The Ben and Ashley I Almost Famous Podcast - Bachelor Countdown Day 2: Lorenzo Borghese

Episode Date: January 21, 2025

It's been nearly 20 years since Lorenzo Borghese was "The Bachelor" and all this time later, it's still really hard to find a trace of his reality TV days. He spills what his fiancé can't stand about him, when his wedding will be and why his underwear was a part of his proposal!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Listen to America's Crime Lab on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is the Ben and Ashley I, Almost Famous Podcast, Bachelor Countdown. Hey guys, welcome to the Almost Famous Podcast. Today, we are continuing our series leading up to grand season in which we are interviewing a ton of former bachelors. this is episode two with the prince Lorenzo Burgese welcome to the show thank you happy new year and thanks for having me on thank you okay so Lorenzo please tell us all how you're a prince and like you come across to me very American I look at your Instagram you're very entrenched in American culture yeah how are you an American citizen and are you still a prince yeah well I'm an

American and Italian citizen. I was born in Italy, moved to United States when I was five. So I am pretty much an American now because I'm 52, so I've been here for 47 years. The Prince title came back in the, well, it started in the 1600s. My relative was Camilo Borghese. It was Pope Paul the 5th. He was Pope from 1605 to 1621. back in the 1600s, the Pope was like a king. He had his own army. At that time, my family controlled about, say, a third of the land of Italy. And because he had power, he also had the power to bestow titles on different family members and heads of the family. And my side of the family received five different titles, everything from Duke to Prince. So it's trickled down

from generation to generation. I've said this. It means absolutely nothing regarding power. It's just sort of like the Coliseum is there to, you know, you go to the Coliseum in Rome and there's history there. And it's just, it just states that I'm part of a family that helped to, you know, build Italy and create Rome. Without those that know Italian history,

obviously that your family's name does carry so much influence. and historical significance. Do you have an issue with the Medici's? I haven't met them. The only issue I have was with one of my great uncles who was playing cards and had a Medici castle and lost in a card game. Oh, that's wild.

That's the only story I have. My father, I go back with my family occasionally to Rome, and he gives me a little history, and I learn a little bit more and more, and we were in Tuscan, one day and driving around and he stops and he showed me this castle and he said yeah that used to be it was his uncle's castle and he said i used to go there and uh we lost it in in a card game so no wait for real that's awesome that's so good oh my gosh okay so if you're a prince and you come

from this very well-known italian family why did your family come to america when you're five I asked my father the same question because every time I go to Rome, I mean, I love Italy and Rome's my favorite international city. And when my father was growing up, he tells me a story how, you know, he grew up during World War II when he was little kid. and he said at that time he didn't realize anything about our background but the family was taken to Florence and he stayed in he and his brother stayed in the penthouse in one of the five-star hotels in Florence while the war was going on so he said to him he you know everything was great because they played soccer with the soldiers up on up on the penthouse there and he had a great time and then they started bombing Lawrence and take

out the bridges and they would drop flyers telling everybody to get out of Florence and then he moved to another hotel which was I think a one-star hotel and into the basement and at that point he realized that war wasn't wasn't so great and when the war ended a lot of our property had been damaged a lot of the family property had been damaged and my grandfather at the time realized that he had to go to work that everything as, you know, from the 1600s on with the family accumulated, was ending quickly. And for example, in 1901, the Roman government took over the Galleria, the Villa Borghese,

which is Galleria Borghese now, and all the property. And the way they did that, actually was 1902, was that they nationalized it. And they were able to nationalize it by taxing the family an amount that we couldn't pay. So we had to hand it. over to the Roman municipality. So it started in the early 1900s, but after the war, we lost a lot of property. And my grandfather realized he had to go to work. And what he did

before this, which is what my father tells me, tells me, is that he was a hunter. And what they would do is go hunting almost every other day. And they, like a hobby? What's that? Like a hobby? Yeah, well, but that's what they did. They go horseback riding and hunting for for pheasants. And it was a big thing. It's like, you know, men that play golf now, and they talk about their golf game. This is what my grandfather grew up doing, and that's all he knew. And then when everything was essentially taken away after the war, he's like, I need to go to work. And he became head of Ford motorcars then. And then my grandmother also realized that maybe it's a good thing that she goes to work and she had the idea of creating

lipsticks that match your wardrobe at the time I think there were only three lipstick colors and she's like you know what I would like different lipstick shades to match everything I'm wearing so she met with Charles Resson who was the head of Revlon at the time and they decided to create a cosmetic line called Princess Marcella Borghese which she launched and in order to do so she had to get permission from the Pope at the time in order to start a business. And it was really frowned upon from what my father tells me from other members of the family because it was the first time that Borgazis actually had to go to work.

When my father was 21, his first job was working for his mother. He was working at Princess Marcella Borghese cosmetics. He got married shortly after that to my mother. He met her at a wedding in Florence, and they spoke. They had maybe three sentences in three months. months they were married. So now he had a family. My mom was living in the United States. She moved to Rome with him. And he realized that if he kept working with my grandmother, his mother at the time, that he was sort of stuck. He was, you know, the son of the founder. And he didn't want that.

And at that time, believe it or not, it was difficult as a Borgazi to get a job. Okay, you just And I don't understand the real background why, but he said, listen, you know, you just can't go into a company and ask for a job there. It was sort of frowned upon. So he knew that there was another thing. At times, at the time, didn't really work very hard. And he knew that he wanted to bring us up with a good work ethic. And he realized that it wasn't going to happen in Italy and to get away from Italy. And at that time, we decided to move the family to Paris.

And we lived there for two years. and he said, you know, the real place to live is the United States because that's the real place of opportunity and it sort of leaves the family history behind and we can start from scratch. So my father really moved us here with nothing. I mean, he didn't have a job. He did go to Oxford for his undergrad

and then he went to UPenn for grad school. So obviously he was fluent in English and had an American education lease in business school. and he just my father is an incredible work ethic and he also doesn't like to talk about the past very often and I don't know why either it's just he just grew up in a different time than I did but I learn more and more about her history

every time I talk to him and every time we go to Italy together but it's you know some people love to talk about everything and he doesn't he's more passionate about having a family that has you know that's that understands what it is to be a family priority is his family work ethic and friends and he realized that wasn't going to happen in italy and that's sort of a short story of why we moved here it's uh it's so interesting to me picking up on some of that stuff you said your your grandfather realized he had to go back to work so he took over a ford motor company

what a wild decision to go back to work and say hey you know what i'm going to do i'm going to take over one of the largest automobile manufacturers in the country, or in the world. And it was his first job. Yeah, it wasn't so awesome. And then my grandparents, and I don't know the whole story either,

but they, I think, got exhausted being in Rome. And my grandma would tell me, you know, every night they had to go out, they had to entertain. It was really tiring. And so they decided to leave and they moved to Switzerland. And they, they, ever since I was a kid, I'd visit them in Switzerland, not Italy.

I would go with them in the summertime, stately, but they live permanently in Switzerland. And they just said they just wanted to get away from Italy. Well, not to make a massive turn here, but your background now leads me to this question. You have the prince title, as you mentioned, based on your family history. But I'm assuming, and tell me if I'm wrong. I'm assuming now in your work and in your personal life, you don't introduce yourself as Prince Lorenzo. I don't.

I feel, you know, I think if you do, you're doing it for the wrong reasons, right? Sure. And it's not really genuine. But I also have to look back. You know, there's blessings to it too. because I know there's no way that I would have gotten chosen for the bachelor if I didn't have the history. And one of the first things they asked me when they interviewed me is like, why don't we know anything about you? Do you have any headshots, et cetera? And I was like, headshots, I'm not a model. Like,

if you guys are looking for a model, I'm not your guy. I'm just a regular guy living in New York City that happens to have an interesting background. And when I met with them, I remember, you know, we looked at a map of Rome and obviously Villa Borgiaz is a huge part of it. It's like Central Park of Rome and they started looking at it the history and that's when it really became exciting for them. So, you know, I used it in that sense because I knew that they wanted to do it. And I figure obviously not a lot of people have the background and if I can get an edge and, you know, because life is very hard, I will take it.

but I don't like to do it when I'm around, you know, friends and just meeting people because it's just, I don't feel it's necessary. And I think it's a sign of weakness when you have to introduce yourself that way. But it's an incredible, like you said, it's an incredible history and it's an incredible gift and it is a title that is true to you. I'm wondering, though, is there any, I mean, resentment on your end that the show did use it? Because now when people, you know, that are fans of the show, hear your name, they immediately associate it with Prince. Is that something that you're proud of?

Or are you kind of like, I wish that wasn't the case because I'd prefer not to have people know me in that way? You know, I'm realistic about it. And again, if it wasn't for the title and the family history, I wouldn't have been picked for the show, especially because of the family history.

And, you know, I'm not upset that they did it. I think they had to do it, and I think it helps ratings. I think that if it was just Lorenzo Borgesi hanging out in New York City as a bachelor, I don't think the ratings would have been, you know, up there as they were. I understand it's a business, and they use the show as a business. And I said, you know what? Why don't I use this as a business, too? And as I said, you know, if I can, I will use it when I think it's necessary,

when there's an opportunity that I don't think I can get without it. that's a gift that was given to me just because of my family history. But as a person, I don't use it. And I'm not upset when they do use it because I realize it's opened a lot of doors for me. Like, you know, I have an animal charity. And I was able to start it and really grow it because of the Bachelor. And the Bachelor's open a lot of doors for me. And again, I wouldn't have opened up those doors for me if there wasn't that family history.

My boyfriend's professor is way too friendly, and now I'm seriously suspicious. Well, wait a minute, Sam, maybe her boyfriend's just looking for extra credit. Well, Dakota, it's back to school week on the OK Storytime podcast, so we'll find out soon. This person writes, my boyfriend has been hanging out with his young professor a lot. He doesn't think it's a problem, but I don't trust her. Now, he's insisting we get to know each other, 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 form. professor and they're the same age. 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 Yumanzoor. 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. Imagine that you're on an airplane and all of a sudden you hear this. Attention passengers.

The pilot is having... an emergency, and we need someone, anyone, to land this plane. Think you could do it? It turns out that nearly 50% of men think that they could land the plane with the help of air traffic control. And they're saying like, okay, pull this, until this. Pull that, turn this. It's just, I can do my eyes close.

I'm Mani. I'm Noah. This is Devon. And on our new show, no such thing. We get to the bottom of questions like these. Join us as we talk to the leading expert on overconfidence. Those who lack expertise lack the expertise they need

to recognize that they lack expertise. And then, as we try the whole thing out for real, wait, what? Oh, that's the run right. I'm looking at this thing. See? Listen to no such thing on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Your entire identity has been fabricated. Your beloved brother goes missing without a trace. You discover the depths of your mother's illness, the way it has echoed and reverberated throughout your life, impacting your very legacy. Hi, I'm Danny Shapiro. And these are just a few of the profound and powerful stories I'll be mining on our 12th season of Family Secrets. With over 37 million downloads, we continue to be moved and inspired by our guests and their courageously told stories. I can't wait to share 10 powerful new episodes with you,

stories of tangled up identities, concealed truths, and the way in which family secrets almost always need to be told. I hope you'll join me and my extraordinary guests for this new season of Family Secrets. Listen to Family Secrets Season 12 on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Were the casting producers on the hunt for a prince because this was back in the day where The Bachelor wasn't necessarily from the previous season, but often just a very wealthy,

you know, I don't know how to also describe it, like, desirable and, like, yeah, desirable right-in-man, there you go, yeah, thank you, Ben. So this was 2006, and I think a couple years before they almost canceled it. the ratings had dropped, and then they picked up again. And I believe the season before mine was in Paris. And I think it was the first, and I could be wrong, but I think it was the first time they filmed abroad, like a season outside of the U.S. And I believe the ratings were pretty good for that season. And so they were trying to, I think, look for something different.

And they were trying to find an angle. And I'm sure they had a lot of people that they were looking at, too, that had a different sort of story to tell. And I think that they love the fact that, hey, maybe we can get, you know, like this fairy tale prince, princess wedding at the end. And, you know, if I had been from a different country that wasn't as pretty to film, you know, and like being in Rome is a beautiful place to film and it's, it's obviously very scenic, but also extremely expensive. And I think that they told me they would never film in Italy again because it was so expensive. and every time you turn on a light switch there, you need 10 crew members from Italy to do it. Basically, it was like unionized everywhere.

I believe they really ripped off ABC and Warner Brothers because they knew it was a TV show. But it was extremely expensive. And, you know, I don't really know what they were looking for, but I think they were looking for something different. And that whole, you know, history, of the family and being able to film at Villa Borghese and being able to film all over the Borghese properties in Rome

was something that they were excited about. I was excited. I'm excited about it just because I love Italy. My wife is Italian and we just went and I'm like, this has to be one of the coolest moments for everybody on the crew and cast. Did you go to Rome or where did you go? We went to Rome and went to Florence. That's why when we were prepping for this,

I was very familiar with the Borghesey name. and the influence, and it was very exciting for me now to speak with you because I think this is such an iconic season of The Bachelor. And we've talked so much now about your family history that I think so many people are going to be intrigued by because I think, yes, you had the Prince title, but I think people have forgotten exactly what that means to you and what that means to your family and that you're still here in the United States and that you don't live in a castle in Rome, I think this is going to be really helpful. But I have, I want to transition because you have

a huge thing happening in your life. You just got engaged. And this engagement is something that we want to celebrate because that's why the Bachelor exists is to help people find love. You're 52 years old though. And so my question before we transition into the engagement is with everything that we've talked about so far. And now that you're 52 and you just got engaged, how much of the Bachelor is still a part of your life? Do people still bring it up? Does it still hope you get doors open? Is it still something that you talk about, you know, in once a week, once a day, once a year? How much of The Bachelor still is a part of your life experience right now? I would say maybe 1% at best. I don't talk about it. My fiancé obviously despot, not obviously,

but despises the fact that I was on the show. You know, it was very hard for her to tell her parents that she was, first of all, dating an older guy. And secondly, that he was on the bachelor. And I can understand, you know, one day I'll be a father and I think I'd be pretty upset about it too in a way. But, you know, for, I can always defend myself and say, hey, listen, you know, people don't get these opportunities often.

And if you get an opportunity, I never want to be the person that thinks of what if, you know, I like to, if I get something unique, I like to try. And if it didn't work out, it didn't work out. But I was, I was given an opportunity that most people, the 99.99% of the population will never get. And so I don't regret doing it, but as part of my life now, it's really non-existent. People don't recognize me anymore. I remember it lasted for about five years and then it started slowing down. And now with, you know, with how media has changed too, you know, everyone's preoccupied with their social media, their, through the TikTok, Netflix, everything else is going on. And so, you know,

talking about a show that was in 2006, you know, makes me sound ancient almost at this time. So it's not really brought up. If I'm doing, I do a lot of charity work and when I'm introduced, they will, they will give my my history like and they'll say that i was the bachelor and things like that but day to day it's it's not brought up and i know you know i work with a lot of people that all of a sudden i'm known for 10 years and they'll call me like wait a second i know you were the bachelor that's like yeah like why do you tell me i was like why would i bring that up you know it's just nothing that i would just hi i'm prince lorenzo former bachelor's nice to meet you It just doesn't come up.

What's interesting, though, sort of going back to The Bachelor and to realize that it did have an influence on me is that we filmed the show primarily in a town call for Scotty, and you probably didn't get to see it from, you probably didn't go there from Rome, but it's about an hour outside of Rome. It's up on the hilltop, and it overlooks the city on a bright, like, beautiful day

you could actually see Rome in the distance. In Frascati, they found a villa that used to be owned by my relatives. And I wrote a book on one relative that actually lost her son there. And that was Paulina Bonaparte, Borghese, who was Napoleon's sibling. It was his sister, and she was only sibling that went to Alba with him when he was exiled. She married a Borghese. She married Camillo Borghese. And it wasn't a marriage out of love, but it was a forced marriage, an alliance, an alliance

with the Vatican and Italy. And one of the reasons why there's a Borghese area in the Louvre Museum is because Napoleon forced Camillo to ship paintings from Rome to Paris. Okay. So there's, he gave, he gave Napoleon a lot of paintings. But going back from Frasotti, it used to be called Villa Borghese there, where Paulino, Bonaparte, Borghese lived for a while and her son died there. And that's where the Bachelor was filmed in this villa.

And there were frescoes of my family painted on the wall. And I didn't even know this villa existed until I was on The Bachelor. And it's my whole family history is right there. And in the same town, there was an enormous villa called Villa Aldo Brondini. My Italian's terrible. But the Aldo Brondini family was another huge family in Italy. The Pope prior to Camilo Borghese was a... an Aldo Brundini.

He is buried in the Borghese crypt in Rome. And he's related to us because the family had no more males left. So another Camilo Borghese married Olympia, Alderobundini, and changed his name to Alvbondini. So that family is related to the Borgazes now. And I said, the pope is, we have two popes in our crypt. One's a Borghese and one's in Alder Bundini, but they're both affiliated with the family and that gigantic villa is where my fiance dash and i are getting married in

in june so in the same town that the bachelor was filmed in and in that and i used to see that villa every day and it was enormous and it was my favorite one there besides the the the the borgazi one and i didn't know the history of it until i started doing the research for this wedding and they don't allow a lot of weddings there but they do it if by you know if if if if the family says okay, and they said, okay, unfortunately. But it all sort of ties back to, you know, being and for Scotty doing the show because I would have never even known that either of these places existed. That's cool.

That's awesome. Well, I mean, it's amazing. And I do. I want to lean into then this beautiful love story that is happening right now. You're going to get married soon. Do you have a date or are you sharing the date? Yeah, no. It's June 14th.

June 14th of this year coming up. It's an exciting time. you did get engaged in Bora Bora. There's a ton of fun stories to this. I want to start with the question that seems to be out there. I don't know where our investigative team found it, but you hid the ring in your underwear, right? Yeah.

Very princely. Yeah. Why? And how? And did she know this after saying yes or before? Oh, after like a couple days after, I think. the reason being you know you're you're married right yes okay so first of all you're pretty nervous doing this right goodness gracious um and i had my mom bring over the ring because i didn't want it

you know obviously you don't want to put it in your bag so you so you want it on your carry on but if they go through your carry on in front of your your future fiancee hopefully your future fiancee you don't want them pulling out the ring so i had my mom take the ring and for me. We were celebrating her 80th birthday. There were 28 of us on this trip. And I'm like, including my fiance's parents and her sister. So I was like, what a perfect time to do it. And if I don't do it, she'll probably break up with me as soon as we get back. It's been over two years since I was dating her. So I have this sunset cruise planned. And I put on my jeans and they're pretty tight because I don't like to wear like really baggy clothes unless, you know, I'm

I'm in my place just hanging out on the weekend. But if I'm going to propose, I want something that looks sort of decent on me. So I've got these tight jeans or tight pants and a shirt. And the ring is in a pretty big box. So I put it in my pants pocket and it's bulging out. And I already thought that she was, she suspected something was going on because it's just two of us going on to sunset cruise in Bora Bora. So I was like, you know, if she sees a big bulge in my pocket,

she's going to know what's happening she's going to know it's a ring it has to be a ring it has to be a right i don't know what else would look like a square in my pocket with a big bulge like that all right so and i'm like running out of the room i'm like all right where i put this the only place i could put it that had a little room was in the front of my pants yeah and then i thought then her line on the bone i thought she's going to sort of she was holding my hand and like her hand was on my leg I was worried that her hand would like sort of reach over by accident and feel this big. Are you happy to see me or is that a ring in your pocket? This is going to be a problem.

So that's when I got up and I went to the, it wasn't a very big boat, but it had it had a downstairs area. And I went downstairs, hold the ring out and put it under a pillow. And then I went back down there when the time was right and proposed. But yeah, that's why I have to put it in my pants. My boyfriend's professor is way too friendly, and now I'm seriously suspicious. Well, wait a minute, Sam. Maybe her boyfriend's just looking for extra credit. Well, Dakota, it's back to school week on the OK Storytime podcast, so we'll find out soon.

This person writes, my boyfriend has been hanging out with his young professor a lot. He doesn't think it's a problem, but I don't trust her. Now, he's insisting we get to know each other, 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.

Imagine that you're on an airplane and all of a sudden you hear this. Attention passengers, the pilot is having an Emergency, and we need someone, anyone, to land this plane. Think you could do it? It turns out that nearly 50% of men think that they could land the plane with the help of air traffic control. And they're saying, like, okay, pull this. Do this, pull that, turn this. It's just...

I can do it in my eyes close. I'm Mani. I'm Noah. This is Devon. And on our new show, no such thing. We get to the bottom of questions like these. Join us as we talk to the leading expert on overconfidence. Those who lack expertise

lack the expertise they need to recognize that they lack expertise. And then, as we try the whole thing out for real. Wait, what? Oh, that's the run right. I'm looking at this thing. Listen to no such thing on the Iheart radio app,

Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hi, my name is Enya Humanzor. And I'm Drew Phillips. And we run a podcast called Emergency Intercom. If you're a crime, 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. Your entire identity has been fabricated.

Your beloved brother goes missing without a trace. You discover the depths. of your mother's illness, the way it has echoed and reverberated throughout your life, impacting your very legacy. Hi, I'm Danny Shapiro. And these are just a few of the profound and powerful stories I'll be mining on our 12th season of Family Secrets. With over 37 million downloads, we continue to be moved and inspired by our guests and

their courageously told stories. I can't wait to share 10 powerful new episodes. with you, stories of tangled up identities, concealed truths, and the way in which family secrets almost always need to be told. I hope you'll join me and my extraordinary guests for this new season of Family Secrets. Listen to Family Secrets Season 12 on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. So you didn't propose on your season of The Bachelor. How much flack for that did you get from producers in the network?

Especially probably since they were trying to go with their fairy tale happily ever after storyline. Because of NDAs? Oh, come on. They've far expired. Oh, no, no, no. Not with me. You can't even find my season. Have you tried looking up my season?

Are you sure it's not on Apple? Because Apple seems to have all of them. I'm pretty sure. All right. I'm going to look at it. right now as we speak you tell that you tell you tell you as what as much as you can i'm just saying they weren't happy okay all right so then you don't propose have you ever proposed until this point yeah you know what's what's was so i was the wrong person for the show for many reasons and

one that really hit me and you're you're gonna think i'm an awful person but i'll tell you why i ended up doing this. I was engaged prior to the show. Okay. Um, I dated, uh, the girls engaged to for seven years. I got engaged and we went to Rome to plan the wedding. And I broke off the engagement. Um, it just, things just didn't feel right. And I made the right decision because she got married shortly after has kids. She's happy. And I think it was, you know, it was, you know, better off doing it before things got completely out of control with the engagement. So when I was on the show, I knew she and her friends were watching. I knew we were in a place that we were supposed to get married and I knew it was like very hurtful.

And I had this in my head the whole time and I'm like, I can't be, I can't do it. I got them like I can't, I can't go through with this. It's, you know, and I'm like, I don't even really know these girls. I was there for two months. know, and I'm not going to, I'm not sharing any secrets. Everyone knows this. You know, you're filmed essentially the entire time. So you never really get to understand what these people are like when they're not on camera. You don't really, you've never fought with these people. These girls never met my friends. I never saw these girls with other guys. Like what happens

that they have a couple of cocktails and they're, you know, they hit on every guy at a bar. I don't know. All I know is that on the center of attention. They're excited to see me, but I haven't experienced anything real with them. And I'm about to propose and then also really hurt the person that I was in love with, you know, prior to this. And I couldn't do it. I couldn't do it. And then I had another ex-girlfriend that I dated through high school throughout my entire college for nine years my first like real girlfriend who I was still talking to you know and you know I was still like in love with her and I know she like loved me and I was like I can't I can't hurt I can't do this in front of in front of them you know and I didn't know that before I left but you know probably six weeks

into it I was really you know I couldn't sleep I just I didn't feel right And, you know, unless I really was 100% positive, this was my true love on the show, which is very hard to do because, again, you know, they don't really know me. They're not with me in my, in my everyday work life in New York City that, you know, they've just experienced this vacation for two months where everything's paid for. And there's nothing to argue about. So I didn't think it was worth hurting the people that I really truly care. for before the show just for a TV show to propose when I wasn't sure. Seems like you never got wrapped up in the Bachelor bubble. I, you know, I didn't really, I saw maybe two shows, not serious, but two Bachelor episodes

before saying yes. And, you know, I say everything happens for a reason and it was by coincidence, too. After my breakup of my engagement, I always had a girlfriend, like ever since high school. And I was all of a sudden, I didn't have a girlfriend. And I was, you know, working on my own in New York City. I didn't have an office. I worked out of my apartment. And I was like, I'm sort of lonely.

And I went out. And I was like, oh, just, and I had two tickets. I've told the story before, but I had two tickets to go see Billy Joel at Madison Square Garden. And they were like third row center on the floor. I was like, I'm going to go to this party that I was invited to, and I'll find a girl I'll invite her to go see Billy Joel. I go to this party and ask maybe 10 girls, hey, what are you doing? Like, you know, I'm like, I'm like, I'm Lorenzo, nice to meet you. I've got an extra ticket to go see Billy Joel.

You want to go? And I turned down 10 times. Nobody would say yes to me. Then I went to my friend. I'm like, hey, you want to come see Billy Joel with me? He's like, you, me and the piano, man, no, man, I'm not going with you. I was like, all right, whatever. I went by myself.

And I go to Madison Square Garden. It was in the middle of the wintertime, and I go to my seats, and there's two chairs, and they both have these jackets on them from the people sitting to the side of the chairs. And I've got two bears in my hand, and the person whose jackets they work takes both jackets off the chairs. I'm like, no, you can keep the jackets on one chair. Like, aren't these both your tickets? And I said, yeah. Like, did you come with anybody?

I said, no. And I'm watching Billy Joel. I'm like, I am such a loser. Like, I'm at this concert by myself. Like, how is this possible? I don't know how it's possible that nobody agreed to you to go to Billy Joel. It wasn't like you asked to go to like, I don't know. Like some weird thing.

It was a Billy Joel, I'm asking for a squad guard. I know you don't know me, but come on, you don't have to talk to me. Just watch a piano man play, you know? And I told myself during this concert, if anything comes my way, I'm taking it. And sure enough, like two weeks later, I get that call. But I forgot one of the most important part of the stories. Prior to that Billy Joel concert, I was dating this girl that lived in my building, but I'd been lonely before then when my engagement broke up.

And then I started dating this girl, and it was like for a month. And I had tickets to go see the Rolling Stones, like really good tickets to the Rolling Stones. I go to her apartment and she's watching The Bachelor. And I'm like, oh, this show's still on? And she's like, yeah. And I guess it was a rerun because a show. was at 8 so she must have been she must have recorded or something and she goes it's it's almost over let's just wait till it's over i'm like all right so the that show ends we go see the rolling

stones and she's like blowing me off the entire time and after the cost i'm like what's what's wrong with you like we just want to go see the wrong stones you're in a bad mood the whole time she goes yeah you know what you're you're moving and i was moving that following week out of the apartment into another one and she says i'm jewish you're catholic i don't see this going anywhere so you know and now that you're out of the building there's no reason to continue that's like all right you could have told me that before the concert i would have maybe brought somebody else that i would have fun with you just broke up with me after the rolling stones so then i go to that billy joe concert by myself i get a call two weeks later

to be interviewed for a show that my ex-girlfriend was obsessed with i'm like hell why not right And I never told her that I got picked. And then she found out and text me, she said, I just heard you're the next bachelor. Is that true? I'm like, yeah, I hope you enjoy my season. Yeah. You know, you're a better man than me, Lorenzo, because when people, 10 women would say no to going to the Billy Joel concert with me, that's when I would start introducing myself as Prince Benjamin Higgins. And you should want to hang out with me because I've got a title.

Lorenzo, as we close up here, though, I do want to give you a moment to tell all of us why your now fiancé is so perfect for you. After two years of dating, as you said, at your mom's 80th birthday celebration with 20 plus family members there, you did propose, she did say yes. You're getting married in June. Why was she the right partner for you now? for the rest of your life. Well, I'll start by this. I say, I skip my first marriage and I go right to my second. I've learned a lot in my life.

I've been in many different relationships, and you learn something from each one, and I never regret anyone I've had a relationship with. I think it makes you stronger. I think you learn a lot, and most importantly, you learn what you love and what you don't love of a person. And when I met Dasha, you know,

I didn't, wasn't love at first, or anything like that it was i think she's a very pretty girl but when i got to know her is when it really happened and first first of all she's a huge animal lover i'm a huge animal lover um you know the worse off a dog is the more she wants it we have one dog with two legs there's another one with one eye and no jaw we just took another one in that has been in a crate for an entire year and just goes around in circles oh my gosh she's a she's a huge dog lover and an animal a lover um and she understands me and you know we don't we fight but it's it's so seldom and it's not like a real fight you know like you've got those really angry fights and i've had a lot of them

with my with my exes where you really don't want to see him again our fights are are pretty stupid and we make up right away um but she is like the nicest person inside and out that you can meet and that was it you mentioned earlier your future kids and that she's younger than you what's your timeline for kids assuming i can have them yes yes no my timeline is probably you know after get married a year, 53, 54. It's a good time. I can still throw a baseball and football and run around and, you know, girls play sports too. So I figure by the time I'm 55, I'll, I'll have children. It's an exciting chapter for you, Lorenzo. Thank you for giving up the time. I know you don't do a lot today when it comes to the Bachelor world, but we appreciate you coming on the

almost famous podcast during our countdown to this next season interviewing past bachelors you are one of the most recognizable seasons of all time and we appreciate you doing this interview with us congratulations again on the engagement that's an amazing chapter and we look forward to hopefully you sharing some photos in june from this incredible villa in italy where everything comes full circle. Lorenzo, thank you. Thank you both. And I wish you all of great New Year's and I will definitely be posting some pictures from the wedding. All right. You guys be saved. Cheers. Have a great year. Lorenzo, you're correct, by the way. Apple does not have your season. Now you go. There you go. All right. See you. Bye. All right. See you. Bye. All right. See you later.

Let's start with a quick puzzle. The answer is Ken Jennings' appearance on The Puzzler with A.J. Jacobs. The question is, what is the most entertaining listening experience in podcast land? Jeopardy-truthers believe in... I guess they would be conspiracy theorists. That's right. They gave you the answers and you still blew it. The Puzzler. Listen on the IHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever.

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