The Ben and Ashley I Almost Famous Podcast - Bachelor Boys Trip with Ben Higgins, Wells Adams, Andrew Firestone and Chris Harrison

Episode Date: May 11, 2022

Ben is on a boys golf trip to Pebble Beach with Bachelor Nation favorites Wells, Andrew and Chris.  Come along for the wild ride.    Discover how former Bachelor Andrew Firestone met Wells while in High School and Wells was just a kid. You won't believe Andrew's connection to the entire Adams Family. We learn that Andrew is responsible for Wells getting onto the show in the first place!   Plus, find out the REAL reason Andrew signed up to be the lead on The Bachelor season 3. The trip was great… except Ben lost his bags! Thankfully Uber Eats saved the day by getting Ben his essentials. Thanks to Uber Eats for sending Ben, Wells, Andrew and Chris on this epic boys trip!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Just like great shoes, great books take you places. Through unforgettable love stories and into conversations with characters you'll never forget. I think any good romance, it gives me this feeling of like butterflies. I'm Danielle Robeye, and this is bookmarked by Reese's Book Club. The new podcast from Hello Sunshine and IHeart Podcasts, where we dive into the stories that shape us on the page and off. Each week, I'm joined by authors, celebs, book talk stars, and more for conversations that will make you laugh, cry, and add way too many books to your TVR pile.

Listen to Bookmarked by Reese's Book Club on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Apple Books is the official audio book and ebook home for Reese's Book Club. Visit apple.co-forward slash Reese Apple Books to find out more. This is the Ben and Ashley I, Almost Famous Podcast with IHartRadio. Welcome to a very special episode of the Almost Famous Podcast that will either get me fired or be a massive success. We want to start this out by saying thank you to Uber Eats for bringing us on an amazing boy's trip to the Monterey Peninsula.

Did I say that right? Wells, is that the right thing? Yeah. I'm here with Wells Adams and Andrew Firestone. Chris Harrison is playing golf with us as well out here. And it's going to be a great trip. Andrew, for those who do not know you, can you explain who you are?

I am a very average golfer. Let's set that out there. I was on The Bachelor when you guys were in diapers. Years ago, in 2003, I was the third Bachelor to be on TV. Way back in the day. The Third Bachelor? Third Bachelor. What year was that?

2003. Two and three. Wait, I have a question, because I feel like it's different than it used to be. How so? Well, because you'd go on The Bachelorette, and then the guy that got his heartbroken the most, aka Ben, gets to be The Bachelor. But that didn't happen for you. So that was a big difference. So when I was on The Bachelor, it was a surprise.

So it was, like, nobody knew who I was. Like, you know, the girls didn't know who was going to be there when they opened up the limo door. And I was sequestered for weeks or a couple weeks ahead of time. and it was a total mystery and that's a lot of pressure because all these girls were opening the door and I'm like oh god I mean I'm not looking at them

they're looking at me right because they're like they're like I could see some faces like oh damn it like oh this is the guy like they have a vision in their head who's going to be and might not have been me well the hardest thing about that show is is convincing the audience that it's just

justified for all of these beautiful women to all want this one guy. Right, right. And so it's got to be, like, the pressure's got to be ratcheted up because no one knows who you are. So then you're like, are you having to sell yourself being like, well, I have a million dollars and

I'm hung like a... Exactly. Like a donkey. Yes. I'm like, look at this. Look at it. Now. No, but, but so, okay, I'll tell you, I mean, quite frankly, one thing that happened, so it was like the second rose ceremony and even before it goes

one of the girls just said like you know I'm just this isn't for me and you know what her excuse was the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were in the Super Bowl and she wanted to go to the game I swear to God I because I filmed in January of 2003 look who's in the Super Bowl the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and

literally that was she walked she walked off so you guys or you Ben had it better because at least they knew who you were I know what people leave voluntarily within three weeks that's on you though You just screwed that up. The Bachelor took it to the two-yard line.

You couldn't score. But it was. That was a huge thing. And actually, Chris Harrison was one of the only people that I knew ahead of time on the show. And we spent some time together. And I could tell he was a little nervous that I was going to be the captain of this ship for this show. But this was so early on in reality TV that it was such an experiment. and to see a guy and a girl kiss

without a script on TV was like it was mind blowing and the way I described it all was it's like back then it was like a little fender bender if we're driving along you see a fender bender you'll stop and take a look if you've seen a hundred fender benders you need it's not interesting anymore

back then that was like a little fender bender the show today is way more dramatic and has a lot more stuff going on you guys, it's dates that you guys go on I went bowling on one of my I'm not joking I went bowling on one of my my dates. That's, you know, that was the budget back then. Well, um, I want to pause here and say, speaking of kissing, you and Wells know each other, uh, from the past. And I don't

know this story. It's a weird preamble. Yeah. By the way. Let's get to commercial break. Speaking of making out, uh, we gotta hear the story between you two. Um, anyway, last night at dinner, I asked, hey, how do you two know each other? How are you familiar with each other? And you said, we're going to wait for the podcast tomorrow so I've been waiting to ask this question how do you two know each other because then we got a video this morning of Wells showing a picture of his sick okay let me I'll tell you so I started to make sense I met Wells yeah and his beautiful bride to be a couple years ago at an event we were there with Chris and and that was the first time that I thought that I had met him and I was doing on the

on the drive up Chris picked me up and to drive up here yesterday and I was asking about Wells and I know you a bit but he's like yeah he's from he's from Carmel and he's from up here I'm like oh my God I must know him from back in the day so Wells walks in we're in the lobby

sitting down before dinner and Wells walks up and I'm starting to like kind of like ask him little probing questions and he looked me dead in the eye and he goes do you remember Whitney Adams and like my jaw on the floor I'm like, well, yeah.

I mean, like, you, how do you know Whitney Adams? And then my slow brain starts working. I'm like, Wells Adams, holy crap. I took his sister to a prom when I was a freshman in high school. Was she older or younger? No, she's the same age. Okay, good. But there is a, I have a photo to this day, and I wish I would have, I mean, I didn't know how to bring it.

But at that point, I was like five foot four. Yeah. and feathered hair and I have my arms around her you can't see this on radio but like I'm doing the awkward like trying to put my arm around her shoulder and it's like I'm like cocked over to the side and

I also know your older brother Brett yeah so it's funny because when the first season of the bachelor I ever watched was Andrew's season because my family is like we know him we totally know him and so I had heard

the story but I wasn't sure if it was true. So I asked Brett. And so we're from this area. We're from Carmel. But you're not from here. You're from. I'm from Santa Barbara, but I was going to school up here. But there's a, there's a high school here that you can, it's a boarding school, but it also has day students. So my brother was a day student and Andrew was a boarder. And so the way that my brother tells a story is that when you have, you know, kids from out of town living in the high school, they take the day student. older kids and team them up with the younger borders to kind of show them the ropes and show them around and make them feel comfortable. So my brother, Brett, of whom you know, Ben, was his big brother at school. Oh, I didn't know.

And so my sister needed a date to, I guess, prom or Sadie Hawkins or something. And so my brother was like, you need to go with my sister to this dance. And so I never knew if the story was true. So last night when we got together I was like, I think you know like my family I don't know if this is true but like did you take my sister to prom

and you were... I thought he was like he was like a punchline to a joke like oh do you take my sister to prom? But his older brother he was a senior when I was a freshman was so kind to me and you know he had to...

Yeah but he had to play the role of big brother to a you know to a freshman but he was super kind to me and he was also like one of the most popular guys in school so I had kind of a free pass you know for a while like I was able to kind of hang out a little bit not too much

my sister no no no no no and did you guys hang out after prom Whitney in and yeah I mean a little bit here and there but she went to a different school okay she went to another school here in town but but that was the first dance I'd ever like a first formal thing I'd ever gone to in my life I got like a corsage in the whole nine yards and I must have met you because I came to your house

to pick her up and we had me might have dinner there or something but your family was so kind to me and I was so awkward and so nervous and the picture really speaks to that about how awkward I actually I still am a little bit but but was certainly back then I have a very naive question so when you're boarding when you're living out here your family's in Santa Barbara you have a dance like this like when I had a dance like this my mom when I was in high school would go out Help me pick out my tucks, my soup, the flowers, walk me through the process, make sure everything was good. The girl would show up or I'd go over there. My mom would be there. My dad would be there. The parents kind of like coach you into this dating world. When you're out here, like, did you

have to find a way and figure out a way to get all those yourself? Yeah, it's a little, it's a, you kind of have to be fairly self-sufficient from a very young, I mean, I was doing my laundry, you know, not that that's crazy thing to do, but like you're taking care of everything on. your own. And whether that's, you know, your studies or just like normal everyday life, but a lot of stuff you're kind of learning on the fly. Yeah. And, um, and luckily there are a lot of other older people there at the school that you can kind of look up to and ask questions. But like, you know, they have to thumb a ride to go down and get a corsage. Yeah. The date to take Whitney, you know, like there's, there was like a bunch of things that you had to be a little bit,

you had a little bit scheming to, uh, to pull off. That's super interesting. So, wait, it comes even more full circle. Okay, please. We can kind of put a pin in this after it. So, and I told you this, the last time I was on your podcast, when we were actually recording in Monterey, was the way that I got on The Bachelor was because my brother was actually approached by a casting director. The fact that my brother was Andrew Firestone's big brother,

who then became The Bachelor, was also, you know, hit up by a casting director to be on the show. He turned it down, and I went on the show, I think is... It's a trip. Yeah, it's pretty weird. The school has some good-looking people in it then. Yeah.

I mean, you and Brett both, you know, you got it going on. Wait, who's better looking? That's good question. I mean... No, you're going to answer it. Brett was with me when I got a home one. Don't just acknowledge it's a good question. I know it's a good question.

I think that you're better looking than him now, but I think he had you maybe like 10 years ago. His model pictures are pretty great. He was a model. He had a great head of lettuce. I'm going to tell you what. Like, his hair flow was so good. I haven't seen him in a thousand years. years but back then like he was definitely a ladies man he he had so many girlfriends and cute

girls were kind of always falling around so i was like dude i want to do that i want to be that guy i want to be that guy well um a little bit too to explain why we're all out here um you know i waited to tell you this andrew but when i first met you was at jaden tanner's wedding uh chris uh who um i i i really love he kind of walked me he was like my big brother i felt like through this whole weird process right i mean said it many times i was 25 years old i had no clue what i was doing in this world i still don't um but he kind of like put me under his wing and would take me around and introduce me to people and one of the weirdest things for me was i always felt like and and this is is no BS towards you like Andrew firestone deserves to be the bachelor right

like it's he's he's a stud he gets it i watch these guys in the past like they all understand more than i do and i just kind of got thrown into it well we go to jaden tanner's wedding and chris says Hey, how about you come golf with Andrew and I? And so we do that, and I was really fresh. I think I was maybe still filming or just after filming when this wedding happened. And you were very kind, very funny, very much made me at ease. And I've told everybody at listen to this podcast many times.

Well, the only reasons I was able to do the show and have any type of enjoyment was because I saw guys do it before me and go, okay, if they can do it, I can do it too. Like, he's not, he doesn't like walk on water. He's a great dude, a normal dude, a fun dude. And that's why, you know, it's great to get back out here, play Pebble Beach today. Again, thanks to Uber Eats for doing that. It's a big deal.

And here's a funny Uber Eats story as I continue to dream. So I fly in last night. I've been looking forward to this trip for a long time. I golf with Wells quite a bit. I haven't seen Chris in a while. I was really excited to get to hang out with you again, Andrew. And we're playing Pebble Beach. Come on.

Like one of the best places in the world. Yeah. on a beautiful day too and this is gorgeous and so i fly in last night from denver and i'm standing at baggage claim my bag doesn't come and in this bag has my golf bag my clubs my shoes all of my clothes for the weekend all of my toiletries everything possible i packed it all into this travel golf bag and it doesn't come called the airline and uh and they said oh your bag's still in la it's not going to get here until 11 o'clock uh the next day so today still not here so as a result Thanks, Uber Eats, for making sure that I have my toiletries.

I have all of the snacks I need, any of the food I need, any of the drink we need. Food, Reets, really save the day. So this has been a great trip, not only come out here with you all, but to have them make sure that I am still functioning. Did they organize the fact that your bag got lost? Maybe just a great story, right? Just to, like, just to crush this whole thing and like make it. Just to save the day. Yeah.

Yeah. The only thing that I didn't get delivered is my golf clubs, but I still believe they're going to be coming. All right. So I want to start today talking a little bit about golf. We're not going to dive into it too much because I don't think anybody out here really cares. But there's a question that is haunting everybody here. Who is the best golfer in the group? Let's throw Chris into this.

Who is the, in your opinion, who is the best golfer in this group? So I played golf yesterday with Chris and he shot a 76. I don't think he wants anyone to know that because he has to post that score, which will screw up his handicap. But he was crushing the ball yesterday. By the way, a very, very difficult golf course. Really tough courts. Where did you play?

M.P.C. Monterey Peninsula Country Club. And I can tell you how hard it was because I was there. I was playing. And it was a abject disaster. I mean, it was just a mess. Spraying balls, left, right, and center. Chili dipping off the tea.

It was a mess. Chris was puring it. I played with you also, Ben, years ago. And you were a very good golfer, but it's been a while. also, you know, and you're also married, so usually that there's a decline in your skills. No, not at all. He's playing golf a lot. I've had a good year. Oh, okay. Well, then maybe your marriage is falling apart. I don't know.

But I haven't played with Wells here, but I hear that he hits it very, very long. So it's going to be fun for me just to watch you guys play and compete, and I'll just be there, you know, having fun, eating snacks. Yeah, that was a long diatribe to say, I'm the worst. I'm the worst. Okay, so I'll say it right now. I think Chris is the best golf for the group right now. That feels like a game. I want to see it. Prove me wrong, ladies.

Come on. The best is I believe that Chris is sitting on the side right now. Like, this is the one conversation the day I want to join into. It's eating them up. No. I would agree. But he's going to have a hard time because we just went on a trip. And seven out of ten times, Wells beats me at golf.

I told you this last night. in Utah just a few weeks ago I did beat Wells straight up and so today is kind of like that to really figure out where we're at in our game to answer your question

I do think Chris is the best golfer of the group he's the most consistent there's an argument for he also the thing that gets everybody in trouble in golf is nerves and I think that he's able to regulate

his nerves better than any of us for now yes I think that I can have days where I can beat everybody, but my vote is for Mr. Harrison. I also will put the vote behind that too because I believe right now in his head, he's like, wow, everybody believes him a good golfer.

And he's going to get on that first tee today and shake it. Hey, we're going to take a break. When we come back, we're going to come back, talk more about the trip, talk more about a store I have from my honeymoon that I've never shared on the podcast that you guys found really funny last night. That's a great tease.

We'll be back. Thanks again for Uber Eats for setting up this amazing trip to the Monterey Peninsula. 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 Sweetie. Monica Patton. Elaine Welterah. I'm Jessica Voss. And that's when I wish.

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. I shared a story last night at dinner, and everybody goes, you've got to share this on the podcast. And I, I'm excited to. It's a hard one to explain this. It's a lot of visuals to this that are necessary. I'm sure at this point, people, you know, my mom and everybody else has turned off the podcast.

Like, we don't know what we're getting into. Okay, so anyways, here's this store. I'm going to try to explain it the best I can. Jessica and I went to St. Bart's for our honeymoon. and the reason this story came up last night is because I'm a big fan of blue cheese stuffed olives and I love them in a good martini not a dirty martini just straight up martini and we land in St. Bart's at like 8 o'clock we go right to our resort it's a great resort in St. Bards but it's a French-speaking island and late at night you know there's not a lot of staff around there's just a few people in the restaurant and we sit down to like you have 30

minutes to order. I said, great. So all I want right now is a blue cheese stuffed olive martini. So I asked for it. The waiter, who did not speak English, because it is not an English-speaking island, for the most part, there's a lot of them down there, goes, looks at me, and goes, I have no clue what you're talking about. Like, pretty much just confusion. I don't know what a blue cheese stuffed olive is. And so I said, okay, and he goes, let me get somebody else. Do the farmage? Yeah, the Somali. And so as a result, and I, I, the, the Somali up. I said, do you have any blue cheese stuffed olives? And I make like a circle, like what I thought was like an olive with my hand. You know, like you put your index finger and your thumb together.

Like an okay symbol. Like an okay symbol. I take my other hand and I give my index finger and my middle finger and I start like doing the sign where you're like pushing stuffing. And the Somalia gets really confused. I don't know why. And walks away and says, I'm going to get my manager. So I'm sitting there. I'm still going, do you have any blue cheese stuffed olives? I'm saying it very slow. Like they're going to understand it if I speak slower, which is a very terrible thing to do. And I'm still stuffing my fingers at the same time. The manager goes, I need to get my like GM of the hotel. He comes down. He goes, I hear we have a problem here. And he spoke English. I said, I don't know there's a problem. And my, and my wife suddenly catches on. Yeah. And goes, no, you have a big

problem then. You've literally just asked every single person that comes up here, you've just signaled to them. If you're down, if you have anything stuffed. Do you have anything? Do you have anything stuff. The GM finally goes, oh, we don't have any blue sheet stuff. That whole is. But we can't make you a martini. That is the story. It's still today what Jessica does when like things get awkward, when I say something stupid. She just does the little stuffing sign. And that makes it less awkward. Wow. Just to remind me of how weird I am. Yeah. And also how the French do different hand signals for that. Yeah. Well, the Americans do this.

This means this. It means sex time. I mean, since a very young age, I think it's pretty explanatory. Yeah, I hope. What I love about that is that there are waiters and Somaliers that thought that this six-four hunk of a man was like, hey, do you want to go in the back? I just sat down down. On the first night of your honeymoon, they were like, wow, look at that. They all swing us, I guess.

This guy is very giving. I was like, absolutely. I guarantee they all spoke perfect English They're like, this can't be You gotta go check this out You gotta check this out This guy's just over there I was just, I was not stopping

It was not stopping at all Andrew question for you Do you ever use Uber Eats? Yeah, so, you know, I have three kids And, you know, it is You know, this isn't any sort of advertisement for it But this is just a utilitarian thing that we use all the time

And, you know, half the time we've forgotten something somewhere we need a snack. Some of the kids are, you know, milk for one of the kids, whatever it is. And so it's actually super convenient in Santa Barbara to go and have, you know, food delivered, you know, have whatever delivered. And it's really quick. So we, and I'm very slow to adopt technology. My wife was first using it. Now it's almost, it's funny. Like these things now become like kind of part of your, like, just everyday life. Like, you know, it's so much more useful. It saves time. So long way to say yes.

I wonder if you can get blue cheese stuffed olives. I guarantee it. Uber heats. I almost can promise you that. I mean, think about this stuff that we ordered. In fact, it should be, oh, it's probably coming there. I just saw Amy walk away. There's more coming today.

I mean, we ordered everything for our trip. We ordered some alcoholic celtzers. That's what I requested. Got to be 21 or over to do that, but we all are over 21. One thing I noticed that you put on your request list, which I didn't know about you, but you like the same kind of potato chip I do. I don't eat a lot of potato chips. Cheddar and sour cream.

Yes, which I think it's a very particular style. I mean, not like a tortilla chip or like a d'oree. This is something very specific. So cheddar and sour cream is the way to go. It is. I'm a jalapeno boy. I like a jalapeno chip. I don't like jalapeno.

I don't like salt and vinegar. Oh, I love salt and vinegar. I can't do that. You know, the one thing that was always told to me, I don't know if you agree with this. But I know people listening will understand. There's a new chip out. out there, the LeBron has designed, which is a cheddar

and sour cream chip with spice added to it. There's a spiciness to it. When you open up they taste fantastic, but when you open up the bag, it smells like feet. Have you ever gotten that? So you know, so I can't I can't have a bad smell. Yeah. Yeah.

It smells like feet. It's always told to me. No, not good. It's always told me. Okay. We're going to talk a little bachelor here and bachelorette. Andrew, do you still watch the show? Yes, I do But it's funny So I want to talk about something Bachelor

Not directly answering your question But it's funny how we're all sitting here together And you kind of touched on it earlier And there are literally Hundreds and hundreds of people Men and Women that have gone through the Bachelor Over the years But it's funny how

You can create a relationship With somebody And it makes that experience that much better And it lasts long You know like And again So Chris and I You know when I was

sequestered for all that time beforehand. And I was, you know, I, I didn't know what I was doing. I didn't know what the show was about. And Chris took me out to lunch with, with his then-wife, Gwen, and their two-year-old son at that point, Joshua. And so we go out to lunch and, like, you know, he's trying to, you know, kind of figure me out and I'm trying to figure him out. And I remember this moment when his son, Joshua, is pinging me with French fries. And I'm trying to keep a straight face. And I've got nieces and nephews and I've got, lots of little kids in my life. And I'm just like, I want to throw a French fry back at him, but I'm not going to. But there was like this genuineness about that experience. And a lot of

the bachelors, it's TV and it's, you know, it's edited and all that kind of stuff. But there are so many real moments where you actually develop these relationships, not just the, not just the men and the women, but like you, like you find these friendships and it makes it not only tolerable, but enjoyable. And it's, and, you know, it's not the fraternity or anything like That it's just you do develop these unique relationships that can last a lifetime. And I've had that with Chris for, God, it'll be 20 years that I was on the show next year. And we've remained great friends ever since. And, you know, I think we met five years ago when you've been doing the show.

Yeah, but it was. And I didn't even know I met you, damn near 30 years ago. He screwed my sister. Not true. Not true. Not true. But it's funny how it's this like, it is this, this. This group of people that somehow you kind of find a commonality and a friendship.

Well, you're exactly right because, you know, Wells and I have been able to spend a lot more time this year together, along with Dean. Dean's around, but you never know where he's at in the world, typically. But I doubt Wells and I, other than like personal stuff that we're trying to figure out, have talked about The Bachelor, ever. Like, I don't think it comes up. And that's when you know, like, you know, sometimes you get around the group of people and, like, that's still the thing that's discussed, or it's what are you doing next? Or, you know, are you going on the next show? And when you get a real friendship, you start to enjoy the other person. And we've only met through this weird experience that now we can all share. And going back to what I said earlier, it was on that golf course that day with you that I said, okay, like, Andrew's a good dude. Like, he's, you know, he doesn't have, he's not a weirder that sold out for the fame of this. Like, he's just a good dude who thought it could. be fun. I can do this too now, which is a, I hope, is a huge compliment to you. I appreciate though. It was, all right, we can do this thing. But I also, I think you probably played golf with hundreds and hundreds of people that have a connection to the Batchel or whatever else.

And some people just kind of want to be near it. Somebody, you know, want to talk about it. But like, you know, it's, I mean, how else would I know a guy from Indiana? How would, you know, make this connection back with, you know, a person I, family I want to you from Carmel. But no. With a guy that I That I knew I did stuff cheese olives With his sister one time

Now I'm going to describe it as that from now on Hey Sarah It's time Martini No no no no No no We want some prison sex The

Andrew I think everybody here would be interested Tell us more about this sequestering that you did That wasn't a thing When I was The Bachelor I got a phone call I showed up to, in fact, the backstory to that is,

I went to Honduras for a wedding. I came back from Honduras with a parasite that I had through the whole time that people know about. I lost 30 pounds when I was a bachelor. But I flew into L.A. three days before we started, and everybody in the world knew I was the bachelor at that point, right? They knew where I was going to do. So you were hidden.

So yeah, so nobody knew, obviously, that I was on it. It was a big kind of secret. And the whole reveal back then was that I was going to come out on Good Morning America. and it was going to say, this is the next bachelor. Yeah. And so I, I mean, I had 100% anonymity going into it, but then, but then, you know, afterwards, it was, it was like, you know, all of a sudden the curtain had fallen. And it was a really weird thing. But it was, there was all this secrecy about who I was or whatever else.

But there was a moment on the show when one of our dates, we were ice skating. And Century Plaza, you know, in L.A., it's the ice skating rink down there part of the year. and there's this huge kind of viewing deck and so we were on a date and me and this young lady were ice skating and back then you guys didn't have this but like there was a hot tub on every episode like every time like anything happened

like you're going to the hot tub one on the hot tub they had a hot tub in the middle of the skating rink hundreds of people are watching all circling there and I'm like am I really gonna get a hot tub right now with like this kind of stranger on an ice rink with all these people watching and it was this

again it was this migration in a very short amount of time from being just a guy to all of a sudden The Bachelor and you know it was Good Morning America and it was Us Magazine

and all this stuff and it happened so quickly and the only thing that saved me is that I never took it very seriously I kind of laughed at myself the whole time I never thought oh that's a bad picture or you know like you know I don't like the way I look

or what I said I just laughed about it the whole time friends did but it was crazy yeah do you still get recognized um from the time on the show yeah i mean you know it when i was on it it was you know all this alternative tv stations and social media wasn't around it was still network tv was still the thing i mean there was i don't 25 to 30 million people watched every episode along the way so it it was out there then us magazine followed it very closely and people magazine all the all the tabloids and so it was a it was a big part of people people's lives for for a while and so you know definitely like you know the younger generation

you know doesn't recognize me but people kind of in my demographic you kind of they kind of grew up with me you know a little bit so yeah you're my aunt's favorite bachelor probably still to this day you'd say it has amazing taste yeah great woman yeah you obviously have a friendship with Chris then. He was the host of the show back when you were The Bachelor. Yep. You're sitting in a hot tub and a skating rink with 100 people watching in the back of your mind going, this guy convinced me to do this. Yes, I do blame him for a lot of it. No, but he was, he was like, and he's always been a confidant on the show throughout, like, you know, but I think more than ever, and I think he'd probably say the same thing. Like,

I spent a lot of time with him off the camera because I was in a, in the mansion where they filmed most of it by myself. But he would be there a lot. We would hang out. And so, like, he was my only friend. Like, literally, not just talking about The Bachelor, but, like, just, I mean, I was there for, I don't know, eight weeks, nine weeks, whatever it took to film.

It was a lot longer back then. And, you know, he was my guy. Like, he was my buddy. And so, and I'm lucky to call him a friend since, you know, for all those years, and we're still very tight. And, uh, we got a chance to come up here and see you guys. We had a road trip for three and a half hours driving up the coast. So it was a, what an interesting.

interesting, like, uh, difference between your experience with Chris and, like, Ben and ours, because we obviously are also very close with Chris, but you did the show back when there wasn't a huge age discrepancy between the host and the lead of the show, because when I was on the show was very much that, like, he was a father figure. And for you, it must have been more like a peer. No, he was a buddy. And like, so we would talk off camera, like, wasn't that weird or like, what do you think about, she said that? Like, what do you know, like, there was, it was, it was a buddy thing we're only a couple years apart in age and so um and he was you know he had a young family so like i wanted to i wanted what he had right like i was aspiring to have that and i'm i'm a

die-hard romantic and you know and i went when i did the show it wasn't because i wanted to be on tv i didn't see the show before like i wanted that i wanted the thing i wanted the the family i wanted all that stuff and maybe this is a way to to make that happen and so having chris there who was again had a young family whatever else like i I saw myself in him. So I took his advice very genuinely. Yeah. Because it had worked for him, you know?

And he was sitting where I wanted to sit in a couple years. How did they find you then? You didn't explain that, did you? No. So back, like, you could apply for it. I didn't apply for it. I just, I literally got a phone call at my desk. And I think it was about the time that Joe Millionaire had come out.

And so I think that the show kind of wanted a backstory. So the first two gentlemen that were on The Bachelor, you know, were, you know, just guys. Just, like, you know, like, Batch are guys. Yeah, just regular dudes. And I think they wanted to have something that had a little backstory to it, had a little history where, you know,

they didn't have someone that America already knew, but they wanted, I think they wanted somebody that America could know. Or like, oh yeah, I know Firestone. I know Firestone. You know, like, I know that story. And I think the winery had something to do with it as a backdrop for, you know,

for a lot of the story. But people that don't know, it's your family has a winery in, Southern California? Yeah. So we're in the wine business. My brother's in the beer business, 805 beer. I'm sure a lot of people are familiar with it. But my family, you know, generations ago started Firestone tires. And so Firestone's a pretty household type of a name. So I think that blended with what they were trying to get accomplished. And especially because if none of the girls knew who it was that they were going to see, maybe it was a little more familiar to have a name

that was recognizable. But now, you know, having you, having, they know you, before you were the bachelor you the people followed your story they fell in love with you for for your personality and everything else and the 25 bacheloretts that were going to show up also knew you kind of yeah I mean not to say they knew you a hundred percent but they knew enough of you to want to go and take that chance yeah to agree to it where were the ladies at then the woman at when you were in the mansion you were saying you lived in that mansion alone it's a big house yep was this is the same mansion no this was this was one of the first I mean it's iconic I don't even think it's there anymore. It was, you know, on the water in Malibu, and all the ladies were in a house

about 15 miles away. Also in Malibu, but they had their own house. Did Chris live with you? No, he didn't live, but he was just there a lot, you know, because, like, he would go there and hang out and, you know, because they were doing whatever the production stuff was. But there was a lot of production stuff that was happening, but, like, they wouldn't interact with me. And, like, I'm a very social person. Like, I'm like, I want to play, I want to shoot hoops with somebody. Like, I want to do something. And they were very standoffish to me because I'm sure they were told to. Yeah. So it was a very odd couple of months that I was in this huge house by myself.

Yeah. Yeah, I remember when I went on the show, one of the first bit of directives that we got from an executive producer was, I know you want to talk to the camera guys and the sound people, but they are furniture. Do not interact with them. And I was like, well, I can't do that. Like, I'm going to have to talk to these people. I got close to some, but like, it was funny through those, you know, those couple of months that I was there like it did sort of start to fall into the background you know like like eventually it

did normalize a bit and that's what people ask me most often is like isn't that weird being filmed all the time oh the first couple weeks it was bizarre but then eventually it just kind of became it was just there it was like white noise eventually yeah the uh this whole thing uh has transformed in incredible ways uh you are now married you mentioned you have children three kids three kids um does your wife at all look back on this time has she ever seen it does she laugh at you or enjoy watching it everybody laughs at me just so clear um no it's it's it's funny i mean it has kind of faded into the background quite a bit you know and like you know i i didn't do any hollywood stuff afterwards like i got back to my to my life so it's it's a fun chapter that like

like sitting in this calcare right now with you guys like like all these memories are popping back up And it's fun to reminisce about, but it's literally just one chapter in my life. So it's not, it's, you know, it's not a defining moment by any stretch, but it was a lot of fun. Are you happy you did it? Yeah, or do you regret it? Absolutely. No, I don't regret any of it. And, you know, it's so easy for people to say, oh, you know, I wish I wouldn't have said that, or they portrayed me wrong, or I wasn't like that. But, like, if you're taking that stuff seriously, like, there's something wrong.

Like, that is literally, I mean, it's just a, it's a snippet of a portion of your life. and if you can't look back on a photo album what's like Whitney and I and like be able to laugh at yourself and be like oh my God I can't believe I was that awkward I can't believe that I looked like whatever you need to be able to take it with a grain of salt and so answer yes I'm so happy I did it

made great friends didn't work out the way that I thought it was going to but I have no regrets whatsoever did they say on your season here for the right reasons oh 100% and I'll say like I I was 100% there genuinely to see if this could work.

I didn't take a dime of money. I paid for the ring myself. Really? I did not want any, I didn't want any sniff that it was contrived. I wanted to be an authentic experience. That was the only thing I could control. I couldn't control editing. I couldn't control the girls.

I could just control myself and my attitude and perspective on what I was doing. It's funny because, you know, that there for the right reasons thing gets brought up so often. And I think that maybe you are the only person who has ever been there for the right reason. Because, like, you come from this winery family. You know, you don't need to sell diarrhea tea on Instagram. Like, there is no kind of bullshit with you. You actually went there and wanted to, and I didn't know about, Neil Lane wasn't there. You bought your own ring?

Back then it was Harry Winston. But, I mean, they were going to offer a ring. And I'm like, if I give. this ring to this woman that I feel like I'm in love with and I want to give this a real shot. I don't want there to be any sense of like, this is not genuine. I don't want it to be like, well, I'm going to give you this ring to then give to her, then I'm going to take it back or you're going to, whatever it is. I'm like, no, if I'm going to do this, it's going to be authentic. I might get my heart trampled. Yeah. But you know what? That's authentic. And I

would learn more from that than faking it. That was one thing I always appreciated about Jordan and Jojo was that Jordan went and bought another ring afterwards and then did it again without cameras. Well, I think it's necessary. Yeah. I mean, it is. Like, you come off that show and you're still dating. Yeah. And then there's that like moment where you decide

okay, is this really something or is it not? Yeah, I agree. I think that was a, it's a good move, a good moment and it's, you know, it shows that next chapter or that the show isn't kind of what like either brought you together or forced you together. It just helped you meet. Yeah. And life's

Beyond. Hey, we do have a big day ahead of us. I want to make sure to tell everybody out there to order with the Uber Eats app, they stocked us up. I mean, with everything for this trip, with chips, with tequila, with seltzers, we brought in,

what else did you guys order? Waters. Well, yeah, lots of waters to offset some of the tequila we're going to be drinking. So keep that in balance, but I mean, I mean, snacks, you know, energy bars, like the whole thing. I mean, if we're not totally jacked up, all day on the course, like, just

purring it 350 yards off the scene. That's not Uber Eats' fault. That's our fault. Yeah, so the Uber Eats app is the way to go. Again, thank you for bringing us all together, Uber Eats, to have this awesome trip, but also to showcase something that we all use in our lives. Now, as we close this whole thing out today and get ready for an amazing round,

Wells, we do have to ask you. We are in May. There's a show that usually is filmed sometime this time of year called Bachelor and Paradise. Familiar. Yeah. Are you going to be on Bachelor in Paradise? Can I ask that question to you? Are you

going to be doing it? Where are you at with it? We haven't heard a thing. Well, it was a weird thing because there was a bunch of talk that it wasn't going to happen. I don't know if you guys ever talked about it on your show. Yeah, we talked about a lot. There was rumors that the show wasn't going to happen. And I thought

that was really interesting because I do feel like it's a very successful show one and for a lot of people it's everyone's favorite show so the idea of them of us not doing it is kind of a silly clickbait

story just in general so I can say that of course yes the show is coming back we're going to film it where we always film it it's going to film during the same time that it always does will I be there probably

here's the thing that like I know that this sounds like very vague or cryptic but this is how this is what I've learned about Hollywood Hollywood doesn't get their shit together until 17 minutes before something's supposed to start

yeah so you never really know what's going to happen so I would say it's definitely happening and definitely probably gonna see me there definitely probably maybe we're not getting a lot of it 65% of the time, it works every time.

Are you, uh, Andrew, any follow up to that? Are you curious? Do you watch Paradise? I do. I mean, that is,

it is a fascinating show. Yeah. A lot of bikinis. A lot of, a lot of tequila. And those are like two of my favorite categories. Like if I was on Jeopardy and those were like, what is tequila?

What are bikinis? Like that would be, those, I would go for the daily double every time. Um, so, uh, yeah, I hope we see Wellesie on there.

That would be, you know, that's like one of the best parts. Would you, would like bachelor in paradise wasn't around during your time would you go uh would you go on paradise you know i'm 46 years old with three kids nobody wants that like if you want to if you want to if you want to kill a show put me on it on a dating show right now let's flash back though you're the bachelor doesn't work out uh no bachelor i don't work out oh you mean it doesn't it doesn't work out for you

i thought you meant like physically you need to work out if you're going to go i think you're looking at my flabby arms you uh um you uh you uh you're the first lead ever to do one of those side shows would you've said yes does that feel like your cup of teeth probably not I mean it just that's not my I mean I don't know it would be tough just because

I would just get very cynical about the thing but I do enjoy watching it and like and the characters that have been on it before have been so compelling and so willing to kind of put themselves out there so no I will say this

I think I can speak for everybody and say well we hope to see you on the beach we hope to see you very often speaking on the beach those flowered shirts yeah you just look good it fits you man

you do a great job at it my olive skin down there and the Mexican summer sun we'll have to we'll have to just I guess wait and in wonder until the official announcement

if there is one if you'll be there or not yeah okay that works it's coming soon it's coming soon there we go that's all that's all

needed to make sure there's a little peace of mind walking into the first tea today at Pebble Beach. Again, thanks to Uber Eats for bringing us all here. Gentlemen, this has been a pleasure. It's really great to be with you all. Thank you for coming out here with the Almost Famous Podcast,

but also thanks to UberEats for bringing us together out here. We're going to have a great day at Pebble Beach. We've got to get to the range. I've got to make sure that my bag is on its way to the hotel because that's really important

to have golf clubs. Yeah, to play golf. To play golf. So I want to see if we can get Uber Eats to actually come out in the fairway. I want to order something while we're like walking down four and like see if they can meet us at like the six T-box.

I have the Uber Eats app. Okay. We're going to get on. I want to see like roast and brodies. You know, like doing donuts on the way out there. Let's see. Cross over through the yard, through the hedges.

Yeah. On to the course. I don't put it past them. They're that good. They're that good. Hey, follow my lead here, Andrew. Wells has been around for a bit. Thanks everybody for listening. We'll be back this next week with one of our regular episodes. Ash will be there. Ashley's also having the producer here. She's also having like a girls trip, right? That's coming up sometime soon? In June. In June. So that's going to be a very special episode. I imagine Ashley's very ready for a girl's trip. Like, yeah, hers is like slightly different than this. Yeah, a little more like Ashley-esque. A little more spa, a little more girls. Are we invited to that too? Yeah.

We'll talk about that later. I don't hate a spa. It's funny because when this came up and they said, hey, what do you want to do? Immediately, I was kind of joking. I was like, I want to bring these guys to Pebble Beach and play golf. And you're in Amy, who's been our producer forever, responded with, okay. And I was like, oh. Well, son of our God.

You should have asked. I don't always typically say that when you ask me things. Ben called Danielle and I the other day and said, can we do this? And he asked us something. We just literally said, no. No. No. It's not going to work. And I say, okay, well, that works. At least we asked, right? You got to, you know what? All they can do is say no.

All they can do is say no. Hey, uh, with that. You guys talk about Andrews Argyll socks. Did you talk fashion? That's what the ladies want to hear about. This is a podcast. I can't see us. Yeah. Well, I think, I get a picture at some point because I thought we were getting best dressed awards? I'm giving it to Andrew. I'm getting like first, second, and third. Andrew's wearing a blue, a light blue,

floral golf shirt, just tight enough. I'm not going to lie. It's the perfect tightness. Blue pants also just tight enough, looking stylish. Argyll socks. Wells is all in black. He's like Johnny Cash over here. Looking really good. A nice black golf sweater, black pants. Ben, let me tell you, is wearing the exact same outfit.

He was wearing last night because he doesn't have any clothes or any underwear. Uber Eats is getting the underwear. Well, yeah, but just to be said, Uber Eats is here with my deodorant, my toothbrush, my toothpaste, grabbed it all, dude. Q-tips. It's here. Thanks to Uber Eats for making sure that I have everything I need. It just came in.

This is a big day. Although Ben does have a lovely cashmere sweater with a, like a hood, which I did touch because it was so soft. He also is kind of a weird smell. We need to get this guy. We need to get his fresh clothes and a shower. There's a lot going on right now. There's a lot going on. but this day's about to turn to be incredible

because I believe everything's going to show up and I believe that once again Chris Harrison shoots a low round today I believe Wells is in second I believe I'm really close and third I actually think Wells and I are going to go back and forth into the final hole I believe Andrew just has a great time and makes it to if I don't launch a club into the Pacific Ocean today

like that's a win like that's a lot of pressure on today there will be some games being played I'm assuming there'll be some updates that you can follow. I'm hoping if I take Wells down today, it's not going to feel great because I do love the guy, but it's going to feel so good really deep inside my evil soul. I mean, you're going to do you like one of those blue cheese stuffed olives. It's going to be really bad. Well, I mean, I can't beat you.

You invited all of us here, you know? I feel like I got to take an L here. Yeah, that's right. Yeah, good for you. Hey, follow my lead here, Andrew. Thanks for listening to Almost Famous Podcasts brought to you by Uber Eats. I've been Ben.

I've been Andrew? What do I do? I've been Andrew? Oh, yeah. Okay, I've been Andrew. I've been Ashley. Later, guys. Follow the Ben and Ashley I,

Almost Famous Podcasts on IHartRadio or subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts. Just like great shoes, great books take you places. Through unforgettable love stories and into conversations with characters you'll never forget. I think any good romance, it gives me this feeling of, like, butterflies.

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