The Ben and Ashley I Almost Famous Podcast - From the Mansion to the Yacht with Wells Adams and Chris Harrison (PART 2)

Episode Date: October 10, 2025

We’re circling Lady Liberty on our Bachelor Nation dinner cruise around New York  with Wells Adams and Chris Harrison! More secrets are spilled and nothing is off limits! Hear why some “villains” make it farther in a season than you’d expect, Wells opens up about how a rouge butt grab can throw off a live broadcast, and Chris shares some hints about his next steps!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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And to binge the entire season ad free, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. Samihante, it's Anna Ortiz. And I'm Mark and Delicado. You might know us as Hilda and Justin from Ugly Betty. Welcome to our new podcast. Viva Betty! Yay! We're re-watching the series

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is that you? And it's a commercial for Betty. And I was like, I quit. I quit. Listen to Viva Betty on the I-HeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Hey, guys, it's Stephanie Beatriz. And Melissa Fumero.

And this is more better. We are jumping right in and ready to hear from you. Your thoughts, your questions, your feelings about socks with sandals. And we're ready to share some possibly questionable advice and hot takes. God, that sucks so hard, though. I'm so sorry. Can you out petty them? Can you match their pettiness for funsies?

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Welcome back to the Almost Famous Podcast. It's been here, back with more of my great evening with Chris Harrison and Wells Adams on City Cruises. We had an amazing night in New York City. You, Bachelor Nation fans, have the best questions. So let's dive back in to the Q&A. I'm so happy that there's this panel because Ben Higgins, you were my first introduction to the Bachelor franchise in general. Wells, you are amazing to watch on Bachelor in Paradise,

and you're probably the most magnetic character on the show. And Chris Harrison, you are the best host ever. I do not know why they replaced you. Thank you, Sam. All right, two questions, if you don't mind. You can ask anything now. You can stay up there all night, just keep going. Flattery gets you everything.

Wells, I absolutely loved you on traders. I hate how they did you dirty. And I wish you were able to stay for longer because you had your nail right on the button with several people. So, amazing job. Question to all of you, would you ever cross over to another franchise or do another show? I would do, I would do traders in a second. You should do it. You should do traders.

Yeah. I was offered a gig this last year that was awesome, but it was right at the birth of my child. It was going to say no. Oh, wow. Congratulations. It's an only fan's thing, right? No, the Navy SEAL show. Oh, yeah.

Special forces. Special forces. Yeah. But I couldn't because my daughter was being born in that time period. But I would 100% do traders without a question. Do traders over the Navy SEAL thing. Traders, you just hang out in a castle. The Navy SEAL thing, you get hurt.

Yeah. Like jumping up a helicopters and stuff? For me, I was asked, I was asked to do traders. I was asked to do the Navy SEAL thing, special forces. You know, I love hosting, and I would host it, and I would produce it, and that's my jam. I love producing and hosting. I like being on that side of the camera. That's awesome.

Okay, hold on. I would do one, and I would do with one of these guys, and that is the amazing race. Oh, my God, yes. Can we do teams of three? Did they stop and play? play golf? They're six hours behind. They're drinking at the bar.

They show the map. We're still in Augusta. Everyone else is... Why are they in Scotland at St. Andrews? We're going... But no, and one thing I have done, I've done a few of them, and I just went and did name that tune. I think it's coming up maybe next week.

It's on. I did Wheel of Fortune and stuff. All those things that like the game show type stuff where you can donate a lot of stuff to charity and I can talk about experience camps, which is really big to my wife and I. Anytime I can kind of promote that stuff that's important to us, I'll do it all the time. Well, and I think I'm going to put you on the

spot because I think everybody, is there ever a chance that we could watch you on television again as a host? Yes. For sure. Yes. There's, uh, which goes back to the other question of would you ever go back. I would not go back

but I will go forward. Let's go. And, um, hopefully between all of us, I know there's no content creators here. Okay, magazine's not here. There's no podcasters here. There will be a fun announcement coming very soon.

Yay. Maybe two. Maybe two. Wait, what? Yeah. Okay. And then, thank you guys so much. And then second question in the styling of Chris Harrison.

What is your most dramatic moment on the Bachelor franchise? It can be off camera, on camera. And, yeah, your thoughts about it. You know what? In honor of my friend, say it. What Pablo? She's nothing if not timely. There's so many moments, honestly, over 20 years.

There's so many moments that were on camera, off camera that happened. My favorite moments was just getting to know and getting to hang with some of these guys. You know, I remember beyond the Brownie Man that we visited in Jamaica, going over to Ben's house and just hanging out watching football one day when I know he was spinning and we just got to hang and talk. I relished those moments and, you know, jogging on the beach with, whether it was Nick Vial or Jordan Rogers or whoever, those moments I really enjoy and getting to know these people. But there was a moment with one Pablo. And so good. So it was after the Claire incident. And I think we were in Vietnam. And they went, I was, they hooked up, went skinny dipping, whatever they did.

And he kind of shamed her for it. Oh, fuck. Sister, you're telling me. It was dark out. Who knows what happened? I do. I was under the water with a snorkel. Part of my job.

But no, so he, he was shaming her. And I'm like, oh, this is not going to go well. You should know what our demographic is. They're not going to love you shaming her for something you did. And so off camera, we were going into the Rose ceremony that night. We're about to have the cocktail party. We're all dressed up and getting dressed and we're walking out. I say, hey, Juan Pablo, come here.

Put my arm around. I'm going to say, hey, bud. So that incident that happened and the way it ended, you kind of, and maybe you didn't mean to do this. I know there's kind of the translation barrier going on here. Maybe you didn't mean to, but you made her feel really. bad in that moment. Being a gentleman, I think maybe you should have a talk with her tonight. Maybe go straight to her and just say, hey, I'm sorry. I was just as much of that moment as you were. It's not on you. It was not on you. And it was just as much on me. I was a consenting adult in that

moment. And that might help. This is when I knew that show went off the rails. Because he went third person. And he says, Chris, Chris. if you want Juan Pablo you get Juan Pablo and I said oh boy and I said you know

third person aside this isn't going to go well for you and then I this journey you're on I cannot go with you and that was the first time we ever kind of had to take aside with our bachelor

who was our hero which usually we would just defend to the end because, you know, look, they all make mistakes. We never, we'd try and fix it because not everybody's perfect. But when Juan Pablo was like, no, no, I stand by that decision. I would like to guys, well, I'm going to go here and you go there, and that's the way the show went. So was it the most dramatic?

The other most dramatic was probably the Jake Vienna interview late at night. Talk about that. We were at the mansion. It was really late. We'd been shooting some other stuff. Sometimes we would shoot host raps, you know, my little stuff. we wouldn't do it while everybody's there so they could light the mansion we'd have the jib camera and all that so we'd be shooting and we did that one night till probably like 12 12 30 they said

afterwards about one in the morning jake and vienna are going to come here we're going to shoot with him so from like one to three in the morning we would shoot that interview so they come in and what my goal was was to they were broken up that was done but my and it had been kind of contentious but I want it to be kind of an amicable breakup. Let's have this moment of my bad, my bad. I own my part in this. You own your part in this. Let's go our separate ways and we can all be adults. And has everybody seen the movie The Perfect Storm? There's a moment in the perfect storm when they make it. And all the sudden the sun comes out. And it's like, they're going to live. George Clooney and Marky Mark are going to make This is awesome.

That's what happened in that interview. I got them to a moment. I don't know if you guys remember it. Maybe they didn't even show it, where they kind of both bought into what I was taking them to. I was kind of leading them to this moment of, okay, we can all just be adults and be friends and let's go our separate ways.

And I had it. And then you realize that was just the eye of the storm. And they had to go through the other side and they were all going to die. That was that interview. There was a moment, and I had it, and the sun came out, and I'm like, damn, I'm a good host. This is great.

And then it wasn't. Yes, ma'am. That was the theme song for that season. Thank you. What is happening right now? I want what she's on. Yes. So that interview went really poorly.

And so here's the thing. Honestly, the real story is that interview was never going to be aired. We were never going to. I walked. into the control room after it all melted down. You all saw what happened. And my executive producers were like, no, this is never going to see the light of day. Don't worry about it. I'm driving home at 233 in the morning. I get a call from what I see as an ABC executive. And this executive says, Chris, did something happen that night? Did Jake make a fist? Or was he physically imposing?

And I said, absolutely not. No, I'm like, if I, if I, wouldn't have punched him in the face and killed him. Big Polly was right there who was an Army Ranger. He would have ended his life. So zero chance it got physical. There was no any of that. But she stormed off. That did happen. And somehow that got leaked. There was only us. How that got leaked? I don't know. It was not me, but somebody at ABC wanted that out there so we would have to show that interview, which we did because it was good TV. But that was never meant to air. But once we realized that story got out, we felt like we had to own it. We wanted everybody to see for themselves, unedited, this is what happened. And I agreed with that decision.

Thank you so much, you guys. You guys are all amazing. Thank you. And that's a half-truth is a whole lie. For almost a decade, the murder of an 18-year-old girl from a small town in Graves County, Kentucky, went unsolved. Until a local homemaker, a journalist, and a handful of girls came forward with a story. I'm telling you, we know Quincy Kilder, we know. A story that law enforcement used to convict six people and that got the citizen investigator on national TV. Through sheer persistence and nerve, this Kentucky housewife helped give justice to Jessica Curran. My name is Maggie Freeling.

I'm a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, producer, and I wouldn't be here if the truth were that easy to find. I did not know her and I did not kill her, or rape or burn or any of that other stuff that y'all said. They literally made me say that I took a match and struck and threw it on her. They made me say that I poured gas on her. From Lava for Good, this is Graves County, a show about just how far our legal system will go in order to find someone to blame. America, y'all better work the hell up. Bad things happens to good people in small towns. Listen to Graves County in the Bone Valley feed on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

And to binge the entire season at first. Subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. In early 1988, federal agents race to track down the gang they suspect of importing millions of dollars worth of heroin into New York from Asia. We had 30 agents ready to go with shotguns and rifles and you name it. But what they find, is not what they expected. Basically, your stay-at-home moms were picking up these large amounts of heroin.

They go, is this your daughter? I said yes. They go, oh, you may not see her for like 25 years. Caught between a federal investigation and the violent gang who recruited them, the women must decide who they're willing to protect and who they dare to betray. Once I saw the gun, I tried to take his hand

and I saw the flash of light. Listen to the Chinatown Sting on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or anywhere you get your podcasts. Think back to the early 2000s. You're flipping through TV channels, and then you hear this.

I was rooting for you. We were all rooting for you. How dare you! Learn something from this. But looking back 20 years later, that iconic show so many of us, us loved. It's horrified. Robin, first of all,

is too old to be starting model. She's huge. I talked to cast, crew, and producers who were there for some of the show's most shocking moments. If you were so rooting for her, what did you help her? With never before heard interviews, the curse of America's

Next Top Model examines why this show was so popular and where it all went wrong. We basically sold our souls and they got rich. Listen to the curse of America's Next Top Model on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. But the humility in knowing that life is this classroom that we should never graduate for

is what is going to keep you growing. And that's all that matters. World Mental Health Day is around the corner. And on my podcast, Just Healed with Dr. Jay, I dive into what it really means to care for your mom. mind, body, and spirit, from breaking generational patterns to building emotional capacity. Healing is a journey and wholeness is the destination. I'm going to walk away feeling very healed and feeling like, yes, I'm going to continue my healing journey and I'm going to get some keys from you.

Listen to Jess Hilbert, Dr. Jay, from the Black Effect Podcast Network on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. December 29th, 1975, LaGuardia Airport. The holiday rush. Parents hauling luggage, kids gripping their new Christmas toys. Then, at 6.33 p.m., everything changed. There's been a bombing at the TWA terminal. Apparently, the explosion actually impairs.

old metal, glad. The injured were being loaded into ambulances, just a chaotic, chaotic scene. In its wake, a new kind of enemy emerged, and it was here to stay. Terrorism. Law and Order Criminal Justice System is back. In season two, we're turning our focus to a threat that hides in plain sight. That's harder to predict and even harder to stop. Listen to the new season of Law and Order Criminal Justice.

system on the iHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I want to start by saying, thank you guys so much for doing this. This has been incredible. So thank you. Thank you. Yeah. So first of all, Wells, I really would love a handshaken margarita. made by yours truly in just a couple

of minutes, that would be great. I can do that. But I'm going to direct... They're terrible, by the way. No, I'm sure they're awesome. I like them spicy, though, as long as that's okay. It's the only way Wells comes. Okay, perfect.

So my question's for Chris Harrison, and I... Thank you for using my full proper name. Yes. There's no question. My wife still says my full name sometimes, which is really weird. I'm not your way, though. But also sexy.

No, you're not. But most people, when they just... just see me. They do use my full name, and I think it's just because of the show. You know what they do? Me, too. Maybe we're soulmates. Maybe. Have you ever thought about it, though? It's always very interesting on the show. It's always Ben, or it's Lauren H. or whatever.

And it's Chris Harrison. He's the one who gets, and even for me, it's, when you see me on the titles, it's just Wells. But the host is the entire name. But yes, sorry, we digress. So, my question is,

besides being at the TV, TCU, tailgates, and doing lots and lots of shotguns, what the heck is next for you? Like, I'm ready for the next show. What's going on? First of all, go frogs. Both my kids went to TCU. My daughter's a senior there, and all my money goes there. So now I root for TCU. But what's next for me and for my beautiful wife, Lauren? So we have a production company in Austin, Texas, where we're living out our life and loving life in Austin, and also where we got married,

and where these two gentlemen spoke at our wedding, which is how much I love them, is that there was two people out of this show, and we had a lot of friends there, and that was a, I will get back to your question, but one of my favorite nights of my wedding, beyond the wedding night, but there was the night before we invited,

thank you for getting that, The night before, I had all of my bachelor family that I had loved and gotten to know throughout the years, they came to our house. And Lauren and I had him. Because Lauren, if you guys don't know, my beautiful wife was at entertainment tonight. Roses and Rose. Shout out. Seriously, the talent of our family, by far. But she covered the show, and that's how we met. So, again, I have a lot to be grateful for, including the love of my life from this show, because we met while she was interviewing.

Actually, she met these guys first. Passed on them. Thank God. No, but, and that's, though, that's when we met. But we have a production company. I love television. I truly love hosting. I love producing TV.

And that will be my future. I will say. I what it will be, you'll have to wait to find out. I will say that the show has not been the same since you left. Thank you very much. I do appreciate it. I really do the love and the rest. room and the love I get online is not lost on me. I very much appreciate it, very much.

Yes, ma'am. Hi, my name is Mary Bath. Oh, my mom's name. I just wanted to say that this is the first time, this isn't the first time we've met because for my 30th birthday, four years ago, this is your ex. This is about to get weird. My sister got me a cameo. Oh my God. And it really touched my heart and thank you so much for this video that I have saved forever. Was this the one of Ben's, where they, like, he shoots just, like, up? He, like, just, was it a, was it like, was it like a cameo, right? It was, I did a good, like a foot thing.

I mean, I could, a lot of foot pictures. It's not only fans, it's cameo. Oh, totally different. That's different. His only fan site is amazing. From the message that I got, I heard that you were the most thoughtful and kindhearted person anybody knows. You deserve so much love and happiness on this special day.

That's something special. So, Mary Beth, know you are loved, know you're a character. Mary Beth, from the message that I got, I heard that you were the most thoughtful. It's impossible not to love Ben. It's impossible. So annoying. I got a message saying she was very great, and so I just want to tell her she's great. Thank you so much.

But my question to the three of you is, since you guys went through the process of the show, I want to know one lesson that you. you took with you into this next chapter in your lives as husbands, his father's. What did you take from the show? This one's easy for me. Okay, go for it, please. I mean, I'll say it every time, and if you've heard me talk ever. I mean, even in the keynotes I do now, this guy's mentioned. He said one of the things for me, and Chris, he mentioned, like, us watching football and all this. I think as good as he was of a host, he was when I was the lead. even better at making me feel comfortable

in a very uncomfortable environment and after I got kicked off the Bachelorette I was sitting at the bar and he comes up he I think had requested hey I want to have a drink with Ben we're having drinks in Ireland and he said something still to this day that goes through my life at most decision points

he said Ben this thing was awesome use this to enhance the life you've already have not change your life completely. And that kept me humble. It kept me strategic. It kept me looking forward. It also, I think what he did in that moment, it gave me a lot of confidence in the life I already had before this whole wild, weird experience that is The Bachelor. I think he knew personally that I was going to be asked to be The Bachelor. I didn't know that yet. And so I was sitting there in this limbo of like, I don't know what's next for me. I'm going back to a cubicle. and that might be my life.

I think he knew that bigger things were on the horizon and he at that moment took the time not to tell me anything more than to settle me down and make me really proud of the person I already was and I think that was the biggest

one of the biggest moments in my life. I love that. Oh, Ben. Can I get a cameo later? I mean, it is special. It is very nice. Nice. And to be honest with you, as much as I, like, rib him, that is totally Ben. Like, it's so genuine. It's annoying. But, like, he is, like, the best guy.

All the time. And he doesn't even know me. And I'm like, oh, I'm like, he knows me, though. He's talking to me. For me, like, going on the show was a risk, right? Like, I had a career. I was hosting three radio shows. I lived in a studio. I had a lot going for me. And going on the show was like this big risk, but I thought it would be a fun adventure. And when I look back, I think to myself, thank God I took that risk. Even though I could have looked bad,

they could have edited me poorly. I could have lost my job because of it. But I took a risk and now look like I'm married to like this absolutely amazing, beautiful, talented woman. I live in Los Angeles. I'm getting to, like, hang out in a boat with you guys. Like, all these things that came from, like, taking a risk. And so, like, my thing to you is, like, the thing that I learned about doing the show is that, like, sometimes you have to bet on yourself.

And when you do that, usually you win. And so that's what I learned. I love it. So many things I learned over two decades of hosting and producing the show and watching people come through my life and be a part of my life. and be a part of my life, I think one of the most indelible marks is that life and people are not so black and white. I think we, especially now, if you look at our world, we're all so quick to judge. And when we're watching reality TV, I noticed very early on when I started the show back in 2001, 2002, we were very quick to say, oh, she's the villain. Oh, he's a bad

guy. And I quickly learned to be curious as to why. What is it that makes this person tick? What's behind this? What is the defense mechanism? What is the thing in their life that made them this way? And that, I think, is what made me... Hold for sound. Made me a better host, a better producer is how to listen and how to look deeper. And so when I would go into these interviews for after the final rows or the tell-alls and stuff, that's why I tried to. to give people the benefit of the doubt and try to dig a little deeper as opposed to just like, you're bad. You were terrible. And so, yeah, life's not so black and white. There's a lot of gray area. There's definitely a lot of nuance when it comes to the people that you meet on

these shows. And just to brag on the show that I work on, Paradise, what I love about it is it's always a redemptive story, right? It's a bunch of people who were all rejected. No one really comes there if they won the show, right? And a lot of times the villain comes, and then they turn into the hero. It happened this last season with Brian, right? He was the bad guy and then turned into the good guy. And that's what I like about the show, too, is that you can flip your story really, really quickly. And yeah, it's more, people are so much more nuanced than I think we give them credit for. Yeah, Mary Beth, you're great. Definitely. That guy. Thanks, Sibbik.

Yes. Hi, my name is Dawn. This question is for Wells. Me and my twin sister are a big fan of your favorite things podcast. Oh, yeah. Why have tear? Ding, ding. Yes, woo.

Vanity index. My question for you, Wells, is what's the most funniest, strangest thing a fan has ever said to you? Trying to lighten things up a little bit. Why you think My thing is because And I love this That most people Yeah, you can answer if you want

Most people feel like they know me really well Because I was in your house for so long And the show, the job I did And I do love that I like that because we all know actors Like Sarah Highland for example When you see Sarah, you see the modern family daughter Right

And so when you see an actress or an actor Often you see their character For me it was like I was the guy that just hosted the show So often I'll be sitting at at like an airport bar, and then someone will sit next to me and just start telling me their sex life and their story. And we really get deep, really quick, which I love, because it makes me feel, but I'm also, maybe I shouldn't hear everything. So I hear some really intimate

stories. Okay, I'll tell a story. We did a live hit. I don't know if you remember this. It was a live like audience hit and I had to like walk through a crowd of like rabid bachelor fans and there was like a boom camera that came down and I had to be like and now we're going out to Jojo and Toronto or something like that oh that was that big uh the retrospective store there yes you remember it yeah I was in Park City okay yeah maybe I was throwing to you I don't know anyways I was walking through it and I just remember I was walking I had like a microphone and like I had a mark that I had to hit

but there was like hundreds of people around me and I'm walking to my mark and while I'm walking to my mark someone just like grabs grabs my ass and I'm right before I'm going on TV and I'm like so it's like me going whoa

out to you in Toronto Jojo and it wasn't something that was said to me but I feel like I was violated a little bit in that moment and that was very weird I had a girl, very kind-hearted human, I'm sure, did some really weird. She wrote a letter, but she wrote it from me to her, and then she read it out loud to me.

It was Juan Pablo. Yeah, Juan Pablo. Oh. Yeah. Ben, so she read it like, she read it out loud to me in person at, like, an event I was doing, and it was like high honey pie. and it got really weird and I still have the letter because The restraining order?

Yeah. Good call. That's evidence. That's what we call evidence. So that's it. Thank you. Thank you. All I know is what I've been told.

All I know is what I've been told. For almost a half-truth is a whole lie. For almost a decade, The murder of an 18-year-old girl from a small town in Graves County, Kentucky, went unsolved, until a local homemaker, a journalist, and a handful of girls came forward with a story. I'm telling you, we know Quincy Kilder, we know. A story that law enforcement used to convict six people, and that got the citizen investigator on national TV. Through sheer persistence and nerve, this Kentucky housewife helped give justice.

to Jessica Curran. My name is Maggie Freeling. I'm a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, producer, and I wouldn't be here if the truth were that easy to find. I did not know her and I did not kill her, or rape or burn or any of that other stuff that y'all said. They literally made me say that I took a match

and struck and threw it on her. They made me say that I poured gas on her. From Lava for Good, this is Graves County. a show about just how far our legal system will go in order to find someone to blame. America, y'all better work the hell up. Bad things happens to good people in small towns. Listen to Graves County in the Bone Valley feed

on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to binge the entire season ad-free, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. In early 1988, federal agents raced to track down the gang they suspect of importing millions of dollars

worth of heroin into New York from Asia. We had 30 agents ready to go with shotguns and rifles and you name it. But what they find is not what they expected. Basically, you're still. stay-at-home moms were picking up these large amounts of heroin. They go, is this your daughter? I said yes. They go, oh, you may not see her for like 25 years.

Caught between a federal investigation and the violent gang who recruited them, the women must decide who they're willing to protect and who they dare to betray. Once I saw the gun, I tried to take his hand and I saw the flash of light. Listen to the Chinatown staying. on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or anywhere you get your podcasts. Think back to the early 2000s. You're flipping through TV channels, and then you hear this. I was rooting for you. We were all rooting for you.

How dare you! Learn something from this! But looking back 20 years later, that iconic show so many of us loved, is horrified. Robin, first of all, is too old to be starting a model. She's huge. I talked to cast, crew, and producers who were there for some of the show's most shocking moments. If you were so rooting for her, what did you help her? With never-before-heard interviews, the curse of America's Next Top Model examines why this show was so popular and where it all went wrong. We basically sold our souls and they got rich.

Listen to the Curse of America's Next Top Model on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. December 29th, 1975, LaGuardia Airport. The holiday rush, parents hauling luggage, kids gripping their new Christmas toys. Then, at 6.33 p.m., everything changed. There's been a bombing at the TWA terminal. Apparently, the explosion actually impelled metal glass. The injured were being loaded into ambulances, just a chaotic, chaotic scene.

In its wake, a new kind of enemy emerged, and it was here to stay. Terrorism. Law and order, criminal justice system is back. In season two, we're turning our focus to a threat that hides in plain sight. that's harder to predict and even harder to stop. Listen to the new season of Law and Order Criminal Justice System on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. But the humility in knowing that life is this classroom that we should never graduate for

is what is going to keep you growing. And that's all that matters. World Mental Health Day is around the corner. And on my podcast, Just Heal with Dr. Jay, I dive into what it really means to care for your mind, body, and spirit from breaking generational patterns to building emotional capacity. Healing is a journey and wholeness is the destination. I'm going to walk away feeling very healed and feeling like, yes, I'm going to continue my healing journey and I'm going to get some keys from you. Listen to Jess Hilbert, Dr. Jay, from the Black Effect Podcast Network on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Hi, I'm Talia.

Hey, Tanya. I have a question, but first I just wanted to share a quick, funny thing that my friends and I over there, when we were in high school, Ben, you were on the show, and we had a kid in our grade also named Ben Higgins, and he looks just like you. and it was really funny. Wait, wait, time out. The girls like him. Because of you. Okay. Wait, hold on, time out.

He also was a big nerd. Time out. Was he unlovable? Oh. No one will ever love me. I'm six, four, and so handsome. No one's ever going to love me. I'm the best athlete here.

No one's going to love me. I like Ben Higgins. Thank you. Yeah, he was great. I just wanted to share that. But my question is, you guys were talking about going on the show for the right reasons. And I was curious how you know people actually go on the show for the right reasons, because I find that some of the time, like, that I'm watching, I feel like people go on for a social media following. So how can you really tell the difference?

I'll actually speak on behalf of the show in this regard. The show was never predicated on the fact that it works. And it was never predicated on the fact that you are there for the right reasons. That's life. If we all go out in New York tonight and you go to a bar, you're. go wherever, wherever you want to meet somebody, go to the library. You meet somebody, and that's part of dating, is you've got to figure out, is this person using me?

Because of your looks, your money, you're whatever, are they just here for a good time? And so that's, one of the things I loved about the show is it was just a microcosm of life. And no reference to Chad, but it's on steroids. So yes, it's bigger, it's grander, and we're on hot air balloons, and we're in Argentina, in these extravagant, extreme situations, but the actual situation, the literal situation, is just normal. It's just been trying to figure out, does this person really like me? Or do they just want to be on TV? And those things have changed. When we started in 2001, 2002, it was a blogger. Now it's social media. So the questions have changed a little bit, but the answers are still the same.

At the end of the show, what I've always loved is that there's a boy and a girl. And not to go, you know, I'm just a girl standing in front of a boy, but thank you, my favorite movie. But it really is that moment of nothing else matters as do we love each other and can we make this work. That sincerity is what I've always loved. Okay, I can answer your question for when people are there for the right reasons. because I see it every season in Paradise and you do too but you don't realize it

because they get cut out of the show you see it on the first couple days a couple will fall in love it happened this season with Jess and Spencer it's happened with Joe and Serena it happened with Dylan and Hannah and when that happens

it's beautiful and for me to experience it and witness it It's lovely. You're left out, Jade and Tanner, the best love story. That was before I wasn't bartending then. Were you not there for that season? No, that was season two. I came in season three.

Anyway, so, but they get cut out because they're not interesting at all because they're in love. Yeah. Right? So you know the people who are there for the right reasons by them being cut out because they are not concerned with the drama. They're only concerned with the one thing that's in front of them, which is love. Don't be alarmed by these. Are we in trouble?

Yes. The ship is lowering. It's not sinking. It's okay. I would also, I would close, just add, from a lead. I also think it, I think the most beautiful fun part of the show is when it comes to like watching the lead and cheering for lead is not how likable they are because the show can make them likable.

It's watching how they adapt and how they converse in difficult situations and how they navigate those situations. and I think during that as a lead, you can really find out who's there for the right reasons or not. And I think the leads that leave somebody there for too long that the audience is like, you're not there for the right reasons, you can probably pick up on

that maybe they're not asking the right questions. Maybe they're not digging in far enough. Okay, thank you. Thank you. This is the final question tonight. When you're ready. Thank you. I'm Carol Ann.

Hey, Carol Ann. I want to know a behind the scenes. I have a behind the scenes question. It seems like there's some contestants or what do they call, candidates, contestants, that unless it's editing, you just know that they're not going to progress, but they're great television.

They're great. They're either a villain or there's somebody who's giving the other women a problem, but they progress. And I wonder, like I'll think to myself, oh, the producers must say to the bachelors, why don't you keep that girl on? Why don't you keep that girl on for another week, for another week? Because they're great television. And I'm wondering, is there any truth to that? Ben, what did they do? Yeah, it's brilliant. And I get this question a lot, and I think it's one of the most, like, brilliant things of the show.

So here's what happens. You're in a mansion. Let's picture this, and every room is being filmed by multiple cameras. cameras. I am in this room back behind us here. You are out here fighting with every person in the room. They don't let me out of this room, right? They bring a girl to me. I'm hanging out with her back there. They bring a new girl to me. And then as soon as everything calms down, then they say, hey, Ben, you can go out to that room. You don't know as the lead what's happening. They're not scripting it. They're not telling you what to do. But I always say it like this. They are playing, like they have the eyes of God. So they see what's happening every room. If they don't want me to walk into that room at that moment, they don't have me do that. And then I come out

and she's great. She's awesome. She's so fun. She's so enjoyable. And I keep her. Now, it's still up to me to keep her or not. Again, it's still up to me to ask right questions or not. It's still up to me to like really dig in. But especially in the first few weeks, it's really hard to figure out who the villain is. And that's not even the question that you really want the lead asking as being like, all right, who hears bad? They want the lead asking who here's maybe for me. And so from my perspective as the lead, I was oblivious to any like mean mean girl behavior that was going on the house because I never saw it. And nobody ever told me about it. Well, I was very careful to walk that line of never telling them something that they

didn't see for themselves. And that's, it's very difficult because I, I love this guy. And I liked him immediately. We were a good friend. So it's hard not to say, hey, man. But what I would try to do is lead him to the right conclusion. And what I also said is, you know, Ben or any other bachelor or bachelor, I would say, I don't want to look stupid. I don't want to feel. And I said, look, when you get to that decision, as long as you get there, it doesn't matter when. If it's week one, week three, week four, as long as, you know, you get to the right call, that's all that matters. And if it takes you a little longer than what the world gets to see, because you guys get to see everything. And so we're very careful not to tell them anything that they didn't know, or else

I'm leading them, and I'm telling them what to do. And it's not my journey. It's his. So thank you very much. Yeah. Just to put a pin on it, I'm that person that you're talking about. I got so far on that television show, and I was like, I haven't spent any time with this girl. Like, this is amazing that I'm still I remember every rose ceremony I was like, this is wild I'm still on this TV show guys. We honestly just forgot you were there. I know. The director's like, who is that?

But I do think that there was like they were like Jojo, who do you like? It was like I like Jordan, I like Robbie, I like Chase. And they were like, what about Wells? And she was like, who? And they were like, he seems nice, he's good at interview, let's keep him around. And every week I was blown away that I was still there. So much so that I

remember at some point they come and they go, we're doing, we're doing, we're doing hometowns next week, what do you want to do? Who do you want to invite? And I was sitting down with the producer. I remember it vividly. His name was Louis, and he said, what do you want to do? And I was like, we don't need to do this.

What are you talking about? We're not going to my house. There's no way. I spent 17 minutes with this girl. And he's like, no, no, no, we got to do it. And I'm like, do you have to do it because if I find out everyone else got to talk to you about what they want to do for their hometown and I didn't get to say that, then I know

I'm going home. And he was like, No. I was like, I'm going home this week, aren't I? Thank you very much. Thank you. And final thoughts, as we say goodbye tonight? I mean, it's so fun to reminisce and talk about it. And I mean, they've said it, like, these dudes mean the world of me and, like, good friendships have been built from this show. But it's really fun to come up here and talk about a show that has affected our lives and so many.

great ways. I look back on my time as The Bachelor with nothing but just excitement and joy and memories and more memories are being made. So thank you for coming out, I guess, is my final thought. Like, thank you for being here. It's fun for us to do this together again. Wells? Yeah, thank you guys so much for coming. I'm sorry I started with the poop story, but like whatever, it was a real thing that happened during the show. We got a lot close. are a lot quicker. Yeah. No,

this was a lot of fun. It's really, it's weird because you see Batsar Nation on social media and you talk to them or tweet to them or whatever, but it's really, really lovely

to actually meet you guys. And I've had so much fun sitting down with these guys, but I've had more fun getting to meet you guys these two nights and we do one more in San Diego. and I just want to say thank you guys

for being such awesome fans of the dumbest TV show in the world. It's always an honor to be sitting before you and, you know, it's never lost on me the amazing relationships that I have gained my two decades on this show. But more importantly, it was such an honor

to always be the conduit, to be the connection between you. you and what was going on in the show. And I never took that lightly. I cared about these people on the show, but I also cared about you. And I cared about the ride that you were on. And I tried to make it special. I tried to make it interesting, tried to make it fun, but I tried to make it sincere and meaningful. And I love my continued connection with all of you. Bachelor Nation. And this is my bachelor family, but when I kind of coined the phrase Bachelor Nation, it got kind of bastardized and it started meaning everyone that was on the show, it was always about you. It was a

always the people that watch the show. We wouldn't be doing this. We wouldn't be on this silly ship. We wouldn't have done this silly show if it weren't for you. And it moved a generation when people come and tell me, I watched it with my daughter or I watched it with my mom. Our sisters, we all get together. And we watch this. That means the world to me. Say nothing else of this silly show. It connected people, and I love that. And so I love being here with my friends tonight to talk to all of you. Thank you for sharing your Sunday night. It was a tremendous ride. Unfortunately, it's time to take a moment and say your goodbyes. No. No. You're all going home crying in the back of a limo.

Hey, can we give it up, though, real quick to the captains of the ship who brought us past the statue of liberty? We didn't wreck once. Yeah. Y'all get home safe. Thank you for being here. God bless. Y'all take care. Thank you, guys.

We love you. Hey, it's been here jumping back in. Such a fun night. And we're doing it again. If you want to see myself, Chris Harrison, and Wells Adams, come check us out in San Diego. On December 6th, you can get tickets at cityexperiences.com. Again, that's cityexperiences.com. We all really hope to see you there.

Follow the Ben and Ashley I, almost famous podcasts on IHartRadio, or subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts. The murder of an 18-year-old girl in Graves County, Kentucky, went unsolved for years. until a local housewife, a journalist, and a handful of girls came forward with a story. America, y'all better work the hell up. Bad things happens to good people in small towns. Listen to Graves County on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to binge the entire season ad-free, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. Samihante, it's Anna Ortiz.

And I'm Mark and Delicado. You might know us as Hilda and Justin from Ugly Betty. Welcome to our new podcast, Viva Betty! Yay! We're re-watching the series from start to finish and getting into all the fashions, the drama, and the behind-the-scenes moments that you've never heard before. But you were still bartending? I didn't know that.

The bar back is like, is that you? And I don't know. And it's a commercial for Betty. And I was like, I've got to go. I quit. Listen to Viva Betty on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Hey, guys, it's Stephanie Beatriz. And Melissa Fumero, and this is more better.

We are jumping right in and ready to hear from you. Your thoughts, your questions, your feelings about socks with sandals. And we're ready to share some possibly questionable advice and hot takes. God, that sucks so hard, though. I'm so sorry. Can you out petty them? Can you match their pettiness for funsies? Yeah.

All the things. Because aren't we all trying to get a little more better? Listen to more better on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Culture eats strategy for breakfast. Right? On a recent episode of Culture Raises Us, I was joined by Belisha Butterfield, media founder, political strategist, and tech powerhouse for a powerful conversation on storytelling, impact, and the intersections of culture and leadership. I am a free black woman. From the Obama White House to Google to the Grammys,

Valicia's journey is a masterclass in shifting culture and using your voice to spark change. Listen to Culture raises us on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Bridget Armstrong, host of the new podcast, The Curse of America's Next Top Model. I've been investigating the real story behind that iconic show. I ended up having anorexia issues, bulimia issues,

by talking to the models, the producers, and the people who profited from it all. We basically sold our souls, and they got rich. If you were so rooting for her and saw her drowning, what did you help her? Listen to the curse of America's Next Top Model on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. This is an IHeart podcast.