The Ben and Ashley I Almost Famous Podcast - From Earrings to Engagement Rings with Brayden Bowers and Christina Mandrell

Episode Date: February 27, 2024

Ben and Ashley talk to the latest Bachelor success story, Brayden Bowers and Christina Mandrell!  Find out how Brayden was originally going to propose, how he was introduced to Christina’s daughter, and they spill all the details of their wedding planning! Plus, hear how Gerry and Theresa responded when Brayden asked for their blessing to propose at The Golden Wedding!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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

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

And want to hear people with mental illness, psychobabble. Yes, yes. Then Emergency Intercom is the podcast for you. Open your free IHeartRadio app. Search Emergency Intercom and listen now. Hi, I'm Jennifer Lopez and in the new season of the Over Comfort Podcast, I'm even more honest, more vulnerable and more real than ever. Am I ready to enter this new part of my life?

Like, am I ready to be in a relationship? Am I ready to have kids and to really just devote myself and my time? Join me for conversations about healing and growth, all from one of my favorite spaces, The Kitchen. Listen to the new season of the Overcombered podcast on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. I just normally do straight stand-up, but this is a bit different. What do you get when a true crime producer walks into a comedy club? Answer, a new podcast called Wisecrack, where a comedian finds himself at the center of a chilling true crime story.

Does anyone know what show they've come to see? It's a story. It's about the scariest night of my life. this is wisecrack available now listen to wisecrack on the iHeart radio app apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts this is the ben and ashley i almost famous podcast with iheart radio all right we watched them get engaged during the golden bachelor wedding yes we're going to ask all the questions about that but we're also going to celebrate bray and christina because they're with us today to talk about where life exists and where it's at now so what Welcome to the almost famous podcast, the two of you.

Thank you guys. It feels good. Thanks for me. Last time I was on here, I didn't get to see you on here. So I'm stuck that I get to chat with you too. That's right. It was a tough one-on-one. He said to me at the Golden Wedding that he was like scared of my interview.

And I was like, no, no, no. But I was like such a, like I was your ultimate supporter throughout the season. She really was. Yeah. When I wasn't, she was. And so like that was the balance here. Well, maybe we can talk into that. We are.

We're going to dive into it all. We have a lot to talk about today. I'm very excited to finally sit down with you, Braden. Okay, I think we're going to start with that exactly. So one of the things that happens during Paradise that Ashley and I absolutely love is redemption stories or maybe getting more of the story. Braden, I always get to play golf with the Wells as soon as he gets back from Paradise. We always have like a golf trip set up.

And we don't talk a lot of Paradise. But usually I get to ask two questions to him because I don't want to know because we talk about it every, well, we talk about it every week. So I don't want spoiled, but I said, okay. Yeah. Is there who's like the top girls? And then what guys did you like the most? Like, that's it. Like, that's really all I care about. And then we'll watch a season. Braden, your name came up on on one of the guys he liked the most. And I said, that's wild to me. That's wild. Ashley has great intuition. Yeah. She has great intuition. Um, Braden, I want to ask about. watching back your season of the Bachelorette to kick it off here because we do have some there wasn't anything like goodness gracious this guy doesn't ever deserve to walk on television and it was confusion for me because it felt like uh in a similar way to some of the stories going

on on Joey's season there was a lot we didn't see a lot that didn't make sense but everybody was mad and then you left and I was like something had to have happened here Braden, watching back that season, can you elaborate a little bit more and maybe just explain yourself on what we did, didn't see, and what changed in paradise? Yeah, I honestly think for me when I was on The Bachelorette, it was what you see is what you get. I didn't change myself around the guys. I didn't change myself from what I said across the board.

And even when I was talking with charity, it was always the same thing. And so the guys, what I realized is they would say stuff behind closed doors. or between, you know, between the guys, and then they would be going and telling charity a totally different story. And so I think that maybe they thought I wasn't sharing those things with charity, but I was. So it kind of just, it kind of caused a little drama there. But I just, honestly, I really, I still don't really know what happened. Like, I thought the guys were all my friends.

I mean, the way we were in talking behind closed doors was just one way. And then, you know, when the cameras came out, people just changed. for me, I think I'm still confused. I'm right there with you. I really don't know what happened. All I know is one day it was, you know, sunshine and rainbows and the next day it was just a storm. So paradise, though, was very different

because I think that, you know, you're around both the guys and girls. So it's, you know, you're seeing each other's connections form. You're seeing the conversations happen. Everyone's aware of what's going on. And as long as you're not stepping on each other's toes, it's not really like you're going after the same person

so people aren't trying to come for your neck, you know yeah it's a little less secretive around there you can't hide very much no secrets and less competition i would say i i mean there wasn't and even when people were pursuing the same person it was it wasn't a it wasn't really competitive the way they were doing that they were just like because of time i think because you can always you have so much time in paradise yeah you know you're going to get to talk to them at some point or yeah versus bachelor right it's like your time is so dictated by that one moment you get with her. So if someone impedes on your time with her, you're just, you're at each other's throat.

You're angry. Yeah. Now, that transitioned us because we're here today, talk about your relationship and the two of you together. And so you get off of paradise and very soon after it, we see the, you know, an announcement at some point that the two of you are dating, that the two of you are hanging out. Can you give us some details on kind of how that all went about, you know, where, how serious was it right away. Just give us an insight to what we didn't see kind of in the limbo time. Yeah, I mean, for sure. So Paradise, we had never talked at all. And, you know, contrary to how

you, your take on, you know, seeing him on charity season, I was like, oh, like, I hope he doesn't end up with anyone outside of Paradise. Tell me more. Wait, stop there. Tell me more. What about his time during charity season? Did you say, I hope he doesn't end up with anybody? It was his face. Okay. Okay. Obviously, look at him, you know. Also, there was a lot of similar things. Like, you came up with the shot drinks. He didn't watch me on the season until, you know, like a couple weeks ago, actually. So he didn't know this. And I actually was one of the five on the finale of The Bachelorette the season before. And so on our, like, Zach and I's initial meeting, I did the same thing with like a shot. And so I was like, oh, hey, that guy, you know, copied me. I've got to talk to him about that. Good opening line. Right. It shouldn't. It wasn't.

That would have been good. I had a lot of lines. I actually contacted him a couple times via comments that, you know, he didn't respond to until he DM me later. That's good. I like this. I had time to spit out the lines. So, yeah, so there was that moment. There was another moment that he mentioned, like, Avatar and, like, seeing someone.

And that's just, like, a silly little thing that I, like, have analogy and, like, imprinted in my brain. Like, since I had watched. avatar in theaters where I like you know they put the ponytail of the people like connect it to the person it's you're like like you see them is what they say and like you're imprinted and I'm like he said that in one of the ITMs and I was like yes this guy gets it so that's just there's a many things and yeah so definitely like an energy I felt just from watching it as a fan and then once I you know I didn't end up going to paradise and then when I talked to the girls that I'm friends with coming out of it, you know, seems to be that he was still single.

So that was that. And you want to take it away on your end? You know, we meet up. Yeah. So I mean. But you said how serious, how fast? Because it was fast. After that, after that we ended up like talking in for maybe like a week or two.

A whole week maybe. Then I bought a slide out to Tennessee, came out to see her. And within the first day of us talking for the sunset, we were already like, you know, like, hey, like I want to personal relationship. I like you. I like the energy you give off. It was like. We don't.

We didn't want to jump into talking. It sounded like the most, like, simple, but like straight to the point because we knew, like, he was only coming there for a few days. Like, then he was going away. And so I feel like we both are, you know, respected and appreciated and saw the potential in the relationship. And then once there was that connection, like, for sure in person as well, it was like, I think we both know that things can get messed up, like, as far as the distance. If you're not having that talk at first and, like, wouldn't it be a shame? And, like, if we, you know, oh, I didn't know you weren't dating or I didn't, but I assumed you were. So, like, what?

And like, ah, and like, no one technically did anything wrong, but it's just, like, messy. So I was just like, so happy that we had that conversation before, you know, leaving. But it was still the same day. I picked him up from the airport in a disguise that morning. I liked, what, 9 a.m. or something. Yeah. And my disguise, because he was under, you know, Paradise hadn't even started air. Yeah.

And under contract. So he can't be seen. And I'm like, it's Nashville. It's a small town. like you know he's pretty hard people have recognized him more than me because of the earrings and then they want me to take a picture well he's just and he's big he's tall and he's strong and he's big got all his hair i think i'm strong ben i think you're strong i saw that shirt um buttoned a couple buttons at the wedding and i was like yeah guy he lifts weights um he lifts weight you know what

this makes me laugh though because i think i i don't have anything any problem with this in fact I think it's very healthy. It's similar to how my wife and I went about our first meeting. Within the evening time of our very first day, we had talked for two weeks or three weeks before, and we said, hey, this is the real deal. Like, we're going after it. But it's also a little bit, I wonder,

and I want you to continue, Christina, but I wonder if it's a little bit of the kind of coming off of the show, too, like that you both had this experience on The Bachelor. So acting quicker and saying things and being more intentional with your time, I wonder if that had anything to do with it. I actually, I mean, I'd like to jump in there just because I agree with that a lot. I think that the Bachelor really taught me that, you know, if you aren't set in your intentions, if you weren't saying what you won't right off the bat, you just like, you end up in this limbo

or like, you know, where you're in the talking face for so long. And I mean, nowadays, I feel like the talking phase is so common for everybody. Everyone's like, oh, yeah, I'm talking to this person. Yeah, it's too long. It's like talking and then like, okay, then you're not talking, talking, but you're like, like, And I'm like, I don't understand it. And so whenever we had the exclusive talk, I was literally like, do, does that mean this?

Because, you know, you live on the other side of the country. And I live over here. And like, there's a little bit their, you know, age. And like, I don't know what's TikTok saying now? Like, what do you mean by that? Yeah, no. I mean, I've been in like, I've been in talking or situationships. And I just like, I didn't want a situation.

Like, I wanted to know if like, you know, she was interested in like, seeing if there was a possibility for a relationship. And for me, I feel like when you're talking to or when you're, dating i feel like having you know there's there's a phase where people date multiple people and that's fine but i wanted to make sure she knew that yeah i wanted to make sure she knew that as far as my intentions were my intentions were as i wanted to put my energy into getting to know her not getting to know multiple people at once and so i i was like i put it out there i was like hey like this is where i'm at and i don't know if you're there but i just want to let you know where i'm at so that there's

no confusion coming from me and she was just like i'm at the same place and i would love to just talk you know get to know you and pursue this together and so um it kind of it took away a lot of stress that hit i feel like people on you know relationships like right off the bat and we just got to dive into getting to know each other and didn't waste any time doing it so it's cool and this hasn't been something that like i've been actively thinking about or anything and we haven't talked about this but like i you definitely brought up the conversation first i was just like yes like yes yes I didn't know because in my head, I'm like, you have an out-of-gill free card because you can't be, like, posting me on something because you're under contract because it hasn't aired yet. And that was a big part of it, too.

I was like, I mean, that's a big part of it too because it's like when you have those, you know, relationships and stuff, like, you can post a new story. Like, oh, yeah, I'm on a date with someone and, you know, you can do all that kind of stuff and, like. Like, nowadays, it sounds so lame, but, like, when you've been with situationships and, like, and you've been burned before or, like, just, you know, how things are kind of confusing with dating now. I feel like, you know, you're going to work or if I see you post a story and you're at a bar and I kind of see a girl's hand. I'm like, can't I ask if that's a girl? Not really.

And so it's just, it's confusing. So we did have like a conversation like we're in kindergarten. We're like, check yes or now. That's sweet. So cute. And it led you then to. I don't like a rose. Do you accept a rose?

Actually, when I have a conversation with that. That would have been hilarious. And so, no, I brought earrings instead. That's what I did. Christina, did they not cast you for Paradise? Um, I was planning on going and then just didn't end up going. So. So they really missed out.

Well, you know. I'm getting a couple. I can't say that because, you know, we're here we are right now and who knows how things would have ended up. That was my follow-up question. Yeah. We also know there's asked. We just explained how we didn't want the mess. I think we, like, did the perfect thing.

What happened was perfect. I think that's part of it, too. Like, the show was bound to be mess. Yeah, the show taught me, the show taught me that when I pursue relationships now regularly, I don't want the drama that came with everything that we experienced while you're on the show. If you remember, but also, a lot of the girls don't love me either. So who knows?

Paradise changes that, though. I do. I believe that people see more of a complete version of your. yourself. And they, I'm assuming it would have been really great for you because the girls would have maybe been at first a little hesitant and then gone. As time went on, they would have said, hey, this is, she's really great. Like, you know, we just think it to know her as well as, uh, what we could have on the show. But I do agree with the two of you. And Ashley, I think, you know, you are a hopeless romantic and you love to watch these couples fall in love,

you know, on television. And I agree with you. That's so much fun to watch and then follow up with. But I wonder, because of maybe some of the issues that existed from your times on The Bachelor and Bachelorette, if those would have maybe polluted the ability for you guys to dive into this relationship because you would have heard too much or you would have assumed some things and not just got to know each other for who you are. Yeah. And I mean, it's every time a relationship starts forming, there's always that situation where someone ends up getting pulled on the date or someone ends up getting pulled on the conversation. conversations and, you know, there's so, there's so many factors that get put into it where it's like it's hard to focus. I mean, people are able. Yeah, people are able to find relationships, but it's hard to focus on one like on one connection near there. So it's, it's crazy. Ashley, my wrong here where they are like, let's just consider them a Bachelor in Paradise couple because Braden was on it this season. That's what they, yeah, no, we asked because like they kept saying, we're like, huh, yeah. Well, you have a Neil Lane. So look, we. We. Look, we. need you to check yes or no like are we exclusive or not paradise and so they said yeah i don't know you're not a bachelor in paradise couple but you are a bachelor couple like you're a franchise couple they said paradise but i you know and i'd like to say i mean no that's why i was like i don't agree

either way i don't know i have to say one thing i one thing i noticed though is i think she might be the first person besides like the host to be on like every single like bachelor's she went to the Bachelorette finale when she got a note besides like you know she got the OGs yeah but oh sorry I thought of something that sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry my bad um uh it was an emergency but he's ignoring it but uh no so she was on bachelorette though for the finale she was on bachelor with Zach she ended up making it to Bachelor in Paradise because at the end they made a snippet of like me and her dating and then she ended up on Bachelor wedding so she ended up on all well maybe within like a year for a rookie or something that's pretty impressive

you did all right and you didn't really have to put in the work someone sent him the message or like someone was talking about that with him and he said that and I'm like I don't I don't fact check that it doesn't sound but you know sure I was like yo big fan of the shows

it's like dang you did it all didn't you well so he had never watched he got signed up and had never seen the show before like you knew like kind of the concept but like I'm an OG fan so like you're sitting here saying that but I'm like yeah but it wasn't bat or winter games or anything like that yeah that's why you and I are seeing it as more of like

a Bachelor franchise umbrella couple. Yeah. Okay. I like an umbrella couple. An umbrella couple. Well, my point was you're the only two to work from like paradise. Like,

this is the only couple. That's why they want to call you a paradise couple. Yeah. You were like, you know it either way? Let's just say, yeah. I'm like,

okay. Exactly. I've heard rumors of the rumor middle that there might be other couples that might have been working out. You heard it. What? Yeah. You mean couples that are currently

working it out once they've already broken up. We'll figure it out. We'll dive deep on this info. But yeah, that might be something I heard. Thanks. Thanks for having us look out for that. 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, has been hanging out with his young professor a lot. He doesn't think it's a problem, but I don't trust her. Now, he's insisting we get to know each other, but I just want her gone. Now, hold up.

Isn't that against school policy? That sounds totally inappropriate. Well, according to this person, this is her boyfriend's former professor, and they're the same age. And it's even more likely that they're cheating. He insists there's nothing between them. I mean, do you believe him? Well, he's certainly trying to get this person to believe him because he now wants them both to meet. So, do we find out if this person's boyfriend really cheated with his professor or

not. To hear the explosive finale, listen to the OK Storytime podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Hi, my name is Enya Umanzor. And I'm Drew Phillips. And we run a podcast called Emergency Intercom. If you're a crime junkie and you love crimes, we're not the podcast for you. But if you have unmedicated ADHD, oh my God, perfect. And want to hear people with mental illness, psychobabble. Yes, yes. Then a Emergency Intercom is the podcast for you. Open your free IHeartRadio app. Search Emergency Intercom and listen now.

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so this is a little bit off topic but I'm just dying to ask because you know we won't let's just ask you guys I know you guys won't tell it you're like the umbrella you get it yeah we're guys it's so sweet of you so so you were in like this crazy accident Braden and I and then we're was like a sinking ship and you were in the middle of telling me the story during um the golden wedding and i didn't get to hear the rest of it and everybody needs to hear it in detail because all we did was get like a little blip a little headline to like be shouting with the music over and then almost died like you did like you truly almost died and christina were you around for you you're dating

him at the moment so tell us about this whole experience emotionally yeah so i'll let him run through it but Yeah. So as far as my side, though, we were definitely like dating together, whatever. But, you know, we're going to get to the point at the end where I got a boyfriend officially that day. That's when we, you know, there was a lot of things come to, you know. Yeah, basically I, me and Aaron, one of the guys from my season, we went out and he bought a boat. And it was my dad and my uncle, him and then one of our other buddies that we go surfing with a lot. And we went out to go deep sea fishing. We checked the boat. It was a brand new boat. Got a 30 point inspection done.

Everything was great. The ride out there was amazing. I felt like a pirate. I was hanging off the side of the ship. Like, it was best day. Yeah, best day ever. I mean, it was literally just an amazing start to a day. And we were out there for about three hours, you know, just dropping lines in.

And all of a sudden, like, Aaron had to go to the back of the boat to lift up the offboard engine because the line that my buddy cast started like drifting underneath. Soon as he stepped on the swim deck to lift the off board engine, the boat just started taking on water. And the boat just like shot up. Is this the maiden voyage? Titanic? Like, what is this? That's how I describe it. Like, when he says it, like, okay, it went like that. It was like how the Titanic, you know, you see that picture.

Yeah, instead of like a 100 foot boat, it's say 20, it's 26. The water was cold, but there's, but it wasn't the maiden voyage of this boat, right? No, not the maiden voyage. Okay. Because we took it out, we took it out like a week or two before to make sure everything worked. Because, I mean, we want to be safe, you know, we're like, oh, we want to make sure the boat works and there's nothing wrong with it. We'll just go through the harbor and go on a cruise.

I mean, it was good. Iron is a firefighter, you had, I mean, your army nurse, like the, who else? Yeah, there were like, medical we had, you know. And it was early recording, like, no drinking. Like, it was not. No, we were like, yeah. It wasn't like we were going crazy or anything like that. We were just going for a fishing trip.

And there did this boat just shot up. And within like 45 seconds, I got launched off the boat. My uncle got the center console to the head. My dad was in the grass like best. Like, we were just like cast into the middle of the ocean, 17 miles off shore. And see, that's like the most mind. boggling thing about this, 17 miles off the shore. Did you have any boats in sight even? No, it was just, it was literally just open water. I mean, I could, you could see like the tops of the

mountains, like the shadow of the mountains in the distance of where we needed to be, but everything, it was just, it was just empty. And I've never, and it's such a, it's such an eerie feeling when you're out there. I mean, we're surrounded by things all the time. We're surrounded by noise. We're down and by people passing this like even in your house you hear cars driving by and you know but when we are out there it was the most eerie feeling because there was just this stillness and this calmness in this most stressful just chaotic experience I've ever had in my life and uh you watch the boat actually go under completely yeah and at the time too like we started panicking so like the nose of the boat like like you know hung out for a second as like water was filling the hole I'm sure but you know

we were trying to see if we could like pull the boat out of the water for summer like I don't know if I thought I was working out in the gym enough like Ben was saying or not I was like I'm pulling out it's great you know my muscles finally come in handy yeah but no no there's no pulling that boat out of the water and in fact like when I did that I actually got wrapped in the fishing line you know when I did when we decided to try to do that and as the boat kept going down I started getting pulled down with the boat and by the great like my dad he actually bought like a pocket knife I still have the pocket knife I carry it with me everywhere now he had this pocket knife. He literally bought the night before just in case he had to cut line or anything like that.

And so when I'm getting tangled in line, it was like a movie situation, you know, where like you're going underwater. You're bobbing up. You're like, you know, and yeah, he actually was able to cut me free. And, uh, I mean, you can kind of see the scar on my arm a little bit. It like goes down like that. But, um, he actually cut me while he was cutting the line off me. But still it was like, you know, saved my life. So I was bleeding. Now I'm in the open water, boat's underwater. They didn't get a distress. No shark attack. Yeah, we, I'm bleeding in open water. And now we're like, they stopped there because there's a lot of activity on the fish finders. Yeah.

And so, and that was the thing, too. Like, we stopped at this spot because we were looking for fish and the fish finder was going off. Like, there was some big fish that underneath. So we're like, oh, this is a great spot to stop. And now I'm bleeding. And we have to paddle back to shore. And so we just start kicking. And it was my dad, my uncle and me, we locked arms and we were kicking.

And then Aaron was using one of the, one of the ice chest we had as like a kicking board. And then my buddy Gavin was using the other ice chest we had as a kicking. board. And so now we're just, we're just like moving as a group, moving towards the shore. And as we're going, it was just, I mean, you have so many thoughts in that time. You're in the water for three and a half hours. It was just, I thought I was dead for three and a half hours. No, no. Three and a half hours. Yeah. To the Coast Guard. How did you, how did you even, like, how'd that go down? Coast Guard wasn't even coming. Like, there was no, there's no contacting anybody. I mean, no distress and what got out. There was, we were, we were just out of luck.

I mean, it was one of the crazy. And that was the reason I knew I was going to die. Like, if we got a Coast Guard out, like a call out or something like that, it might have given me like a sense of hope. But there was none of that. Like, we weren't able to get to the radio. And I mean, I still hear the sound of the boat because the boat, once the boat started taking on water, it started letting out like a like a signal, like a signal. And I was in my head, I'm like, oh, was that a distress signal? But I knew it wasn't a distress signal because the boat didn't have that.

And so it was just the sound of the boat. like the computer failing and stuff like that. And so it was the most bizarre experience ever. And so now we're kicking towards shore. No distress signal. No one's coming for us. Nobody around. And I start seeing Aaron start shaking because he's cold.

Gavin starts shaking because he's cold. I'm locked arms with my dad and my uncle. So I'm like keeping a little bit of warmth with me. But I mean, I'm in just my underwear because I like just dropped all my clothes off because my clothes were just dragging me down. And so now we're kicking towards shore. And the Pacific Ocean is not warm. Like, it's, it's pretty chilly.

It was like, it was probably around like 65 that day in the water, which is not the coldest it is, but it's like, you know, it was a decently warm day at least with 65. If you're in there that long, your body temperature starts to get the same. Your body temperature just is like, it's being pulled from you because the water's so cold. And so, uh, we saw like a couple shadows of sailboats in the distance, but like they would just come into view and then they would just disappear again. And so we're like, we're not, no one's seeing us. Like, we're going to die. And then all of a sudden, like, I'm, you know, we're kicking. and my buddy Gavin like gets shot up above like one of the waves because we're in like a four foot once in well so we're going up down up down up down this is the ultimate nightmare yeah and he was like he's like guys I think I see a boat and I'm like at this point we'd already seen like the shadows of boats passing my like you like heard of helicopters oh yeah I mean your brain starts playing games with you you think every sound is something and you look around hopeful and then it's just like it's three hours of that where it's like you're like paddling your heads in the water and then all of a sudden you think you hear something you look up and there's nothing and it's like

And now all of a sudden, Gavin is going, he's like, guys, I see a boat. I'm like, shut. And I remember, I just told him, was like, bro, shut the hell. Like, I mean, you know, I don't want to say anything on the podcast, but I basically told him shut up because I was like, dude, like, stop telling me that something's there because nothing's there. And then Aaron goes, he's like, no, I see it too. And then like, me, I'm like, my dad and my uncle and I, we were just like, we just kept kicking. And they're like, wait, no, I think it's coming towards us. And we just kept kicking because we're like, no, like, they're hallucinating.

Like, this can't be real. And then all of a sudden, I just heard like the sound. of like the boat moving in the water like because my head was under water so I could hear like the sound of the engine like going and like I finally looked up and I just see the boat coming and it was just like I just started crying I was just like kind of like I'm not going to die I think I was like you know and and so the boat finally came up we climbed in and it was funny the ice chest starts drifting off and my uncle like goes yeah it was like an igloo eye chest and my uncle climbs at the top of the book like Wilson no like you know like cast away

the fact that he had a sense of humor too I was just like I just told him I was like F you, bro. We saw us died and you want to crack jokes right away. But, yeah, so we ended up, these guys ended up finding us. They rolled up and they were like, we were looking for a school fish and we found a school man. Look at things. And they were, I mean, they were crackups too, but it was wild.

Their story of how they ended up there, like they were running late that day. They weren't sure if they were going to come out at all. But they ended up running late, dropping the kids off at school. And then they're like, oh, we'll just go out for like 30, 45 minutes just to go on a ride. And when they came out, they just saw the reflection of like the, the igloo in the water. Or his earrings. Yeah.

I don't know. No. And I hope it was the earrings. It all makes sense now. And then they decided to come check it out. And they saw us in there and there was like, hey, can we arrive? And they're like, yeah. And the thing that was crazy about it.

It'd been like a long time to get there from seeing it, right? Oh, yeah. No. I mean, the thing that was the most bizarre about is once we got on the boat, it was still like over an hour and a half boat ride back to shore. So, I mean, there was, and you're going on, you're going fast in the water. So, I mean, we wouldn't, we wouldn't have made it a mile, right? We made it at three quarters of a mile.

We looked at it. So by the time that we were in the water, and three and a half hours, made it three quarters of a mile. Because it was like, we're fighting against the current. We're fighting against the wind as well. Like,

it was just like, it was insane. And so when they picked us up, they called the Coast Guard. And they're like, hey, we found some people. Are you guys looking for anyone? And they're like, no,

what do you mean? And then I go, well, we found five guys in the water. And so as we were pulling into the harbor, they just pulled up on us and like, hey, you guys are you guys okay? And then they're like, wait, you're the guys from The Bachelor, aren't you?

And I'm like, bro, shut up, man. And so. And that was even before Paradise was airing, too. Yeah. And so, yeah. So we were safe. I mean, it was crazy. I mean, I, that day, it's still, it's still hard because it's like, it's still

messes with my head a little bit. I mean, you, I mean, it was only what, like four months ago now? Yeah. Yeah. So, I mean, it's still, like, it's still different. Like, when you're talking about this whole, like, social anxiety, Ben, it's like, it's bizarre. I now have, like, a sense of social anxiety now.

And I don't know where, I don't know. I don't know. I mean, I know where it comes from, but I don't know. It's like PTSD, actually. Yeah. Or like hearing that distress call,

like on the movie the other day. Oh, yeah. I heard there was a distress call on the movie the other day. I sent me into like a spin. I was just like, I just started panic. My body just started.

And it's so weird. Panic attacks are weird. But yeah. Christina, he told, he asked you to be his girlfriend that day as soon as he got back to land. So all that happens.

You know, we were exclusive very much, but like, you know, I didn't have his location. So I didn't know, you know. Now, you're like, we're finding my friends on you.

Oh, we are, I was immediately. I'm like, yes, I'll be your girlfriend, but I need you to send him a location right now. It's not for why you think. No, but yeah. So he didn't have a phone, you know, they boat and everything and all of everything they had is down at the bottom of the ocean. So they, you know, he got back. It's $6,000 with a camera equipment because I had like my nice camera out there, my drone, my GoPro, like my camera back. I had everything out there.

but it's wavy how deep was it it was 3753 feet we're not going to find we're not finding because the car went back out and checked how deep it was but yeah gosh okay that's terrible but yeah so i get a phone call well i get a message from his dad on instagram and like just a like a request and i happened to have seen it and like he was like hey you know it's brayden's dad which we had you know met on you know via face time and stuff already but like a selfie of the two of them in the car and they were both like just like looking at like they didn't look happy or sad but i was just like okay like he was like you know call call me you know the number and so or yeah call this what's my number or whatever yeah no he was like what's your number so i sent the number and then got a

phone call and that's when you were outside of like what the team over or wherever it was you're like i don't have a phone the first call he made he found like a random phone to call me off of and then is telling me real quick like and i was like working out in my like garage and i had blakely my daughter like with me around and she was in there and like she's went back and forth asking me things I'm like just hold hold everybody what's going on what's happening because he was telling me um I guess your dad kind of gave me a little spark notes but then you grab the phone and I was like wait what do you mean and then you were telling me everything and you babbled out kind of not all the details but like the both sake and I was here and all that and did you get oh you hit sent me an edible

arrangements that or day he's like but how was that how was your teacher conference I'm like no no no no that's not what we're talking about and you're like oh yeah and also you know the thing like he had said when you said this part yeah that's weird for me to say about myself and he loves me i just told her i was like i was in there i was in the water for three and a half hours like i thought i was going to die i really put a lot of things in perspective for me and i just one thing i regreted is not telling you that i loved you when i was out there and i know it would be fast i know it might be rushing and then i cut him off there and i was like no i love you too and so i feel like you know we were both thinking that but i mean i feel like we were still sticking to like the you know

kind of timeline like it wasn't really like that we had waited all that long but we you know it's long distance so that's something you probably want to say in person and so you know I and I was planning on like I was planning on like doing the whole oh you'd be my girlfriend thing because I was supposed to go out there like the following like week for her birthday or no something in two weeks for your birthday yeah and so it was like I was like yeah I was that's when I was planning on doing it I want to do something cute yeah I would have been the 18th yeah but I mean we were like well we didn't plan anything certain but like yeah no I ended up being like I'm going I'm coming there right now like you know obviously like I don't care like you get a chance to see me for a second that's fine I'll

drive wherever but like I'm going there this is yeah somehow you found a way even without being on paradise and not being on television to be to have the most dramatic I first love you scenario that I've ever heard yeah I mean that is that is a story to share forever you you keep the drama alive. Well, that is one of the most incredible stories I've ever heard. And I think there is, first off, Braden, like, there's so many people listening and Ashley and myself included to understand kind of where this, like, the panic and anxiety, we don't understand, but we hear you. We hope that that maybe, I don't know if it gets better. I don't know enough to say, hey, that will go away or time will heal all, or if that's going to be. Did you ever go on a cruise

again. I've been on boats since. I ended up, I did go on a boat again with her and Blakely. Yeah, our launch that we made, like, are announcing the relationship. We were on a boat, but, you know,

my best friend had planned it for my birthday that me and Blakely went out there to see him in San Diego. And it was like, what's it called the boat called? I don't know. Like the kind where it's a tour. It's like a catamaran. And she would like, like, ask him,

called him and asked him. He was like, is that going to be okay? And it had, it was so sweet of her. like think of that and you're like no no no it's fine i can do this but you had been like surfing and stuff since like i mean it's it's not even boats that scare me it's just like there's it's the concept it's yeah i think it's just like boat sink not float it's not even that yeah the normalcy bias of what it means to like think that something's going to be fine and it's like totally not fine and i've always been like laid back guy when it comes to like going to

situation it's like oh it'll work out and now it's like i feel like it's i'm a little hesitant to think they're going to work out so i need to be like full prepare and I need to know what's going to happen or it's like you know and so that's why I think social settings mess me up because I'm like anything can happen yeah yeah I hear you I mean and like I said we that's uh it's totally fair and that is a a wild story that we didn't get the full version of because I remember watching um like a news clip from it um and that's kind of where I heard about it for the first time and there and it really didn't give a lot of detail to what happened and why it happened.

Paradise. They mentioned it on the side. Yeah. Could that have been it? Brandon and Aaron was that. And Brandon did a relationship. And everyone's like, what? What?

Yeah. I mean, it's it needs more weight. And I'm glad you shared that story because it needed, it needs to hold it space. Like that is a very important story in your life. And then also leading to this incredible moment where you're on the water for three and a half hours and you maybe not realized it then, but you got the confidence or you felt the urgency to tell Christina you loved her. Well, that transitions us, though, into a moment that a lot of people watched. I think 11 million people, in fact, watched it.

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

That sounds totally inappropriate. Well, according to this person, this is her boyfriend's former professor, and they're the same age. And it's even more likely that they're cheating. He insists there's nothing between them. I mean, do you believe him? Well, he's certainly trying to get this person to believe him because he now wants them both to meet. So, do we find out if this person's boyfriend really cheated with his person? professor or not. To hear the explosive finale, listen to the OK Storytime podcast on the IHart

Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Hi, my name is Enya Umanzor. And I'm Drew Phillips. And we run a podcast called Emergency Intercom. If you're a crime junkie and you love crimes, we're not the podcast for you. But if you have unmedicated ADHD, ADHD, 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. This, pull that, turn this. It's just... I can do it in my eyes close.

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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. You got engaged at the Golden Wedding, which was very special for the two of you, but controversial in a lot of ways too. I'm sure you're not a, you weren't, you were aware, I guess, of the people saying, hey, you're taking the moment from Gary and Teresa and how would you do that thing? I want to give you two, especially you, Braden, because you knew about it. I'm hoping before that day happened. Kind of why you chose that moment, Ashley and I did stick up for you here and say,

hey, there's a lot of reasons why you would do it here. And yes, this whole world is weird. And this whole world never makes sense. But this makes sense when you talk about The Bachelor. But I want you to tell us how you decided that moment was the right moment. and then also maybe respond to some of the critics that say, hey, you took the moment from Gary and Teresa. Yeah, I mean, at the end of the day, everyone was going to have an opinion.

I mean, it's just, it's the way the world works. And a lot of times people like to have more of the negative opinions than positive opinions because they're more fun. But I, for me, the biggest reason why I ended up deciding that that was the moment in which I wanted to do it in is, I mean, first I did talk to Gary and Teresa. I mean, I would like to put that out there. I called Gary and talked to him on the phone. I got permission from him.

He talked to Teresa. Teresa loved the idea of it. And also, like, people probably don't know. Like, you and Gary are friends and, like, text all the time. And, like, they actually talk outside. He was one of the first people. Yeah, he was one of the first people he told, like, that we were together. Yeah.

So at the premiere of Golden, uh, of Golden Bachelor and Bachelor in Paradise at that premiere party, me and Gary, like, we were talking and like, just about this and that. And he's like, oh, like, you know, how's dating outside of it? And I'm like, well, actually, like, I'm actually dating someone from a previous show. And I was like, and I showed him a picture. picture of Christina and I was like yeah me and her next time didn't yeah and so I mean the thing was is like I mean Gary Gary was a part of it I mean the thing what bachelor nation bachelor is a part of me and

Christina being together too I mean I would have never met her without being on the show and so with those factors like you know with those factors considered it's like I mean why why would if I was if I had the opportunity to if everyone was okay with it why wouldn't I want to use something that was so monumental in me and her getting to know each other and getting to me as an opportunity to go and do it. And I mean, that's like, that's honestly at the end of the day why I did it. I mean, Bachelor, it was a big thing for her. My experience on The Bachelor was a big thing for me. I think it both, you know, changed us in certain ways and has played a big role, like I said, and just us, you know, growing in our relationship and, you know, going about it the way we have.

And so that's, that's honestly why I did it. I mean, and it was, I don't regret it. I'm so grateful that I did it. And I'm living, I'm living happy now. And I mean, I'm blessed to be able to haven't. So people can hate on it. That's their right. I mean, they could be upset about it, but I'm not upset about it. And it doesn't really bother it. It didn't feel weird to me whatsoever watching it. I didn't even think twice until people brought it up that it was an inopportune moment. Bachelor World is so much different. And free ring. You got to get the free ring if it's offered. We talked about it before. And I was like, hey, like, I'm not busy at all. Like, don't. Like, if you ever want to, like, you know, maybe do that, like, propose or something. Like, don't worry about,

like, a ring or I was like, I've always thought it would be cool, like, go on a hike or, like, somewhere and find a really cool stone and make a ring together. And, like, we talked about that. And so, um, yeah. And that was a part of it too. Like, I mean, I was telling, don't, I was like, don't go and be like, like, the whole way it came about. The whole way it came about was, I mean, me and the producers came when they were coming in chat with me in the room, um, because they were, like, I just showed up to the hotel. And Christine was, wait, when? at the golden wedding so i got to wait a second now yeah yeah and so uh you wait for basically

you're telling me that you decided the day of the wedding no no not the day of the oh okay we were there we got there before but um i was sitting there and i was just chatting with uh i was chatting with jason one of the guys and um i was just like yeah like you know i'm gonna propose the christina this year and i had like this whole originally i had another plan on how i wanted to do it um and i was like yeah, I'm going to be proposing her this year, saving up for a ring, saving up for a trip to Italy, because originally I wanted to do it. And like, she, like, one of our first, I am, they're going to make some people mad about this one too. Everyone, yeah, this is going to make people more mad of a different.

So one of our first FaceTime call, she said she wants to go to Italy to go put pineapple on pizza. Like, bring a can of pineapple, like, to a really nice, or like, you know, just a pizza place and then ask, or, you know, just have them watch me, just pour it on the pizza. Yeah, very funny. Very funny. Thank you. So I was saying. And everyone I tell, they're like, that's, you're going to.

picked out of the country. And so I told her, I was like, my original plan, I was telling them, but I was like, yeah, like, I'm going to put a ring in the pineapple can. So when she goes to try to dump the pineapples out, the ring's going to fall instead. And then I'll ask her to marry. So that was my original idea. And they're like, wow, that's so cute. They're like, you're really serious about this, huh?

And I'm like, honestly, yeah, like, after a big, like, after the boating incident, I was like, I understand that time, like, you know, I don't want to live my life, you know, waiting for something that, you know what I mean? When, when you know, you know what I mean? And you had all your stuff packed up. We were driving from the wedding to make the move to Nashville. And that was one thing that was crazy is I was literally talking to my sister on the way to the golden wedding where I was like, you know, one of my things that I felt, you know, I wish I could have done. And the only reason I hadn't done it yet is because, again, I was saving it money and wanting to be able to buy the ring and buy the trip and do it this way.

And I was telling her, I was like, yeah, I was like, you know, I want to do this. And I feel like this is right. I don't, I feel bad about moving in with like, you know, Blakely and her seeing that because I would. love for her to see that like, you know, I'm very committed to her mom and it's not just like some new boyfriend moving in and, you know, I want to be able to have that, you know, make that impression on her because kids are so impressionable and they looked at their parents and see how their parents' relationships are. And I don't want her to think that I'm just, you know, some dude that's just coming out there just to date her mom. Yeah. That's not. And so,

I was talking to my sister about that and I was like, and I just, and I feel guilty because I was like, I wish I could propose to her right now. Like, I wish I could do that right now. And it's so, and I was like, but I'm limited, you know, I had to just bought an truck. I like, you know, my car broke down. So I just bought a truck. So the money I did have went to the truck. And I was like, you know, so I can't do it right now. And then, it's up the new job. Yeah. In between because of moving. Between two nursing contracts. And so I was like, you know, I have to wait. That's like the smart thing to do. And I was like, just pray for me. And I got. And and then literally that night when I was talking to the producers, like, well, how about we do this

right now? So you're telling me you did make that decision that day. Like you knew you were going to propose. But like, they said, we could do it now. And you said, yeah. Day before. Day before, yeah. Oh my goodness gracious. That is so cute and cool. I love it. You guys are so in love.

It's so cute. And also to like explain this a little bit. Like how many times do people get engaged randomly? Like very often. Like I have friends who have been on like a mountain hike, right? And it's a beautiful moment and like everything looks perfect. And they get engaged in that moment. Kind of unexpectedly.

They both knew, you know, knew it was coming, knew they both wanted. it, but it was kind of unplanned and, like, out of nowhere. And so it makes sense on how you're like, hey, we're already going to be doing this. Everything's aligning here for this to be like the ultimate way for me to propose. And we're going to make it happen. And like you said, you and Gary, uh, were friends. Uh, it didn't, it didn't. And actually I talked about this too, it didn't take away from the wedding at all. Like this was a whole, like almost felt like a whole separate event that like hour and a half where we all were kind of hanging out. It's a whole separate event.

It was very different than the wedding and the after wedding. But, you know, this was your moment. And 11 million people watched it. Now, it kind of takes you then into the planning phase. So we are, I don't even know how long we are removed from the golden wedding. It feels like a long time, but it's probably not that long. It's not even been two months. It's right for it?

Yeah. About 18 days. Or something. No, not counting. You would mention Christina as we kind of. to close up here that you, at the beginning of the show, even, you were talking about how you are in the planning phase and talking about what a wedding can look like and how you both want it done. How far along are you? I mean, if urgency and being very, very decisive in your

decision making when it comes to your love story has been kind of the theme, I'm guessing you're pretty far along, but you tell me. Well, so we, okay, yes and no and maybe and all. All of the answer, all of the above. The reason we're cracking up at that question, I feel like. Is that you're already married? We have been married for years now. We've just been like, you know, thinking in San Diego, but there's no rush to, like, plan it. But then it's like, I, you know, I have an event planning company.

I, you know, it was before COVID. I was really doing a lot of engagements and weddings and stuff. And I really haven't been pushing that since. I got a lot going on. But, I mean, I've done the weddings. like you know i'm just like that's a lot and like sometimes it that's why i said it was so great that you said you and you know look back at your wedding ben and with joy and it was a great memory and all that but i'm like really there's so many people and i could just like run away

and we can go get a note like let's go to you know we don't go get italy now because you know pizza the pineapple but like let's go somewhere but then it's like okay well we do our family there and blakely wants to wear a mini version of my dress she says and she She wants to walk out after me. And I'm like, that's just not what's happening. I don't know. I can see it. We just have such a big, like,

it was great. It would have to be huge. And that seems like a lot. We were sitting down. We started making a guest list. And like, when we were making our guest list, I mean, we had over 200 people on our guest list. That was like, that weren't even like plus ones or thinking like about a, but I really want

to invite this person. These were like the half to. And it was like, that's not even. people I want there yet. Yeah. And when we started doing that, we were sitting there, we're like, okay, well, maybe not this. And so then we started looking at location weddings.

And we were thinking, like, maybe go and, like, get a spot and just get an Airbnb with family and, like, you know, like 20 people and just get married there and have, like, a family trip and have that. And then it was funny. The reason why we were laughing, you know, it's because last night, I literally was just like, right before we fell asleep. I'm like, let's just get married this month. I was like, let's just go.

Let's just. I'm like, I'm like, we can do. I'm like, we can do. Now, you know, we won't send them this. link to the... Yeah, but I was like, you know... When they come to town, because my family's all coming out here

just to visit. And I was like, when they come out here, like, it's half... There's birthday, too. Like, sorry. What's my birthday, too? It is, but, you know, two days before.

It's her 21st. We'd be like, we just have to take the attention away from someone else, you know? I think it'll clarify itself. I think you guys will figure it out. You have a lot of ideas going on. Maybe this month, maybe two years.

I mean, it's hard because it's like, I didn't realize how much really is involved in wedding planning. And I can honestly say I don't think I want to do the big thing, especially since I've been experienced the social anxiety kind of thing recently. I don't think I would actually be able to enjoy it all that much if I had so many people there.

Not on a boat. Yeah, not on a boat either. But I was like, so I definitely don't think I want to do that anymore. I want it to be small. I just want like our main people like the main people in our lives that do every day with us. And then maybe just do a big celebration like afterwards. But we want to get married

within this next year. I mean, by spring 2025, we plan on being married. And so that's kind of where we're at. So it could be next month and it could be, but you're saying there is, there is an urgency around the two of you getting married. Yeah. I mean, we don't want to waste. I mean, there's not really, I didn't get engaged. We didn't get engaged just to get engaged, you know, it's like I, we got engaged because like, I want to, I mean, I want to marry this girl. I want to marry this out of this girl. You know what I mean? So cute. Okay, I need to know

your relationship with, it's Blake's Blakely. Blakely, yeah. Yeah. So her daughter, how old is she? Seven going on 15. So what's the relationship like? How was it like integrating Brayden into your lives? So I, the last boyfriend, like officially boyfriend that I had, I was 17. So she hasn't like really dealt with, you know, mom having like definitely someone moving in the house or anything like that. So I knew it was going to be a little bit, obviously adjustment period because, you know, we're, that's us all the time. You know, if she's not at school or I'm at work, like it's us. all the time all days like we snuggle and she was like I have to share you snuggling and you know just thinking about those things but I think like so they met in October for my birthday we went out to

San Diego that's the first time they met in person but like before that like you were obviously talking all day long and FaceTime and all that and so she had met him and talked with them and like would take the phone and then like be drawing and coloring with them and they were hitting it off and I mean as you can imagine like you know we're like kids too so I mean like we just get along but I think what so, you know, not that I doubted it at all, but, like, seeing how we work together in, like, as a team, like, parenting with her. It's been, like, a really cool at United Front because I'm like, look, here's the thing. Like, I do feel like we have the same kind of, you know, thought, maybe we get there differently, but, like, as far as, like, what kids, like, limits and

rules and, you know, we want the same outcome. So let's just be on the same team. Let's not do the whole like having her having to play sides and um so that's been really cool and she's you know so as far as how does she look at him it's like you know i would say the same and she's calling him bray dad now so wait ray dad bray dad bray dad cute yeah but no it's awesome i mean it's yesterday we had a big day we went to the park roller skating and then he like i was like can we please go to barns and noble and like had went and bought her some books and then it was just, yeah, no, he's... No, we read every night, like, every night to go to bed.

I mean, at first she hated it because she liked to play on, like, watch iPad before she went to bed. And it was like, no, we're reading before we go to bed now. And she's like, what? I don't want to read. I'm like, nope, that's what we're doing. And so now I'll read her story as now she actually loves it. So they bought before, yes.

But like, I mean, there were some growing pains when I first moved in because it was like, okay, we're going to like, you know, I wanted to encourage the reading. I think that's the big thing. And so, but it was cool at the other, like, I don't know, I just see the little wins and they're starting to accumulate to be bigger wins. And, I mean, she comes home. Like, when I get home from work, she'll come and give me a big hug. Like, she tells me she loves me.

And so it's like, I mean, those are things that are huge for me. And it feels really good. I mean, to have a little person that loves you. And so it's, uh, it's pretty awesome. And I love her to her. She's awesome. The, uh, to close out here, Braden, um, there's, there's a familiar. I don't know if you've heard this.

It could be offensive to you, but I'm going to say it anyways, because it's being said behind your back. there's a familiar term used to describe you from the people that have known you from the Bachelorette to Paradise producers and none of them have been together when they've explained you to me they call you a golden retriever that you that you are just like a golden retriever that you're loyal yeah well you have a lot of similarities to Dean that you're loyal I hit it off of it, but yeah. The two of them are like very, like the vibe is so similar.

It's weird. Like they could be brothers. He seems more like Dean than his, than Dean's brothers. Yeah. No, I agree. Knowing that they were going to meet at the wedding, I was like,

look, you're going to like this guy, you know, because again, fan of the show. I'm like, no, trust me. Like, go talk. And then right away, they were like, oh, you guys were about to go like,

Athena and I, we, you know, everything was happening. And this is before the proposal and like, you know, all of the shenanigans. and dance floor, but you guys were going to go play smash brothers or something. You can't go do that right now. You can't.

Just a golden retriever. You're going to pierce his nose or something. Yeah, we're going to pierce each other. They are unstoppable together. That would be, yeah. It's a dangerously loving combination of people. I love Dean very much. Braden, Christina,

we're very, very excited that you came on the show. Thank you for telling us your story as a couple and then your stories as individuals. And we wish you nothing but the best. Please keep us updated on the wedding plans. Keep us in the loop because we want to check back in. But until that time, we are very thankful you came on the show. Yes.

Thank you so much for having us. Follow the Ben and Ashley I, almost famous podcasts on IHeartRadio or subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts. My boyfriend's professor is way too friendly and now I'm seriously suspicious. minute, Sam. Maybe her boyfriend's just looking for extra credit. Well, Dakota, luckily, it's back to school week on the OK Storytime podcast, so we'll find out soon. This person writes, my boyfriend's been hanging out with his young professor a lot. He doesn't think it's a problem, but I don't trust her. Now he's insisting we get to know each other, but I just want her gone.

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