The Ben and Ashley I Almost Famous Podcast - Being Charitable with Charity

Episode Date: June 27, 2023

It’s Charity’s premiere of The Bachelorette! Ben and Ashley are ready to break down every dramatic moment from night one of Charity’s search for love. Ben has a shocking prediction about Braydon, and he reveals why he thinks he got the first impression rose. Ashley admits that she cannot look at one contestant the same after a big move he made in the preview. And, Ben and Ashley share who they think will make it to the very end, after only seeing the first episode!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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in partnership with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Brought to you by Novartis, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports Network. This is the Ben and Ashley I, Almost Famous Podcast with IHart Radio. Hello, everyone.

Welcome to the Almost Famous Podcast, the Almost Famous Podcast episode that's going to break down the first episode of Charities season. Ben, let's start it off. Let's dig into it. What was your takeaway, first impression? And then I'll give you mine.

My takeaway was this. It feels like charity is going to let us know how she feels what she's feeling through the whole season, which is so exciting. Because I think we're going to have a communicative, passionate, and emotional experience because the lead is allowing us in. Like, she doesn't, my first impression is she doesn't have the typical lead nerves. I think she has nerves, but she doesn't have the lead, like, hesitation to open up on night one, like some leads do, like myself. And I think that's going to make a great season because that's only going to get more comfortable for her.

And she's only going to allow us in more. And I think we're going to, like, feel this season. I concur. My takeaway is I actually was more in tune with this episode than I am with most. first episodes, maybe because it wasn't as formulaic because they had the twist of the brother being there, which was actually really fun. I'm a little disappointed at the fact that the brother revealed himself so early. I thought he could stick around for a few weeks in different costumes or just be the bartender

at the mansion all the time and just keep feeding her info. We'll talk about him a little bit more in depth later. But the other thing that I did realize as far as Charity's personality is she's undeniably likable. I kind of forgot how much I liked her after Zach's season because there was so much drama that happened after her departure. And I also sense like no ego from her, which I think is a little bit different than a lot of leads. I feel like a lot of leads are just kind of like they may feel like a little sense of entitlement. Like you're all here for me. And I just feel like she's just super humble. Yeah. I would agree. And watching even the re like the previews for the

rest of the season. I think you're getting that. I mean, I think you're saying almost exactly what I was saying too, where her humility is allowing us to relate in a lot of ways. And since we're relating, we're feeling it. And since we're feeling it, we're involved in it. And I think that's a big deal for a lead. Maybe something we've never said or thought of. But a lead, as we've said many times before, isn't a good lead because necessarily they're likable because the show can make them likable? It's how they respond to difficult situations

and how they respond to really exciting situations, like how they let us in. And I think Charity will have all of it. She's likable because she's humble. And because of that, we're going to be able to be involved in her season, which is all we really want. I mean, Jesse starts the episode out

by saying her love story is going to be one for the ages. But he doesn't know at that point. Does he? Does he say it in the voiceover or at the beginning? I have a feeling that segment when he's standing at the mansion, that's taped afterwards. No, because the awning's still up, which I liked the awning. They had the awning up for rain.

And I was like, I like this. I don't give me like a warm vibe. This is romantic. That's a good point then. He doesn't know it. He doesn't know it. But I will say, I don't typically believe. no matter who the host is, that opening line,

like this is the most dramatic season ever, this is going to be the one for the ages, whatever. I don't typically believe it because I know they're telling us that to get us involved. But I think Charity's story, what we find out more with her being the lead and we heard a little bit about on Zach's season, is, you know, she's went through pain

and pain that most of us, when we enter into, you know, the adult dating pool have felt before. Like, it's not uncommon if you are somebody who is dating or who has dated to have a story of being hurt, of maybe being cheated on, of having some sort of pain involved and how the other person treated you. And so I hear Charity's story and I say, I get it. I understand why she's so, like, so desiring a good partner.

And I hope she finds it. I'm rooting for charity, which, Ashley, to be honest with you. I don't start every first episode of every season rooting for the lead. I don't want to see them paint her. I don't want to see them fall down. I don't want to see this ruin their life. You don't care. I'm apathetic.

I sometimes just don't care. And it's like, I, okay, I want to see the cast. I want to see if they're exciting. I want to see what their stories are. This season, I feel like I'm on Charities team and the cast better catch up. Okay. Well, that's great. I love that you feel that.

Let's talk about the cast. I like the way that these entrances, there was no really over-the-top silly entrances. They were all kind of cute. Like, when I'm thinking about it, I liked the fact that the one guy revealed two tequila shots. He was like, let's see if you're up to date with your shots. That was cute. And then the check that said, check for charity giving my heart. That's good.

Can you think of any others? I can think of some really awkward ones. Okay. But, like, again, there were no, like, big show entrances. No big show. No big show. Yeah, it was, they were genuine. They were thoughtful. The entrances never stand out to me as much in any season. And I kind of just tune them out and I just see who the person is. And like, I like to honestly judge them right away. Well, we know that you're good

at judging the cast right away. Yeah. So I like to see their first like reaction and be like, okay, I think, and my phone where I keep the notes for the season, I say, okay, this is this guy. I think he's going to be really awkward. Like, okay, here's this guy. His ego is massive. Oh, here's this guy. He's the one-liner, charmer who will end up hurting charity. Like, I have all those things written down just to see if I'm right later on. I will say, I don't know why. Two of them sit out to me. One, the guy that did the backflip, always impressive. Oh, my gosh. Always impressive, right? I've never been able to jump six inches off the ground.

So that's a big deal to me. The second is the professional diver. I just, I love scuba diving. And so I was really intrigued by that. What do you do? He's a professional diver. Yeah,

but what did he do as like his entrance thing? He had a helmet. Like he wore a helmet in. He had it with him. It was like a cool kind of, I would say old school diving, but that might be what they still use to do deep diving. I don't know.

But he had a helmet. So that, and I feel like I would be intimidated by that guy. Like if somebody walked in and they're like, yeah, I'm a professional diver. Like I dive for a living. I dive hundreds feet below the ocean and fix things or whatever it is. I'd be like, you are, like, you aren't scared to bungee jump. And if, and I'm scared to bungee, like, you have no fear. I have a lot of fears.

You're going to show me up. I'm going to be the one crying going on a date so scared. And you're going to be like, this is going to be awesome. Those people intimidate me. when I think about the guy's entrances besides the two that I just mentioned yeah I gotta talk about the flip again because the flip like I I think about the physics and like how strong you have to be to lift yourself up like that it doesn't make sense to me on cement it doesn't even anything relatively bouncy and like in a suit right he was wearing a suit

something dress up close yeah he was like dressed up enough um I mean you got to think about the physics of a flip. And I'm sure people listening are like, it's not that hard. I do it on a trampoline. Okay, cool. But you're not doing it on the ground. At some point, your head is passing, like your neck is passing concrete and you're going completely over again. I know. Back on your feet. Ashley, I just did Pilates this morning. I do like a heated weightlifting class every morning. Okay. And there's a couple moves in there where you have to stand on one leg. You stand on one leg and, like, lift an arm up and all this stuff. It's hard enough, right?

Yeah, can do it. I know. Can't imagine. I'm always swaying during that move. Charity was just as impressed. She basically just wants to watch this guy flip. And I'm sure all the guys in the house are going to be really tired of watching it. But I'm probably going to be entertained each time.

Keep them around for the flipping. So those are the big entrances. Ashley, we're far enough into the episode now that we got, I got to ask you. First time we've really seen it in a while. It is the 20th season of The Bachelorette. Very exciting for the show to be around 20 seasons. What did you think about the cameos from the past Bachelorette's? I think they chose a couple good ones to do it.

I liked it. They were all different. It wasn't just like, hey, it's me checking in. They all had kind of different advice. And they were all in different stages of life now because of the show. So I enjoyed that. I also enjoyed the format where they put the package, you know, the intro profile package.

Right before the guy, he like came out of the limo, then we saw the package, and then we saw him meet Charity. It was nicer than seeing all of them in a row up front and then seeing them come out in the limo later. Do you agree? Yeah, I would. I agree with that. I can't believe it's been so long since they've changed that up, but I think it really helped. Kind of tell us who to narrow in on. Yeah, I'd agree.

All right. Well, any guys. Can we get to the awkward ones? yeah oh yeah sorry sorry i was gonna say let's go into the ones that she was really into go ahead no let's awkward ones um maybe it's just me but spencer was nervous and terrified i just you i'm pretty sure everybody knows that and do you like the way that they dropped the music out normally they go straight for the do do do do do do do they just were like you want to see how awkward this is so it was awkward right because sometimes i don't have a great read on awkwardness

because I'm fairly awkward myself. So I'm like... You're not. You're just... I don't think you've ever been awkward in your life. Oh, no. I'll guarantee it. But he felt terrified,

but his, him, like, he never felt, I don't want to say normal. It just always felt like there was, like, some oddity.

Ben, he's a weird dude, but he's entertaining. And he's not like villainously weird. He's just awkward and fun for us to watch, but probably horrible for charity to have to interact with. I mean,

he's very sweet. He is a, father you know he announced that to charity but his there there is just something about his communication style that was hard for me to tune into like it was hard for me to watch it because i get you know i do i i get very awkward when i watch awkward things on television and i i don't watch the kissing because the kissing feels weird to me but his every time he talked it was like i couldn't turn away because it was so weird like not we, I don't, I don't, I don't, I don't, I don't want him to feel like he's a weirdo. I'm just saying it felt awkward. Like, it felt uncomfortable. Yeah, of course. You, everybody is like, yes, Ben, we know he was awkward. Yeah. I just, I didn't know. And, and, so my question to you is, do you think that was because he was so terrified and so nervous and that he'll, uh, loosen up and, and, and, and kind of like, shine bright as the season goes on? Or do you think this is something that will stick? No, no, no, no. He's just an awkward dude.

okay so but he's around and so he's around for right now he's around for right now he's in some of the previews that feel like later on the season really I didn't pick him up on the previews I picked up on Joey a lot in those previews I picked up on Braden I picked up Aaron B Aaron B I'm looking at the cast list right now um sorry guys yes Aaron B and then you know really struck a court with me that we see in scenes for the season but did not make much of an impression

on night one. Doughton, the one from Nigeria. Yeah. Who's the cool guy to all his friends? So sweet. Yes. Yeah.

I loved him. And I was disappointed that she didn't get to talk to him, but I think it was probably one of those situations where she's like, your first impression was so great. Like, I don't need to talk to you to give you a rose.

Yeah, that's good. Well, the other one I thought was going to be more awkward was the professional wrestler. He wasn't. He was actually pretty cool. Pretty cool. Pretty chill. Pretty laid back. That was surprising to me. Here's my hot take. And it could have been influenced and we'll get into the preview for the rest of the season later on. Could have been influenced by that. I have a hot take that Joey was actually hard for me to watch. Really? Yeah. Joe is hard for you to watch? Yeah. I felt some awkwardness there. I don't know. I mean, like, again, I think it might be influenced by the preview for the rest season.

I'll explain that. Because his tongue is out. Yes. He straight up licked her face. I know. He licked her tongue outside of her mouth. Okay. So now I can't look at Joey the same.

I liked him. All I was worried about was that he was insecure that he was shorter than all the guys. And I was like, oh, I know how that is because Jared felt so insecure with you guys because your season was so tall. Like, your season was 6.3 and you're 6.4. Ben Z was 6.4. Like, everybody was towering over 6 foot Jared. Like, Jared is tall to regular society, but always felt insecure.

And I'm like, oh, Joey's feeling it. Yeah. So in the preview, so to kind of recap right now, Joey is the- We both ticked up on this. Joey is the short guy. He is insecure about being short. He mentions that. In the preview for the rest of this season, there is a scene.

It's quick that. that Joey in a makeout scene with charity is face to face and he straight up has his tongue out and it looks like he lollipopped her like he licked from below lower lip to upper lip back then into her mouth like the tongue is the tongue is out

and it's a thick tongue like it's a beefy tongue and so Ashley question for you and the listeners now that we got to this point in time is that hot? No. Are you sure?

Yes. Can we bring Hanan for this, please? Our producer, Hannah. Okay, because I'm just like not really like a French kiss lover. Like I get that there's a time and place for sure. But in a moment like that in one in public, I think it's really like to me, it's like strictly a bedroom thing. Because like if I'm just making out, then I'm like, oh, I like, all the lip. I understand that like when it's getting a little bit steamier, you can use a little

tongue. Not in a moment. Yeah, you just let things go. And not like that because it was a straight up lick. It wasn't like, it wasn't even like in a, there was no lip action. Sorry. Hanna. I was going to say there's a time in place and that was not in place. Okay. So Hanna, it is not, I was going to make a comment on this and I knew that I was going to have two, two women on the podcast with me. And I was going to. to ask, like, is this a hot thing to, like, is in, honey, you're still in the dating pool. So are you going back or any of your friends that you know going back and being like, okay, last night, I met this guy and he did this thing where he lit my, both my lips. Like, is that a, is that hot, Hannah,

now in these, isn't this dating world? Like, not if you're just making out a bar or like, and maybe but I feel like if any of my friends or I was at a bar or in a public setting and someone did that to me I'd be really creeped out

I'd be like I'd be like I felt creeped out no I just want to like give him benefit of the doubt here of course they're going to put that moment in because it's going to get us talking I remember my tease the scenes from Chris Solz's season there was one really sloppy looking kiss on my behalf and I was petrified to see it air like actually and I spent days just

being like oh my God is that what I look like is that is that how I kiss it's bad you know like it's not like let's just say that he he had one moment and it may not be his constant now if this is I think we're going to see him kiss charity a number of times sure if this is how he kisses is there every time then then we're allowed to talk it's going to get hard it's going to get hard to watch 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.

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We do have a limo entrance with Charity's brother, Nehemiah. He steps out. It's a great tease. My heart was racing. I didn't know who it was going to be. I don't know anybody in charity. Wait, didn't they give us this tease? Didn't we know her brother's made cameo?

I'm forgetting where we found this out. Wasn't it on like after the final rose or something like that? I don't know. I don't remember that. I think we got the preview that her brother was already in. Well, either way, it worked. Either way it worked. Nehemi shows up.

They have a great relationship. You can tell that they both care about each other a lot. They both trust each other a lot. You can tell also that he's kind of like, I don't want to say the cool brother, but she didn't feel uncomfortable with him being there. I mean, she didn't know he was there the whole time. But I think if they would have told her, hey, your brother's going to stick around for this evening, she'd have been like, that's perfect. Like, I trust him. I like him. He's not going to like freak out on a dude for saying that he kissed me and licked my face. Like, he's,

he might not like it. I don't think he's like sitting over being like, this is the best thing ever heard. And it doesn't make me a little angry. But he's cool. Like, they have. have a good relationship. They're great siblings. Yeah, they're super comfortable together. They, when they're talking to each other on the couch later in the episode, it doesn't feel like there's at all camera in the room. No, they're great. And so he stays around and is the bartender. He dresses up in a great disguise. I know he said the disguise is goofy. Steve Harvey. But it's, it's a great disguise. I mean, I wouldn't have recognized him. Only a few guys did. Weird the way that those guys did. Like, did those guys watch the episode with

Charity's Breedler, like the day before they started filming, because there's no way, at least for me, three months removed from watching that episode. I'm going to remember that guy well enough to, like, spot him at a bar. To their benefit, Ashley, I think they've known Charity was going to be The Bachelorette. I mean, this, remember, they were announced and filming started pretty quickly right after this. Like, this is not that long after the final rose. And they were doing their research. I mean, you do. You look into their life, their family. You figure out, like, what questions are. Like, you do it. It's not, I remember a few seasons ago when that one guy, like, made a playbook. That was weird. That was a little overkill. But for the most

part, um, you do do your research. You, you understand who you're going into date. And so it's not shocking that they maybe recognized him, but it was a good disguise. It was a great setup. I think when I was watching this, I love it. In fact, I, I, wanted to start a dating show years ago that I actually wrote out. I have a whole thing for it where siblings or parents or best friends set up their friend on a blind date. And the parents and siblings and best friends sit behind the scenes and watch this date go down. And they help kind of like, you know, steer it. Yeah. And steer the conversation. So I love this like idea of having the brother there. I don't think every fan's going to love it. I think that some fans might

find it like cheesy um maybe i would just say it's hard to it's hard to get everybody like the bachelor's tried a lot of new things in the last few years some of the things we've loved and people have hated some of the things we've hated people have loved i i think this will be one of the most likable um kind of things they've tried to do to change stuff up i really enjoyed it like i loved it so we always say that they need to do something different night one i think that was the perfect little antidote for me. Maybe they're listening to us. Maybe they are.

Were you disappointed to know that he won't be sticking around for other episodes? He'll be bad. Why did he have to reveal himself? Maybe not every episode, but like, you know, a couple weeks down the road. It's just fun for us. And I do think it's infirmative for her. Here's the deal. Here's my philosophy.

They knew they needed to start doing stuff on night one. The show knew that night one was pretty bland, that it didn't have a spice. It didn't have like that side event that allowed us all to get like watch it and kind of be intrigued. Like that bar was a great like bit for us to get into. I think the show's assuming that if they didn't reveal him on night one,

there wouldn't really be a purpose to revealing him three weeks in like night one needed this. Night one needed the drama. It needed the entertainment three weeks from now. I think they're expecting that this cast will be entertaining enough. where, like, having him come in and say, hey, some of you, I'm questioning. At that point, Charity will pretty much know who is good and bad. Like, she'll figure it out by then. Night one, she doesn't know.

And so having her brother there as a guide on Night One, I think is a valuable tool. I also think it's an intriguing watch, a great bit. And I think it spiced Night One up enough for us as our analysts and fans of the show to talk about it. which we usually don't talk a lot about night one. Our night one episodes on this podcast are usually 35 minutes of us breaking down the entrances, what we think the season's going to look like, and then we're done. Think about it now, Ashley. We're 23 minutes in, and we are like halfway through the episode because that's how good

night one was compared to most seasons. And a lot of that is because of Nehemiah. I completely agree. Well, then I would suggest let's throw in a friend, like the best friends, they observe week five you know i mean hey maybe next year here's a here's an idea for the show what if what if uh like the the bachelor's best girlfriend maybe even she's married right but they're just their best girlfriends what if she's like a contestant she comes in limo entrances exactly they get the little wink like hey how are you she goes and chills inside she gets to know all the women she's around for a bit

she's the mole you know she's the one that that's what i mean like i want like a full season mole it would be so fun. And it wouldn't change the format at all. No. No. And then we can see the girl powwowing and giving the dirt. It would be so great. It would be awesome. I think they did that with the Hulu show with Tay Diggs, where like they're Cougars and then the Cougars sons are integrated in the cast of all the young dating contestants. Okay. So it's good. Okay. So let's talk about the guy that Nehemiah had the I don't want to call it an issue but maybe sent some red flags around

and that was by far Charity's favorite of the night, Braden. She kissed four guys but she seemed way beyond with Braden and I get it because just as a girl I'm looking at Braden and he's definitely probably has the most

swag. Come on because he has an earring. No, he's cute. I like, he's cute. I'm charmed by him, but I know he's bad. Okay, I'm charred, but I know he's bad. Ashley, we've done this for six years. I wasn't going to bring it up because I know I just continue to, I know he's bad. No, I continue to pound this into the ground. Every time, every season, offline, online, we have somebody that you're into that I'm like, Ashley, watch out for this, dude. We've done it with leads. We won't mention names, but you've been like, he's so great.

I'm like, Ashley, pay attention. Like, give it a year. Something weird's going to happen. You should have been. I'm not saying.

I'm not denying this. I know he's, he's, he's the dark. But how did you not stop? How did you not? As soon as he says the words to charity, my biggest problem in relationships is I can be over considerate.

How did you not go that he's done? Like, he's out of there. Like, this is even before... Why didn't she do it, Ben? It's because we're ladies and we're charmed by this off the bat and there's the physical attraction and she can't deny it right now. She will eventually deny it, though. Anybody that tells you, I have too big of a heart.

I give too much. I am way too overconsiderate. You have to run from them. That is a red flag. It's an ego. It's them inflating their ego. because they've been told that they are not considerate. They're not giving and they say that's not true.

I'm going to prove you wrong and how I'm going to prove you wrong? I'm just going to say it. I'm not going to prove. I'm not going to do it with my actions. I'm not going to do it with anything else in my life. I'm just going to say it. You're going to believe me because, yes, is he a good looking fellow? He is a good looking fellow.

Yes, did he dress up real nice for night one? He did dress up real nice for night one. Does he have an earring that doesn't look awkward on him like it would look on me? Yes, he does. He has an earring. If his earring does, it gives you. like a Justin Timberlike vibe from like 2000. It's great. Now the earrings in the future episodes are horrendous and like that would have me sending him home. He's wearing like feather earrings.

Like no thanks. See, I like the feather more. I think the feather was cool. But I'm telling you right now, you got every, every viewer. If you were swooned or whatever it was, Nehemiah is not wrong. Okay, but can I say this? He is, I get it. I get why she's charmed by him. I know he's bad. I'm just going to keep reiterating this. And I thought he was far more appealing when

he was sitting down with her during his entrance, all that. When he did get to the bar and start kissing and telling so much and being like oddly over-excited publicly, then I was starting to get a little bit of a Nick vibe. Yes.

Okay, yeah. But I still don't sense, Ashley, that you're fully convinced that he isn't. I'm convinced. I'm fully convinced, but I just know, I just, I'm also just trying about myself in her shoes. And if I was the lead, I would be like, no. No, okay, time out. Here's the question. We're writing all this off. Like, we are ignoring all the flags right now. Okay, that was my question. If you were the lead of this season and he was on your season, does he make it to week two? Yes. I'd be ignoring it, but probably aware that he's too smooth. Goodness gracious, Ashley. We have so much to talk about. But also, I'm going to say something

really bad right now. Brace yourselves, guys. I'm going to be brutally honest. The cast is attractive. Of course, everybody is attractive in the way that like, if you're in class with them and then you're doing a group project with them, you develop a crush on them, right? Sure. But there's not a ton of guys in this cast that you're going to be like seeing at the bar and be like, oh, my God, I have to have another drink so I can actually go up to him. Oh, my gosh. Like, can I make eye contact with that guy? Like, is he going to go? Can you go there? There's not a ton. Okay. Thank you. There's not a ton. But here's a deal. And most people could probably agree with this. It's great to have swagger. It's super nice to look really good for night one.

But when you're talking about your husband or your partner, like, it's not important any longer, right? the most attractive people can become very unattractive very quickly, right? I get it. And The Bachelor is the perfect place to experience this. I have this experience where somebody on night one that you're like, oh my goodness, like they are drop dead gorgeous. I can't not like date them. And then three weeks in, you're like, I don't see it anymore because of personality,

because of the way they treat other people, because of the things being said. Like it just happens. and you have it happen week over week. And so it is going to be interesting to see the journey of Brayden. I am not putting any money behind Brayden. If I'm a betting man, I'm saying that dude makes it about three weeks. He does something. Makes it five.

Okay. Well, he does something. This is my bet right now. At least five. Let me stick my, my, uh, make your statement. I won't interrupt. He's going to do something so inconsiderate that he is let go. Like, he is going to be the most.

considerate person on this season at some point. It will be a storyline we talk about. And so him saying he's too overconsiderate, meaning he's too, whatever that means. To be completely honest. I don't remember him saying that, but I... It sticks out to me. It would. It would stick out

to you. And I was watching with Dawson. So like, I was pretty much paying attention the entire way through, but there may have been a few lines where I was like taking eggs away from him. Yeah. Okay. Well, I will say. I paid attention to it. It sticks out to me. I watch for it every season. The other reason I was

watching for it is because there was a lot of one-liners in night one this year. A lot of people had really smooth things they said and a lot of things that you could tell they prepped to say. It felt, you know, awkward for me because yes, that is a pet peeve of mine. I understand it. I'm not going to dig into it. But it is a pet peeve of mine. So it did stand up to me. It felt like night one for as genuine and caring and honest as charity was, it felt like the guys came in knowing exactly how they wanted this conversation to go. And it felt like at times it worked. Like night one, she was swooned over a few times. There was a lot of kisses. There was a lot of connections. There was a lot of people, you know, telling her how great she was and is,

which is awesome. She deserves that on night one. But I am excited for weeks three, four, five, where these guys no longer have one-liners to give because they've ran out of them and the genuineness and the authenticity and the real conversations need to start having. That's what I'm excited for. Because night one, yes, it was one of my favorite night ones

in a long time. It was one of the most awkward night ones I've had in a long time because of the one-liners. Really? Ben, I don't even think about this. I don't know. It's my view. Maybe I'm the only one.

This is such a Ben thing. It is. I get it's also probably a guy watching it nothing stuck out to me the only thing that sticks out to me especially as something that like Ben doesn't like that he's now made me like and not like is you know when they self-describe

and there's so much self-describing on night one and that makes me feel like eh but I know that the producers are being like what kind of person are you like what kind of character are you gonna bring to charity you know in the season yeah well night one's always a hard watch

This was... Do you remember the lines that really... Any line really gets to you? No, I can't remember. I just remember watching all these guys and being like, you've tried really hard for this evening. Yeah? Which is fine.

I mean, it's night one. It's all awkward. It's all weird. And there's a bunch of dudes trying to hang out with one person. But there was kisses, which makes me think that Charity was very in to a lot of these guys. She does feel like a lot of... He initiated some of them, too.

And I think it's awesome. I think it's great. I think there is a lot of connections, some deep connections. as we'll talk about later on that this season will produce. I do feel for Nehemiah. I don't have a sister,

but I would imagine the feeling of having your sister 30 feet away from you. Like I know where his bar was set up at the mansion. It's not far from most of the seating. And he's sitting there with a very clear view of his sister and these guys making out. Yeah, I don't know if it's weird. Maybe it's weird.

Come on, Ash. Okay, as a sister, sister thing, like if my sister was over there making out, I'd be like giggling, not like thinking it was gross. But I'm sure as a brother or sister relationship is probably gross, right? Yeah, I can't imagine that he's just like super chill with this. And I can't imagine that he's just like, oh, that's cool. There's my sister, making out with a dude.

Like I don't. And like just from the small bit, we got to see a Nehemi. I can tell he's a great, a great dude, a great brother, cares a lot, wants to see his process, not only bring joy to his sister, but also bring some type of like future for his sister when it comes to a partner. Like you can tell in just the way he communicated with her and the way that he walked through that evening and the jokes that he made about himself

and the awkwardness that he felt at times that he was not there to stand in the middle and be the bully big brother that's like, you know, forcing charity to make the right and wrong decision. Even when he presented Braden to her, it was like, hey, I know you're into this guy. I know you're in, like, I know you like what's going on right now.

But just be careful. Like just, and I trust you to make that decision for yourself Whenever you want to make that decision, I just trust that, like, you are looking into this. He was awesome, but I can't imagine that was fun for him. I can't imagine it was easy. I'm sure at times when these guys are like, yeah, I was just making out with there over there. He's like, oh, really? Go screw you, like, screw you, man.

No, he's like, you cringe. He's fine. I don't think he's not affected by it. I thought he had probably had a great time. We need to get him on the podcast. He's bartending. He looks like Steve Harvey. Let's bring him on.

We should totally get him on. let's bring him on. I want to talk to him. I want him on for next week. This is a serious request producers. Okay. Before we get into the first impression rose, let's just talk about the kisses. There is Aaron B. There is Braden. There was Josh, which actually I was like kind of more surprised by. And who am I missing? I don't know. There's one other kiss. I don't write them all down. I mean, Braden, Aaron B, John definitely stood out. I don't think she kissed Joey or Xavier on night one. No, no, she didn't. I will say my top, top person after night one. And I think he, you just saw it and how he handled the evening was Aaron B. I think he stood out to the

brother because he was at the bar kind of hanging out and hearing, you know, a lot of the stuff. And then when the guy asked, did you kiss her? He was like, we had a great time, but I'm not going to just like tell everything. Braden was over in the corner kind of during the entrance of Nehemiah expressing to Aaron B how great his kiss was and Aaron B just kind of stood there probably not loving it, probably finding it very inappropriate

for another guy to be telling another contestant about that evening. But he just stood there and you could just tell he took it in and was like, hey man, you weren't a threat to me. You don't make me nervous. I am going to be shocked if Aaron B is not there at the end. Just after night one. Oh, yeah, no, no.

Aaron B is definitely the long hauler. And by the way, I figured out it's Xavier, who was the fourth kiss. Okay, so that was Xavier. So there was four kisses. I think there was many other guys that she was probably just as equally into as she was, you know, the guys that she kissed. But these are the guys that kind of had to make, you know, the storylines on night one. And I think there's a, I think it's a good group.

As you said, I don't think, you know, this is a group just full of stop, you know, stop yourself in your tracks and, you know, do a double check because these guys are like so ungodly good looking. But I do think it's a good looking group of solid dudes. And for the most part, if we think about this episode, there was really only one person that caused any type of controversy on that one. And that was Brayden. I know. And you're into it. The troublemaker, and we all know it. Who?

Sean with the hair. Sean with the hair, the hair looks ridiculous. Yeah, well, I think we see that in the preview also. So, okay. Yeah, he's going to be a troublemaker. Hi, my name is Enya Yumanzoor. And I'm Drew Phillips. And we run a podcast called Emergency Intercom.

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We also dig into important life stuff. Like, why our last names would make the worst hyphen ever. My last name is Cummings. I have sympathy for nobody. Yeah, mine's brown oler, but with an H. So it looks like brown holer. okay that's okay yours might be worse we can never get married listen to this episode with Whitney Cummings

and check out new episodes of bananas every Tuesday on the exactly right network listen to bananas on the iHeart radio app apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts okay let's talk about brayden getting the first impression rose so basically she's worn to not really give it to him but then she's like guess what I'm going to give it to him anyway

because her brother's seeing that he's just like two kiss and telly right but she likes the fact that he's so thrilled by his experience with her that he needs to tell everyone she interprets it a totally different way do you think that there's a conversation

that's taken out of the edit where her brother was like, but it seems like he's really genuinely into. I don't think it was taken out. I mean, I think the way her brother presented it to her, he, I mean, he definitely allowed the space for her to interpret from that conversation, whatever she would like. He did not say, I don't think Brayton's the guy for you. I don't want to see him around again.

Like, he didn't say any of that. He said, here's a deal. I have weird feelings about this kind of. But Charity, you got to do. do what you got to do. I think we did see Nehemi saying he's obviously very into you and you're very into him. Yeah. And so that's fine. It's night one. I thought again, Nehemiah handled that conversation really well. I did not expect him to get the first impression rose. It did feel like a slap in the face to a lot of the guys when he did get the rose. I imagine it going down like

this behind the scenes. You want to hear my theory? Yes. Yes. I feel similar things. I think. So Charity is into this dude. It's very obvious. She has the conversation with her brother where her brother says, hey, just watch out for him. But he's very into you and he's very open about being into you. I don't like that. But Charity, you got to do what you got to do. Is it a bad thing? I'm kind of playing devil's advocate right now, but is it really a bad thing? Yes. It's a very inappropriate thing. It shows a lack of maturity and respect for the other guys there. And it shows a lack of respect for charity. Because if you in this format had a guy going around sharing every little detail of every conversation, every kiss, every romantic moment that you had, that's unfair to charity

because it ruins the other relationships. And it puts this image in their head and this thought in their head that is unfair to charity because she's still trying to pursue other relationships. Now, in life. It's really weird to put yourself in his shoes too where like Brayden is going around telling everybody about the kiss. And even if you're like the most extrovert, like, non-private person on the show, you like never really go and tell anybody about your intimate moments of the lead unless they're like your best friends after a few weeks. And then eventually that gets weird too. Let me, let me, let me, let me bring this into perspective for you, Ashley. Yes, yes, please. Okay. So Jared, Jared's a great dude. He's one of the best men I've ever

met. You're so sweet. But Jared's on the show, right? And what, do you ever see Jared, going on a date during his time of The Bachelor and coming back and telling all the dudes about every detail of that date.

No, it's super, it is super deeper weird. Stop, stop. Okay. Why? I was playing devil's advocate just for mine. Just remember that.

But why would Jared not do that? You know, Jared. Why would he not be that guy? Because like those things are supposed to be between the two people dating and there's a lot of that point. And he respects the person he's dating.

He respects the other men in the house. He respects his friendships. Yeah. He respects their emotion. Respecting the other men is a big part of that, actually. Yeah. So I think right there, we would say, no, it's not a great decision because one of the best dudes we know would never do that out of respect and maturity and care for not only other men,

but also the lead of the show. And so when I see that, and that's the perspective I look at, I go, when Braden did this, I said, the dudes I know that are good dudes, they wouldn't have done this. They would have never even thought of doing this. They would never even would have. they would have gone out of their way to not do this. Okay, okay. Now I have another question for you.

Do you think that Charity, if she would have actually seen it, would have been turned off by it and made a different decision? So what do you think? She's got lust blinders on? No, I think it's different on night one. I think in five weeks, if somebody did this, then she would be upset.

But I think on night one, it is such an emotional roller coaster. It is so exciting. you're just hoping that somebody there is into you. Really? I mean, that is every lead's concern is these people are going to show up and they'll be like, gosh, dang it. Like, let's go through this.

And I think on night one, that validation feels really good and it feels healthy and it feels it feels like it's never going to cause an issue. It just in your mind, I think, as the lead, you're thinking these people being so into me is only going to benefit the process because now they're going to be so solely focused on getting to know me, of going on dates with me, and they're almost going to be not,

I'm going to say competing, but I think you know what I mean for like the, for me that this is going to work because they are into me. But in five weeks, when these relationships do progress, and she is more comfortable within them. And there is things that she's trying to protect to continue on with other relationships apart from maybe the one with Braden. She's going to be a lot more sensitive to the damage that those conversations that he's having outwardly can cause on the other relationships that she's into. Right now, it's not a problem. Five weeks from now, big problem. Yeah. Yep. And it would come across way weirder if he was doing this in the weeks to come. Yeah, sure. So, hey, not necessarily a deal breaker, not necessarily a reason not

to give him a rose, but it is something to look out for as this season progresses. For him getting the first impression rose, I do feel like was weird to go back to how I think this work behind the scenes. I think that Charity has this conversation with a brother. She goes and sits with Brayden. He tells her, hey, you know what? I'm just so into you. It was hard for me to keep it in. And she's going, this is what I needed on night one. And the producers are saying validate all they're telling her, because they're not telling her to give them the first impression rose. They don't do that again. But I, but they're definitely saying validate. The excitement.

The excitement because he's feeling down on himself. He's feeling awkward because he got called out by your brother and these other guys. He's feeling like maybe he didn't do something right. And they're saying, just validate that he's okay and give him the first impression rose. And it works out best for everybody because now there's a target on the back of the guy that the producer is definitely one of the target on the back of. And Braden's feeling more validated.

So his behavior is only going to continue to go in the direction it was before. The guys are upset with Brayden. He's an easy guy to get upset with. He is a frontrunner. He is attractive. He is, you know, swoonie. He is smooth. All these things.

Everything works out. And so the producers, even though they don't tell her, you have to give this to him, they're in the control room going, yes, it worked out like we hoped it would. Ben, Bravo. That was such a clarifying explanation as to, yeah, yeah, I love that. Thank you. Really, you've pinpointed it. Because they don't.

It's not scripted. I just want to be clear. The producers are never telling her you have to do this or you have to do that. Like, that is not a thing. And I don't think it takes away from the legitimacy of the show to say, but they do have, like, their idea, ideal storyline on night one. Like, they do have this idea of, okay, if Aaron B gets the first impression rose, like, here's how it's going to be taken. If Brayton gets it, here's how it's going to be taken. And so when they saw the opportunity for Brayden to get it, they said, who the skies have opened up again.

yes so they either really would love to have like the long term love be the first impression rose or the villain to be and in this case when she when he got the first impression rose my first thought was oh this is one of the seasons where the villain to be will be getting the the rose a guy that's not going to stick around super long someone who really pulled the wool of her eyes initially okay uh do we even remember the guy's names that got eliminated. No. Okay.

So. But they were all really good looking. I just feel like they didn't, you know, they didn't get their shot with her. Like there wasn't a guy that I was like, oh, he was definitely going home on I won. There was nobody on night one that I felt like 100% they're gone. Yeah. I agree. Sneak peek.

Upcoming episodes. What's what obviously is really standing out to us is Braden's earrings and the fact that he will be into drama. The fact that a guy with the swoopy hair. will also, what's his name? Sean, I think. Sean. I don't know. You'll know who we're talking about. Sean, yeah. Sean will also be getting

to drama. Joey with the tongue. Joey says at one point that he's falling in love with Charity in the scenes for the next episode. So, like, we think that it'll probably be around for quite some time. That's not a shock to me at all. I think Joey's definitely top six in this group. Don't we see it with Dutton? Dutton says it as well.

And Aaron B. Dutton definitely says something serious about being, into her at a, you know, dinner table. So I think he gets to be around for a while. And then I think the drama will just, at the end, just seems to be what it's been for a while now, thanks to you, that she's falling in love with multiple people. They really stole that storyline. I went with it, Ben. Was that the best thing that ever happened to the Bachelor and Bachelor? Like, seriously, was my pain, like the sword they needed me to fall on so they could open up a whole new chapter of this show. I'm wondering that. I watched this last night. I was like, wait,

everybody's going to watch this and be numb to it, but also feel for her. I know how they're going to respond. They're going to be like, this is so hard. I get it. When I did it, it was the opposite. And I was watching this and Jess was sitting in the room with me. And I said, honey, and I've never had this feeling in my life. I'm going to say it here because I was like, am I the best thing that ever happened to the show? Like, am I? Like, oh my God, Ben never says things like that and I love it. But at some point, it's like they, this thing is happening in it.

And when I did, I had to explain myself of how in the world could you fall in love with two people and how in the world could you tell two people you love them and how in the world could it be so hard to leave, have somebody to go home on the day. And it's like, I don't know. It just was like it felt very human to me. It felt very real to me. Yeah, now every lead is like, I'm falling in love with multiple people. We're like, of course you are.

Yeah. Of course, we feel so bad that you have to make this difficult decision between multiple people that you're obviously in love with. It's so believable. And it is believable. Yeah. But when I did it, it was, I got crushed. Like, absolutely destroyed. It was like everything good is every, this season pretty much had like nothing dramatic, maybe even nothing.

Maybe it's the best thing that ever happened to me because it's the one thing that kept my storyline continuing. And I guarantee like there are tweets with like she pulled the Ben Higgins. I guarantee that. So maybe it's the best thing that ever happened to me is I did something controversial. You did something in pop culture history that will live long. Well, I watched it and I said, I feel for you charity. I feel bad for you. I know how this feels. I know that it sucks. I know that like it's confusing. I know that you're not used to this. I know. I know. I know how. how this feels charity. I watch it with that. And then I stopped and I said, time out. Time out. People are going to feel for her. And when I did it, I got crushed. And I felt very alone and very confused. And I felt, I literally actually, here's something crazy. Never said this. I went to therapy. Because of this. With the show's therapist. Yeah, which she was amazing. And said to her, I remember this exact conversation. I said, hey, this is real to me. I felt this way.

I don't want to deny that I did feel this way. Am I, like, is there something wrong with me? Like, am I, am I the weirdo? Not, I'm definitely weird, but it is like, am I, do I have deep-seated issues with me because I said this and because I felt this? Like, am I ever going to be able to find my partner because of how I felt during this show? It was a real thing to me. because I felt so alone and so isolated and so much like the world said,

how in the world? You could never feel that way. I would never feel that way. Well, got news for you, everybody. It happens. And charity experienced it. And if you trust charity and you like charity, well, there's some more validation. Ben, maybe we should do like a therapy session with you and all the leads that said this.

Like, you guys have a good group convos. There'd be 30 of us. I know. There'd be every one of us have felt this way. So I'm just a first to say it outwardly. So maybe that makes me stupid. I don't know. There was one other moment in the scenes in the next episode that I liked. We're obviously going to have like a badass chick moment with Charity. Don't know what it's about yet. But I know that she's like the kind of girl that is just so likable. But then like when she needs to stand up for herself, she's just going to rock it. And I'm excited for that moment. Yeah. She rips that rose off of him. I figure, what she says. Oh, that's right. She goes, you think that, like, you can't, I can't just pick that right back off of you or something like that. I think she, like, swears and then takes it and walks off. I'm like, I want to see this so bad. I love those moments because that guy obviously deserved it. And it was Sean, I think. Yeah, well, we can hope. Um, Ashley, it's going to be a great

season. It's good to be back into it. It's good to have, uh, a season airing. And I think this is going to be a good season. I hope people tune in. And if you're not watching, yet. And you're just listening to the podcast because we have gotten that feedback. Some people do, guys. Yeah. I would say it's going to be worth watching. At least tune in for a few episodes to see how you feel about it. I think it's going to be one that brings fans back. And that is something that all of us want. And so tune into this, this season, Charity Season of the Bachelor at Season 20. We'll be back next week, breaking down week two of this season. We're not missing a week, even with the holidays coming up.

So until then, I've been Ben. I've been Ashley. See you guys next week. Follow the Ben and Ashley I, almost famous podcast on IHartRadio or subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts. Hi, my name is Enya Umanzor. And I'm Drew Phillips. And we run a podcast called Emergency Intercom. If you're a crime junkie and you love crimes, we're not the podcast for you.

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