what you feel like doing, right? I mean, honestly God, I used to always say it.

I'd be like, give me a favor. Like, don't, in a relationship, like, don't just, don't let the joke be on me. Right. Like, if you're going to do it, you can call and be like, hey, we're done. And then do whatever you want to do. At least then I'll be like, oh, you know what? Someone's happening.

They did me the service, you know? I mean, I might not have saw the text. I might not have seen it. But, you know, yeah, that sucks. I'm sorry to hear that. Especially in the public eye, you know. That's what I was, that's like the worst part is like, obviously he effed up because cheating is never okay. But it also sucked that she had one, she had to find out from random.

people like telling her you did uh yeah yeah but um and then she it's also like sad for him too like obviously he's the one that screwed up but he was getting so much hate too so like i feel remorse for him almost kind of because he's just going through with you it's just a crappy situation all around and i feel for both of them obviously do not think what he did was okay at all and like tell he's my girl like i ride at dawn for her you know like he I would do anything for that girl and I just yeah she's working on herself and doing better every day so she's grown a lot from it as a as a super old married dude I will I will send along some advice for her let her know that it's not about her yeah right like him doing that is a is a complete

reflection of him so you know at the end of the day whatever he did in that moment it had nothing it had to do with her it had to do with him with his insecurities with something that he has going on in here and up here that made him feel like he had to be a complete jackass so you know i mean speaking as as a guy who's made a billion mistakes in my life i can say that it was never about the person or anyone else it was always about me and so i can say that from that perspective that i guarantee you that guy is kicking himself right now i mean the the five minutes of pleasure was not worth the relationship and the hate that he's received ever since them because, you know, it's one of those things. You do not forget. You know, they, they, Trista and I have both been so fortunate that people

have loved us since, you know, and I'm thankful for that. They, they, you know, but the people that were considered villains at that time, they, people don't forget that part either. I mean, I still have people approach me and be like, what about this guy? And I got to be like, no, he's not a bad guy, you know, but it's, it's one of those things. So, you know, I feel bad. I feel, I feel remorse for that guy. I feel bad for that guy. But yeah, that's all about him. So make sure she knows them. Yeah, I definitely will. 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, 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, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Hi, my name is Enya Humanzor. And I'm Drew Phillips. And we run a podcast called Emergency Intercom.

If you're a crime junkie and you love crimes, we're not the podcast for you. But if you have unmedicated ADHD... Oh my God, perfect. And want to hear people with mental illness, psychobabble. Yes, yes. Then Emergency Intercom is the podcast for you. Open your free iHeartRadio app. Search Emergency Intercom and listen now.

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podcast season four is here. And we're locked in. That means more juicy chisement. Terrible love advice. Evil spells to cast on your ex. No, no, no, no, we're not doing that this season. Oh, well, this season, we're leveling up. Each episode will feature a special bestie, and you're not going to want to miss it.

Get in here. Today we have a very special guest with us. Our new super secret bestie is the divo of the people. The divo of the people. I'm just like text your ex. My theory is that if you need to figure out that the stove is hot, go and touch it. Go and figure it out for yourself. Okay.

That's us. That's us. My name is Curley. And I'm Maya. In each episode, we'll talk about love, friendship, heart breaks, men, and of course, our favorite secrets. Listen to the Super Secret Bestie Club as a part of the Michael Tura podcast network available on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Okay, so speaking of villains that Bob, like, brought up, Braden was kind of a villain before Bachelor in Paradise,

and he kind of redeemed himself. What are your feelings about his proposal and his relationship with Christina? Yeah, honestly, when I heard that they were together, I was like, what? What? It's crazy. What? I was like, there's, like, I'm so confused how this one about.

um you know christina has a little girl and at first i was like oh my gosh brayden is like so young and like that's like a lot to take on you know and i was like ready and then i like step back and that's exactly how my parents were like i i met my dad with when i was i think i was like seven um and he ended up adopting me and so i was like okay if brayden is like that person for her like I support it 100% they seem so happy and like yeah I just want the best for them I was so shocked when he proposed to her though I was like oh my gosh what were you watching live yeah yeah well I was actually I was in the other room I forget what I was doing and my friend was watching it she started screaming oh no way I was like something was wrong I didn't even think it was the show and she's like

they just got it gay it's so funny so one of the producers katie summers i don't know if you you guys both know her but um she was like she came around to the table that i was sitting at and she's to all of us standing there she said hey do you want to be part of something that's going to be really exciting and we were all like well well yeah of course if it's really exciting why wouldn't we want to be part of it so um we all kind of go over and we had no idea what was about to happen and then she gave us the scoop and told us what was going to go down. And I actually got chills. Like I, I love love and I got chills.

And then afterwards, people were all like up in arms. Oh my gosh, you can't believe that somebody got engaged in a wedding. You're not supposed to do that. La, la, la, la. You know what I mean? Like, but, but. It was a standard wedding. It's not a standard wedding.

Right. It's not normal. It's not a normal. a wedding. It was like a live television event. It wasn't just a wedding. Anyway, it was, it was really exciting in the moment, and I am so happy for them. Both, Christina, was amazing with my daughter at the wedding and just love her. Oh, my gosh, just loved her. She's like literally, when people are like, what's like Christina? I'm like, oh, I'm like, she's just like, she's all personality. Like, she's, she's.

just like she has so much going on and she can literally talk to a brick wall and like literally i love it yeah that is a great way to um describe her but yeah that was that was a really fun moment for me and i'm like you know what you can't compare it to a normal wedding it was the television event and um and they spoke with jerry and teresa beforehand or he did so yeah i what ass stop making drama when there's no drama people One thing that I've learned, one thing that I have learned from being on this show is, like, people are going to talk no matter what. Like, no matter what happens, someone's going to have something to say about something. And, like, you just got to roll with the punches and be like, okay, you don't know me.

Well, and if there's no drama, you're too vanilla. So it's like, you can't win either way. And I'll light it out. They're like, oh, Mercedes has no personality. She's boring. I'm like, why? Because I don't want to give him to the drama. Like, what?

Don't bite. Don't bite. No, don't take the bait. You're doing great. You're doing great. It's much better to be loved than hated, I'm sure. Yes, for sure. So what's next for you besides maybe moving to San Diego?

You know, I'm just honestly flying by this seat on pants. What was that saying? Seed on pants. Yeah, seen my pants. I'm just like rolling with things, doing whatever comes my way. I told God, like, whatever doors you want to open in 2024, like, I'm down. I'm going to say yes to everything. I'm going to do everything.

Whatever comes my way, I'm ready for it. I'm job searching right now, trying to finally start my career, no clue what I want to do. In what? I don't know. Yeah, you worked for a nonprofit before, right? Yes. Yeah. You got to know what they want to do.

Yeah. I feel like I originally, before I went on the show, I was working as a case manager as a nonprofit and I loved that but I also like kind of want to dip my toes and other things too yeah like a for-profit I don't even know what the difference like I really want to be in a for-profit this time where I'm profiting yes that's funny yeah yeah I don't know just trying to figure out life right now I'm sure you'll have you'll have great opportunities I'm sure you're a lovely personality you are I'm sure you're going to have a lot of opportunities so we're excited for you keep us posting how it goes yes i definitely will for sure and um last

question are you moving to san diego with anybody or are you going to be living with someone one of those besties yes so kiley and jess are actually moving i think like next month so they're moving very soon um so my plan is to whenever i get a job i'll move out there and then probably do like a month to month for a while until I can, you know, find someone or move in with them once their leases up. So just figuring it down. Yeah, we'll see. I love it. Is San Diego near Carlsbad? Do you know? I don't know. I'm not sure. Anyway, Tenley lives out there and she's about to have another baby. So, hey, maybe you could be a nanny. That's what I'm doing right now. I literally I had to change the time because my, I named for them a couple of years ago.

It snowed here and they're like, we're going to go to Punta Cotta. Can you watch our kids? And I was like, sure. So I'm just like a full mom for a few days. Love it. Wait, you didn't get to go to Putticana? We're looking for a new nanny. Are you?

Yeah, you know, Michigan is not close to Carlsbad. I can promise you that. Yeah, no, it sure is it. And I like, I grew up in Iowa, so I know all about the Midwest. Oh, you definitely do. You definitely do. Yeah, we're getting crushed with snow right now. It's brutal.

But so is Denver, right? So is Denver. You guys got a lot too. Yeah. It was. It was. We're better like we were in the 40s yesterday. But gosh, it was like a negative 10.

I think like literally on my car dashboard. I'm like, what is happening? It was freezing. Yeah, that's tough. That's not about Iowa. Iowa has like, my hometown has like 20 inches right now and it's been in the negatives for like a week. I hate it.

So brutal, yeah. You will love San Diego then. I'm like, why did I leave L.A. again? I'm trying to remember exactly. I know. I know it. All right. Awesome.

Thank you, Mercedes, for coming and chatting. And good luck with everything in the future. Just love watching you. I'll be following along. Well, thank you so much for having me today. It was nice meeting you guys. Nice meeting you too. Thanks for joining All Most Famous.

Have a great day. You too. See you. Bye. Bye. She is so lovely. She is. And you know what?

I'm wondering if she had any idea who we were. Guarantee she did not. She's like, why is this old married dude giving me advice about something? He wasn't even invited to the Golden Bachelor wedding. And he didn't even get to present an Eastie. Like, who is this loser? I don't get hurt anymore.

I'm 51 years old and I just can't care anymore. When I was 51, I didn't care either. You know, it's the turning point in life. It really is. You know what, though? She's so cute. She's so nice. I mean, honestly, I think she's got a great attitude about things.

And, man, how great would it be? Oh, you know, I'm not sure exactly what I'm going to do. I'm job hunting. I love that. You're like, so job hunting for what? I, you know, I'm not really sure. Hunting for jobs with, you know, some type of job. Do you just put in, like, job search?

like San Diego, job. Job. Go. Yeah. Okay. I know. What do you want to do? I'm not entirely sure.

Just job. I think it's awesome. I mean, why not when you're young? Just have the doors wide open and cast a wide bet. I love that. I love it. I love it too. I'd do it if I could, man.

I'm excited for it. Well, that was awesome. Thank you so much for seeing for joining us. We loved it. for coming on Almost Famous. I hope that your interview with us today finds you your new career in a for-profit job. Yes, thank you for Sadies. And thanks, everybody for listening. I've been Trista. And I've been Bob. Follow the Ben and Ashley I, Almost Famous Podcasts on IHartRadio or subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts. 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 on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hi, my name is Enya Yumanzor.

And I'm Drew Phillips. And we run a podcast called Emergency Intercom. If you're a crime junkie and you love crimes, we're not the podcast for you. But if you have unmedicated ADHD... Oh my God, perfect. And want to hear people with mental illness, psychobabble. Yes, yes. Then Emergency Intercom is the podcast for you.

Open your free IHeartRadio app. Search Emergency Intercom and listen now. Hi, it's Honey German and I'm back with season two of my podcast. Thanks, come again. We got you when it comes to the latest in music and entertainment with interviews with some of your favorite Latin artists and celebrities. You didn't have to audition? No, I didn't audition. I haven't auditioned in like over 25 years.

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