The Ben and Ashley I Almost Famous Podcast - Frankie Friday: The Secret Roses of Mormon Wives

Episode Date: December 19, 2025

Ben and Ashley have the latest on Taylor Frankie Paul as she wraps up her filming journey as our next Bachelorette!She’s VERY active on social media and dropping plenty of clues. From her Mormon Wives cast members showing up, to hometown dates, and finale locations, we're covering it all!AND… could a contestant with the most Bachelorette appearances be part of Taylor’s season??See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. She said, Johnny. The kids didn't come home last night. Along the Central Texas Plains, teens are dying. Suicides that don't make sense. Strange accidents and brutal murders. In what seems to be, a plot ripped straight out of Breaking Bad.

Drugs, alcohol, trafficking of people. There are people out there that absolutely know what happened. Listen to Paper Ghosts, The Texas Teen Murders, on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hi, I'm Danny Shapiro. We were in the car, like a Rolling Stone came on, and he said, there's a line in there about your mother. And I said, what? What I would do if I didn't feel like I was being accepted is choose an identity that other people can't have. I knew something had happened to me in the middle of the night, but I couldn't hold on to what had happened.

These are just a few of the moving and important stories on my 13th season of Family Secrets. Listen to Family Secrets on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. From NBA champion Stefan Curry comes Shot Ready, a powerful never-before-seen look at the mindset that changed the game. I fell in love with the grind. You have to find joy in the work you do when no one else is around. Success is not an accident. I'm passing the ball to you. Let's go.

Steph Curry redefined basketball. Now he's rewriting what it means to succeed. Order your copy of the New York Times bestseller shot ready. Today at stephencurrie book.com. Welcome to Decoding Women's Health. I'm Dr. Elizabeth Pointer, chair of Women's Health and Gynecology at the Atria Health Institute in New York City. I'll be talking to top researchers and clinicians

and bringing vital information about midlife women's health directly to you. A hundred percent of women go through menopause. Even if it's natural, why should we suffer through it? Listen to Decoding Women's Help with Dr. Elizabeth Pointer on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Michael Lewis here. My best-selling book, The Big Short, tells the story of the build-up and burst of the U.S. housing market back in 2008. A decade ago, the Big Short was made into an Academy Award-winning movie, and now I'm bringing it to you for the first. time as an audiobook narrated by yours truly. The big short story, what it means to bet against

the market, and who really pays for an unchecked financial system, is as relevant today as it's ever been. Get the big short now at Pushkin.fm. slash audiobooks or wherever audio books are sold. This is the Ben and Ashley I Almost Famous Podcast with IHartRadio. Hey guys, welcome to the Almost Famous Podcast. Today it's Ben and Ashley. we're here for another Frankie Friday. Yes, we like to close out the week by rounding up all the latest gossip news, TikTok's clues

about the upcoming season of The Bachelorette with Taylor Frankie Paul. This way, if you're not a fan of Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, at least you're getting brought into the Bachelor nation world. And if you're a Bachelor fan who doesn't know much about Taylor,

we hope that this will get you better acquainted with the next lead. And Taylor seems to be, filming her final day as well actually I think it's safe to say that she's filmed her final day I knew that they would finish before Christmas and uh let's talk about what we've uncovered this week because she has been busy on social this week I uh I like the fact that they have let her post and tease along the way I know a lot of people are not fans including Milakunas so which we will get to that in a little bit uh Ben what is our first Frankie Friday hot topic

this is a big deal it feels like they've been filming this season forever quite honestly oh really i don't think so i thought it's been very fast i'm like oh look see she's back to being a mom again like i just thought oh this is just a quick trip in my head it hasn't been long it feels like a long time to me but that's just me uh taylor frankie paul's fellow mormon wives help her find a in quotes good man on the bachelorette what do we know ashley the girls of mom talk post posted a video on TikTok of Taylor dancing with Macy, Jesse, and Michaela from the show. The caption or the overlay reads, point of view, mom talk finds Taylor a good man. So basically, we now know that towards the end of her season, she'll be sitting down with

these three girls to talk about who she has left and her relationships. I think it's a good time to have her cast come on. Macy was the one who posted and captioned it. she said emphasis on fines because we all know that she won't let us choose petitioned for mom talk to choose the last man standing that's what jesse commented so everybody is really excited for her and i'm glad that they had this little moment as ashley mentioned we've seen more of this season and behind the scenes of this season than any season in history they've allowed taylor to post throughout the season, which has helped us not necessarily get spoilers,

but to follow along with the season and where they're dating and where they're going. Cameos, dates, all that. We know where they are. Which leads me to the next headline. Taylor goes on an ice skating date. This is on December night. This ice skating date took place in Salt Lake City with a man who is also from Salt Lake City. We won't say the name of the guy. Reality Steve has spoiled it and we also know that because they've been posting so much, a lot of this hasn't been super secret.

I actually, it's funny. I feel like Reality Steve either hasn't really closely covered the show in the past couple seasons or people just haven't cared about what he's saying because I was like, oh yeah, reality, he's down to spoil it. Like he's down. He's like telling us stuff about this season. And I feel like, is it just me or is, or his gossip and like kind of MIA, right? Yeah, I have not seen any reality Steve post.

He must be covering other shows at this point because usually he was a topic of conversation for us, at least, or we are breaking one of his kind of articles every headlines episode. And we haven't done that in years. Yeah, well, years might be an exaggeration, but it feels like it could be. So anyway, that date where they were at an ice skating rink having like a little one-on-one time at a table was December 9th. And then on Thursday, December 11th, after we believe she went on another one-on-one in the day in between, she posted teaser. Last night was one of the best nights of my life. Can't wait to talk about it in like six months, L.O.L.

and this is people are assuming that this was her going to somebody's hometown in Salt Lake City but I guess it could also be interpreted as she has one of her final weeks like say fantasy sweet week in Salt Lake City it's up in the air I suppose or at least we would probably figure it out but we also don't want to get that detailed we know that that wasn't her final week though because it seems like her final week takes place in St. Lucia, my favorite island on Earth. And they have recorded at Sugar Beach a number of times, the finale. It's one of Chris Harrison's favorite vacation spots, and he recommended it to me. And now one of my favorites at a very special place for me and Jared.

So I just am assuming that it might be at Sugar Beach again. I love when they're at St. Lucia for the finale. I think it's beautiful. And it's almost like memorable. You sometimes watch those episodes. You're like, oh, I remember when so-and-so is here. You can kind of like flash back in time. Ashley, before we get into any celebrity reaction here on December 14th, then, three days after the post sharing that it was one of the best days of her life, Taylor then gets back on social media and posts these Instagram stories that Ashley will explain.

Okay, so this is where we think at St. Lucia, her mom. mom posted a video or just a picture of a resort with palm trees and all that. And then she also posted a similar picture and Taylor's overlay is here we are. That seems like here we are the final destination. She also posts a picture of her on airplane and the flight attendant wrote her a sweet note that says your strength. Something about like her strength and watching her and how much she's handled. Can't wait to see you shine as the Bachelorette. Hope that you find happiness and love you deserve. Your mama is also the best. Love Jackie. So that's very sweet. And she said that she

gets those sometimes and it brings her great joy. And yeah, that's all we have for the posts, the teasers from the Frankie Pop, the Frankie family. Yeah. So in conclusion, the last time we know that Taylor was filming or on location was December, uh, 14th, or December 16th, actually, because we do know that her mom was somewhere that looks like a place where they're filming this show. So December 16th, which it was just a few days ago, is the last time we know they're on location, I will say that the show usually sticks around for about five more days post-wrapping of filming. Some of the people stick around. The lead may stick around do any the lead usually has the happy couple for three days there and yeah and the lead

does some videos to kind of like close out the season and so um it's not shocking if maybe filming ended even on December 14th that they'd still be around on December 16th with family to hang out and celebrate I'm investigative journalist Melissa Jeltson my new podcast what happened to Nashville tells the story of an IVF clinic's catastrophic collapse and the patients who banded together in the chaos that followed. We have some breaking news to tell you about. Tennessee's attorney general is suing a Nashville doctor. In April 2024, a fertility clinic in Nashville shut down overnight and trapped behind

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It doesn't matter how much justice we get. None of it's going to get me pregnant. Listen to what happened in Nashville on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Michael Lewis here. My book The Big Short tells the story of the buildup and burst of the U.S. housing market back in 2008. It follows a few unlikely but lucky people who saw the real estate market for the black hole it would become and eventually made billions of dollars from that perception. It was like feeding the monster, said Isman. We fed the monster until it blew up. The monster was exploding. Yet on the streets of Manhattan, there was no sign anything important had just happened.

Now, 15 years after the Big Short's original release, and a decade after it became an Academy award-winning movie, I've recorded an audiobook edition for the very first time. The Big Short Story, what it means when people start betting against the market, and who really pays for an unchecked financial system, is as relevant today as it's ever been, offering invaluable insight into the current economy and also today's politics. Get the big short now at Pushkin.fm slash audiobooks, or wherever audiobooks are sold. May 24th, 1990, a pipe bomb explodes in the front seat of environmental activist Judy Berry's car. I knew it was a bomb the second that it exploded. I felt it ripped through me with just a force more powerful and terrible than anything that I could describe.

In season two of Rip Current, we ask, who tried? to kill Judy Barry and why? She received death threats before the bombing. She received more threats after the bombing. The man and woman who were heard had planned to lead a summer of militant protest against logging practices in Northern California. They were climbing trees and they were sabotaging logging equipment in the woods. The timber industry, I mean, it was the number one industry in the area, but more than it was

the culture. It was the way of life. I think that this is a deliberate attempt to sabotage our movement. Episodes of Rip Current Season 2 are available now. Listen on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hi, I'm Danny Shapiro, host of the hit podcast Family Secrets. We were in the car, like a Rolling Stone came on, and he said, there's a line in there about your mother. And I said, what?

What I would do if I didn't feel like I was being accepted is choose an identity that other people can't have. I knew something had happened to me in the middle of the night, but I couldn't hold on to what had happened. These are just a few of the moving and important stories I'll be holding space for on my upcoming 13th season of Family Secrets. Whether you've been on this journey with me from season one or just joining the Family Secrets family, we're so happy to have you with us.

I'll dive deep into the incredible power of secrets, the ones that shape our identities, test our relationships, and ultimately reveal who we truly are. Listen to Family Secrets on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to Decoding Women's Health. I'm Dr. Elizabeth Pointer, chair of Women's Health and Gynecology at the Atria Health Institute in New York City. On this show, I'll be talking to top researchers and top clinicians asking them your burning questions and bringing that information about women's health and midlife directly to you. A hundred percent of women go through menopause. It can be such a struggle for our quality of life,

but even if it's natural, why should we suffer through it? The types of symptoms that people talk about is forgetting everything. I never used to forget things. They're concerned that, one, they have dementia, and the other one is, do I have ADHD? There is unprecedented promise with regard to cannabis and cannabinoids. to sleep better, to have less pain, to have better mood, and also to have better day-to-day life. Listen to Decoding Women's Health with Dr. Elizabeth Pointer on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you're listening now.

On to other Frankie Paul News. We are getting some rumors swirling that he is. A man is trying to set the record for the most appearances on The Bachelorette ever. I mean, Ben, this is the juiciest topic. This is the true lead of this podcast. Can't wait for you to say that headline. Headline is this. Is Blake Moynes on Taylor-Frank-Paul's season of The Bachelorette? That's just a question, but it's also the headline that is swirling around the internet right now.

So this is how the rumor starts. started. Joe in Serena, grocery store Joe in Serena. They were at the airport in L.A. And they heard on the intercom a flight attendant, or whoever's up the desk, calling for Blake Moynes and a bachelor producer's name. I'm assuming that this would be Caitlin or it would be shabby as far as what you and I know. These are the two more seasoned producers that are working on the show that were there during our time. Joe says that the producer that the name was being called was somebody who's been around that long and is senior enough to be handling whoever's still remaining in this context. And he said that he heard them call Blake Moynes and this producer's name two times. So he wasn't making it up in his head.

And now people are on Instagram or on whatever social media platform this was like talked about it saying like maybe that they're dating, maybe they're going on a trip together. Blake does tend to bring people, I mean, but we've seen, especially with Rachel Rechia, that Blake takes lots of bachelor nation on his trips with him. He's always traveling. The only reason I think that Blake actually probably. probably is filming this

is because this happened while the season was happening and I would think that both of these producers would be hanging around until the very end. Has Blake been off social media?

Would they probably allow him to be on social media? Because if she's allowed and then they don't want to have excessive spoilers, I would think that they would allow him to post every now and again. Okay, well, he's posted

plenty during this time of filming including him saying that he was down in Australia huh all right does anybody have proof that he was in Australia besides all these Instagrams maybe

oh he actually posts a ton okay a lot of Australia content seems crazy for him to possibly have been on the show but Ben do you have a take I do have a take. I think it would be very odd for a producer of The Bachelor to be traveling with a former contestant on the show

during filming of the show without him being a part of the show in some way. We know that Blake does not hate the mid-season show up, and the show does not hate that either. Nick Vile did it, Blake Moynes has done it. Why wouldn't he do it again? And so I would not be surprised if Blake showed up late to capture the heart of Taylor Frankie Paul and that she was curious enough to take him to

hometowns and that's why the two of them were together in the airport because they were coming home from hometowns or going to hometowns. I'm not going to be surprised at all if he shows up on this season. I would also not, I'm not surprised that it hasn't been rumored yet because I bet they have him on straight lockdown. You're not going to see him at these dates that the public has any view of because they want this to be a big surprise. I also, however, Ashley, yeah, kind of wonder if this is one big setup by the show to promote the show. Yeah, like, why would they be calling the two of their names? Also, how is it just so happened to be that Joe and Serena, who hosts a show for the podcast, for the, for the,

the bachelor and bachelorette are the ones that happen to be at the airport when this happens and you know they have to get clearance for the things set on their show you're right so i feel like this is either one big conspiracy to promote a show which i don't know why they would because the bachelors had enough promotion through just taylor frankie paul being the lead yeah that now they're like, okay, we can start to, like the old days. This is a very common tactic in the old days with using reality Steve or using some of the like E, E.T and those things is to slowly leak stories from the season to get the public's attention and excitement for this season. Because I am truly excited after hearing this. And I'm hoping that he does come on.

It works. He is definitely her type. Like so much. much so like he looks like exactly like Dakota so similar so maybe she even said like I want him to come on and I have no like I don't know Blake personally but just from seeing him and knowing who his friends are this like I don't think you'd have a problem coming back on the show again like I think he would do that and somehow kind of like Chris Bukowski he gets away with it without anybody being like goodness gracious this guy just can't give up chris did not get away with it in my opinion nick may have but for years he did and then kind of towards the end when he was like in paradise when like he was 10 years older and everybody else everybody was like hey dude like call it but blake

is still in the right age group where this could work um it wouldn't be shocking to me and it would make sense we do have another headline uh milacunis uh who's a huge fan of the show and has been fangirls over Taylor, Taylor, Frankie, Paul being the Bachelorette. And then she's also kind of teasing Taylor, finding love. Ashley, you've watched this video. Break it down for us. It's not much. We love Mila and this family. She and Ashton have been so kind to Jared and I, the times that we have seen them. And she's just a huge fan of the show. And she's also a huge fan of Mormon wives. And so when Ashton was on the red carpet a couple weeks ago with some of the

Mormon wives, she goes, my husband is really great at loving me. He accepts me for who I am and he was doing a junket in New York and he FaceTime me with the ladies of the Mormon wives. He knows me so well. And I was like, hi girls. It was so great. And then Taylor wrote under that post, the one of her explaining this story. And she goes, what is life? And then about, you know, Mila seeing all the spoilers out there about Taylor's season. She said, I'm so excited about the season. I'm just avoiding all spoilers.

I keep seeing these stupid spoilers and I'm like, stop it. So look, she's one of those fans, Ben. She doesn't like the public dates that are getting out there. I'm more on the Mila side. I'd rather just be secretive about all this leading up to it. but I haven't hated also kind of getting not one over. I just don't know Taylor Frankie Paul. I didn't know a lot about her.

And so I am getting more optimistic by seeing these spoilers come out and these little dates come out because it seems like she's into it, which was one of my biggest concerns. Was she actually going to be into this or not? So I've actually enjoyed it. She likes these guys. Yeah. And that's great.

So as a result, I've gotten more excited. Yeah. And I love the fact that they cast so many guys that are her type. And please, I'd Blake right on it. Final headline is this. Dakota has obviously popped up in headlines, Taylor, Frankie Paul's ex, a few times through this season. People are curious about him.

He's been on social media a little bit speaking to some of the Bachelorette stuff. I'll be honest I'm assuming that it's very hard for an ex especially an ex who had such a committed and close relationship to a lead

watching their past love go on a show like this and date it would be hard jealousy envy curiosity there's a lot that goes into that So the headline is this. Is anyone wondering what Taylor, Frankie, Paul's, ex, Dakota is up to? Yeah, there's not much in this.

But he did, he was in L.A. So I guess people are speculating, was he there shooting for the show? He's got to obviously be on the episode. I don't think they would work it out so that he wasn't. And then Dakota, there is this one picture that he definitely plopped in there just to get tons wagging. that's a picture of him with a woman's hair in front of him

just here Ben I'll show you Do we know if Dakota and Taylor Frankie Paul get along? Yeah, they do. There's even some people that will say that they were hooking up right before she left. They're on and off.

They've always been on and off and because they share a child I just do feel like they're very involved in each other's lives. But yeah, he's here at the Rams game. He's taking a whole bunch of random pictures He's got one of his feet.

He's got one of palm trees. But it's definitely him throwing in this picture very close to a woman's hair, his nose in a woman's hair. That's supposed to get people to... He knows what he's doing. Yeah, he knows exactly what he's doing. And then he's... There's a woman's hand eating Dingtai Fung or something with him.

Yeah. See? So he's dead. Like, it's a girl with a manicure and you can tell that he's just tried to tease something. It could truly be his mom. It's not, I don't think, but, you know. Well, that's all we got. We'll keep looking for Dakota's subposts and Frankie, Frankie.

Why do I kind of wanting to call her Frankie? It's just a fun, it's a fun name to say, Frankie, right? Yeah. If you have a daughter. Her son. Frankie's kind of a cute girl name now. Or at least now I think of it because of her. All righty, well, guys, we have more stuff coming.

your way about Taylor. Can't wait to learn more about this season. But until next time, I've been Ashley. And I've been Ben. We'll talk to you soon. Follow the Ben and Ashley I, almost famous podcasts on IHartRadio or subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts. She said, Johnny. The kids didn't come home last night. Along the central Texas plains, teens are dying.

Suicides that don't make sense. Strange acts. and brutal murders. In what seems to be, a plot ripped straight out of Breaking Bad. Drugs, alcohol, trafficking of people. There are people out there that absolutely know what happened. Listen to paper ghosts, the Texas teen murders, on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

I knew it was a bomb the second that it exploded. I felt it ripped through me. In season two of Ripcurrent, we ask, who tried to kill Judy Berry and why? They were climbing trees and they were sabotaging logging equipment in the woods. She received death threats before the bombing. She received more threats after the bombing. I think that this is a deliberate attempt to sabotage our movement. Episodes of RipCurrent Season 2 are available now.

Listen on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Michael Lewis here. My best-selling book The Big Short tells the story of the build-up and burst of the U.S. housing market back in 2008. A decade ago, the Big Short was made into an Academy Award-winning movie. Now I'm bringing it to you for the first time

as an audiobook narrated by yours truly. The Big Short's story, what it means to bet against the market, and who really pays for an unchecked financial system, is as relevant today as it's ever been. to bake short now at pushkin.fm slash audio books, or wherever audio books are sold. I'm Robert Smith, and this is Jacob Goldstein, and we used to host a show called Planet Money. And now we're back making this new podcast called Business History about the best ideas and people and businesses in history.

And some of the worst people, horrible ideas, and destructive companies in the history of business. First episode, How Southwest Airlines Use Cheap Seats and Free Whiskey to, fight its way into the airline is. The most Texas story ever. Listen to business history on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to Decoding Women's Health. I'm Dr. Elizabeth Pointer, chair of Women's Health and Gynecology

at the Atria Health Institute in New York City. I'll be talking to top researchers and clinicians and bringing vital information about midlife women's health directly to you. A hundred percent of women go through menopause. Even if it's natural, why should we suffer through it? Listen to Decoding Women's Health with Dr. Elizabeth Pointer on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.