The Ben and Ashley I Almost Famous Podcast - Game, Set, Matt

Episode Date: January 5, 2021

Blake Horstmann joins Ben and Ashley to break down the premiere of Matt James’ season of The Bachelor! And we get his honest reaction to Peter and Kelley’s break-up! Ben shares a moment that reveals who Matt truly is and how he’s handling the pressure of The Bachelor. And Ashley tells us how Matt changes his behavior when he’s with his boys vs with the ladies.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Hi, my name is Enya Eumanzor. 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 internetcom and listen now 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. How serious is youth vaping? Irreversible lung damage serious. One in ten kids vape serious, which warrants a serious conversation from a serious parental figure, like yourself. Not the seriously know-at-all sports dad or the seriously smart podcaster.

It requires a serious conversation that is best had by you. No, seriously. The best person to talk to your child about vaping is you. To start the conversation, visit Talk Aboutvaping.org, brought to you by the American Lung Association and the Ad Council. Why are TSA rules so confusing? You got a hood of you. I'll take it all! I'm Manny. I'm Noah. This is Devin.

And we're best friends and journalists with a new podcast called No Such Thing, where we get to the bottom of questions like that. Why are you screaming? I can't expect what to do. Now, if the rule was the same, go off on me. I deserve it. You know, lock him up. Listen to No Such Thing on the I Heart Radio app. Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. No such thing.

I'm Dr. Joy Hardin-Bradford, host of the Therapy for Black Girls podcast. I know how overwhelming it can feel if flying makes you anxious. In session 418 of the Therapy for Black Girls podcast, Dr. Angela Nielbornet and I discuss flight anxiety. What is not a norm is to allow it to prevent you from doing the things that you want to do. The things that you were made. to do listen to therapy for black girls on the iHeart radio app apple podcast or wherever you get your podcast this is the ben and ashley i almost famous podcast with iheart radio

hello guys welcome to the almost famous podcast matt's premiere episode wow um pretty standard first episode um loved the way matt just naturally fit into the role but we're going to recap that in a little bit first we just wanted to say a quick hello to the one and only benjamin higgins hello what's up ash well this is an episode to remember it's going to be a great season we're up two great seasons back to back how lucky are we actually today we have a huge podcast in front of us we're going to break down the episode with blake horseman um i don't know if you've been watching on instagram but he loves breaking down these episodes i think he's going to be great at it uh today with us and uh the one thing you get with blake

is he doesn't hold back. And so I think we're going to have an interesting breakdown today. I'm pumped for it. We'll give our opinions on that in a little bit. But Ashley, we do want to tell everybody out there listening. The holidays are over, yes. But it doesn't mean you still can't get yourself really cool gifts. We have almost famous merchandise for sale right now at myfanthreads.com

slash almost famous. Yes, we have our own merch line. We had some stuff available at our live show when we were able to do live shows. Not only is this just almost famous merch, so of course Ben is included in this, but like Ben's company, My Fan Threads, is doing the merch so you're basically supporting Ben Higgins in two ways by purchasing some merch. It's really fun stuff. And because our podcast name is just like kind of universal, you can wear this and just, you know, just be like, hey, what's up? I'm almost famous.

almost famous aren't we all just an almost famous there's a good country song out right now about uh being famous in your hometown uh yeah and it's incredible it rings true to worse on diana right like you know everybody there everybody has a reason to be there everybody has a story to tell and i think it's the same for anybody out there listening so yes go to my fanthreads dot com slash almost famous ashley uh before we take a break here and bring blake on I just had a really emotional moment in my life. You want to hear it? Oh, my goodness, yes.

So I'm a fan of the Dan Lebitard show. I don't know if Jared watches or if you watch this. This is... I've never heard of it. It's a really interesting show. Dan Lebitard's on ESPN, which is obviously owned by Disney, and he's been on for 10 years. And the cool thing about Dan Levitard is he, his dad immigrated from Cuba and is able to be on the show with him.

His dad is an amazing character named Poppy. Well, ESPN and Dan are parting ways after today. So they did a really cool, like, you know, send off where they kind of back, you know, showed all the episodes in the past and good memories for all of us who have tuned in and watched it and gotten our sports knowledge and pop culture knowledge from the show. But guess what the very last thing Dan Lebitard had to do, like very last thing before he went? Talk about who his favorite lead on The Bachelor was? No, no, no.

He had to close. He had to announce that The Bachelor is airing on A. bc tonight and he was so frustrated he even says he's like this is ridiculous the day before i leave a 10 year 10 year i have to talk about the bachelor well hey we're here to talk about the bachelor we're going to keep talking about the bachelor if we didn't talk about the bachelor that would be weird so we're going to take a break when we come back we're going to blake hortzman on breaking down this week's premiere episode of matt james's season my name is ed everyone say hello ed From a very rural background myself, my dad is a farmer

and my mom is a cousin, so like, it's not, like... What do you get when a true crime producer walks into a comedy club? I know it sounds like the start of a bad joke, but that really was my reality nine years ago. I just normally do straight stand-up, but this is a bit different. On stage stood a comedian with a story that no one expected to hear. Well, 22nd of July 2015. A 23-year-old man.

had killed his family. And then he came to my house. So what do you get when a true crime producer walks into a comedy club? A new podcast called Wisecrack, where stand-up comedy and murder takes center stage. Available now. Listen to Wisecrack on the IHeart Radio app,

Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The U.S. Open is here, and on my podcast. Good Game with Sarah Spain. I'm breaking down the players from rising stars to legends chasing history. The predictions will we see a first time winner and the pressure? Billy Jean King says pressure is a privilege, you know. Plus, the stories and events off the court and of course the honey deuses, the signature cocktail of the U.S. Open. The U.S. Open has gotten to be a very fancy, wonderfully experiential sporting event. I mean, listen, their whole aim is to be accessible and inclusive for all tennis fans, whether you play tennis or not.

Tennis is full of compelling stories of late. Have you heard about Icon Venus Williams' recent wild card bids or the young Canadian Victoria Mboko making a name for herself? How about Naomi Osaka getting back to form? To hear this and more, listen to Good Game with Sarah Spain, an Iheart women's sports production in partnership with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart.

I don't write songs. God write songs. I take dictation. I didn't even know you've been a pastor for over 10 years. I think culture is any space that you live in that develops you. On a recent episode of Culture Raises Us podcast, I sat down with Warren Campbell, Grammy winning producer, pastor, and music executive to talk about the beats, the business, and the legacy behind some of the biggest names in gospel, R&B, and hip-hop. This is like watching Michael Jackson talk about thoroughly before it happened. Was there a particular moment where you realize, just how instrumental music culture was to shaping all of our global ecosystem. I was eight years old, and the Motown 25 special came on.

And all the great Motown artists, Marvin, Stevie Wonder, Temptations, Diana Raw. From Mary Mary to Jennifer Hudson, we get into the soul of the music and the purpose that drives it. Listen to Culture raises us on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hi, my name is Enya Yumanzoor. And I'm Drew Phillips. We run a podcast called Emergency Intercom. If you're a crime junkie and you love crimes, we're not the podcast for you. But if you have unmedicated ADHD...

Oh my God, perfect. And want to hear people with mental illness, psychobabble. Yes, yes. Then Emergency Intercom is the podcast for you. Open your free IHeartRadio app. Search Emergency Intercom and listen now. Imagine that you're on an airplane and all of a sudden you hear this. Attention passengers. The pilot is having an emergency, and we need someone, anyone to land this plane.

Think you could do it? It turns out that nearly 50% of men think that they could land the plane with the help of air traffic control. And they're saying like, okay, pull this, pull that, turn this. It's just... I can do it in my eyes closed. I'm Mani. I'm Noah. This is Devon. And on our new show, no such thing. We get to the bottom of questions like these. Join us as we talk to the leading expert on overconfidence. Those who lack expertise lack the expertise they need to recognize that they lack expertise.

And then as we try the whole thing out for real. Wait, what? Oh, that's the run right. I'm looking at this thing. Listen to no such thing on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. promised our next guest is somebody who is familiar with breaking down the episodes. In fact, he does it every week on the Behind the Rose podcast. You can listen to that wherever you listen to the podcast.

He also does it on his Instagram. He was born and raised in a small town of Bailey, Colorado. Blake Hortzman joins us right now. You would know him from season 14 of The Bachelorette. And at that point, he fell for Becca Coofriend. We're going to talk about that in here in just a bit. But until then, Blake, how you doing? doing well man thanks for having me guys appreciate it

hey blake okay so we want to we want to recap the episode with you and then there's a couple headlines that we'd like to talk about that pertain you so okay let's do it I blame all those headlines on you Ashley for the record

I can't I'm not too innocent in all this all right so top of the episode very standard right except for the fact that that that that's never you know done a season before but for some reason it felt like we've all known him right like it felt very familiar is it just because like we're part of like the bachelor

family and in some way or another maybe we've talked to him or do you think that it's because he just is is natural on the camera um you know I do think it maybe could be because we're in bachelor nation and you know we kind of see everything and we've seen I've seen every you know promotion and all that kind of stuff. But also, I mean, he was, you know, obviously the quarantine crew, I feel like kind of made Matt, like in a weird way, like the quarantine crew was his season in a weird way, where I think just the, you know, the like regular fans out there

who maybe don't follow social media as much, those kinds of fans, don't know Matt like we do. And it's going to be interesting to see him develop and us, like, learn, you know, and I feel like we actually got a lot of him tonight, which was pretty cool. What do you think of him as The Bachelor? You know, so I'll be honest, I was worried because obviously when you start, whether you go on The Bachelorette or The Bachelor, you kind of get a taste for like how it works,

the experience kind of is. And, you know, for Matt, I'm like, oh my God, it's just going to be like sink or swim for Matt, you know. But I think the beginning of the episode, they kind of, you know, had that sit down with Matt and Chris and they were able to ask some questions.

So I think they're aware of that, you know, and they're going to try and deuce him to the audience. But also, like, I just hope they don't like take advantage of him not really understanding how the process works. You know what I mean. I was a little worried for him. Okay, well, you mentioned the quarantine crew.

And I just have to say that I feel like the mat that we see on TV is like so much more buttoned up and gentle than the mat that we see in the quarantine crew. Uh, I think that with Tyler, he may get a little fratty, you know, he's with his boys, but like this is Matt with the ladies and I love this Matt with the ladies. Like he's, he just seems very approachable. Uh, so gentlemanly. This, this, this Matt was, is so fantastic. Not to say that the other Matt's not fantastic, but you know, he's very sweet. Right. Absolutely. And I think, I think he did. He looked, he did, he

He handled night one fantastic. I could tell he's a little nervous, of course, like everybody is. But I thought he handled it fantastic. And I agree. I hope it's almost not too buttoned up. Like, I hope he lets the guard down a little bit. You know, I hope he's able to show more of as, you know, he gets more comfortable in the process.

I guess we'll see. Well, is it weird that I say that I feel like this is more him than the Matt that's with Tyler sometimes? I feel like he's just, he's a little bit more innocent than he comes across on social media. Um, I don't know. I think the more you, like, you hanging with your boys is more you than you around cameras with producers in your ear. I think the other part is more him. But that's not a bad thing. You know, that's not a bad thing. It's, uh, you know, there is something about the nerves being endearing though. I think that's one thing that we can take away from night one from Matt is, um, it's relatable. Uh, he isn't used to this. There is no practice in this. Uh, he didn't do the big LA media tour, right? And we have to consider that too. That help prep me. Like you go and you do GMA and you go and you do GMA and you go and. And you go and. And, you don't know, and do today's show. And then you sit down in a room and you have 100 different media outlets

throwing questions at you and you have a suit on while you do it and you're starting to feel like The Bachelor. You're starting to really get into that whole mindset. He doesn't have that. Like he goes right in a nymocolon with no media experience, no celebrity or really like seeing, you know,

typically we get like the paparazzi shot of The Bachelor or Bachelor at Walking Out of Good Morning America. He doesn't have that moment. And so this is his first experience with a red carpet and cameras and Chris Harrison and beautiful people walking up to him. And I find that fun. Like I think that's really exciting to watch because his reaction, yes, there's cameras and yes, he's going to be buttoned up. Like I think we can all know that Matt James is going to be so buttoned up for as long as he possibly can until the show, in a sense, breaks him away from the buttoned upness.

But we get to kind of watch this journey unfold. And I think we should all expect that. I think it's going to be a blast. Yeah. Yeah, I like, that's a good point because honestly, if you look at it, if you kind of like step away and look at it, Matt has a lot against him. You know what I mean?

Like he has a lot. I feel like he doesn't have a ton of like advantages going into being the Bachelor in this episode. It would be the pandemic or there'd be he didn't have a season before. So like the fact that I think he's got so much against them and he's still going to succeed, I think says a lot about Matt. There's two things I didn't mention that I, that I raised a brow because of, they didn't mention that he was friends with Tyler and that's how we know him and they also didn't

mention that he had he didn't specifically mention that he had been signed up for Claire season they alluded to it that's a good point I was afraid of that honestly I was like are we going to know Matt the bachelor or Matt Tyler's best friend I was afraid of that you know but I think you're right I think they didn't mention athlete they didn't mention you know the NFL thing they didn't mention any that it was like they wanted us to get to know the Matt you know as the bachelor which I like I thought that was a great move I love the way that they said when you know you know and it was just like oh he was in our interview room and we knew I've heard that shows him not because he was Tyler's best friend right I mean right

I mean to be quite frank like he doesn't need Tyler right now like he needs to be Matt and he needs to invest in the show like which is a crazy part of the show you're a little you're kind of pushed away from your friends you don't have any confidence around you but he's no longer Matt from the quarantine crew he is Matt James the bachelor and I as Ashley just said like I want them to highlight Matt James like I don't need I don't need Matt to be somebody psychic like this isn't he's not that anymore he is he is going to flourish and run this show on his own well one really like crucial part of the show is how the show really started and it's Matt James sitting down with Chris Harrison and discussing Matt's concerns and his nerves

going into being the bachelor is not he's worried you know obviously we're three white people sitting here talking right now. But I learned a lot in that moment of how real the concerns are that he won't please anybody, that he doesn't know who's going to be on his side and he's going to make one side mad and make the other side mad. It felt like to me, like Jessica looked over at me as we were watching the episode and she goes, that felt like an incredibly real moment. Like, and it was really, it was really like it's always fun when the show highlights those real moments where Matt's like, Chris, I just need to hear from you. Like what do you think of this because I'm concerned.

Yeah, I thought I thought it was a fantastic conversation. And you're right. I gave us a peek into, there's already a ton of pressure being the bachelor and being the bachelor, you know, the lead of like one of the biggest television shows on, you know, one of the biggest shows on television. So just to add even more pressure. And it seemed, it felt like he was adding it kind of onto himself. You know what I mean?

I felt like he was carrying a lot of weight on his shoulders. And with that conversation, he was able to like, exce that. And I think maybe it did help. And he seemed to help, you know, after, you know, Chris, like, how do you feel? I feel better. So I'm glad they had that conversation and they showed it. Yeah. The only thing, and this is such a nitpick about the conversation, I wish he would have just come over to his house and been like, hey, let's chat before rather than having him, you know, pretend. I don't know. I'm sure the limos were about to arrive. But like for him to act as if he never talked to Harrison and all that before night one. I just, I wanted them to like have like a cozy entrance for him. Yeah, true. No, I see what you're saying. It didn't seem a little scripted at the beginning to get to the conversation. But then the conversation was real. Yeah. Exactly. The other thing that just made me feel like, oh, this guy hasn't gotten through this before was his conversation with his mom.

Because while it was important, you can tell there was like two people being like, oh my God, I cannot believe we're talking about this on camera right now. This is so odd. 100%. I could tell his mom was, his mom just, I could tell like a little nervous and uncomfortable, which I don't blame her, you know, because she hadn't go through hometowns. You know, she didn't go through any of that. So it's kind of weird. I thought that was an interesting conversation too because she basically asked like, like, like, what? It was less than you were vulnerable. And Matt literally couldn't think of it. He was like, I don't know. It's been a long time. And I was like, oh boy, buckle up, buddy.

It's going to be, yeah, you're going to get vulnerable. My, you know, my parents didn't have hometowns either during Caitlin's season. And so the very first time that they saw me on camera was as the bachelor, like weeks. Well, a week into it, we came to worse on Indiana. And I remember, like, look at my parents at one point and be like, you just got to try to be normal. Like, you guys are so nervous. this right now. My dad is sitting up all straight with the perfect posture. You know, they've decorated the house for this. I was like, this, that's great. But you can see it in Matt's

conversation with his mom. And it was probably the one part that, you know, I was most worried for Matt going to. The only part. Yeah. Because it seemed they're like, we are going to get a robot. Like, we're going to get somebody who just says the right thing, who tries to keep conversation going. It's a little forced, a little awkward. And this is him with his mom. Just wait until the, women come. But let's transition here, but we'll take a break first. We're going to talk about the women next and kind of seeing Matt's guard in a sense, maybe go down. We'll be back with the Almost Famous podcast. My name is Ed. Everyone say hello, Ed. I'm from a very rural background myself. My dad is a farmer and my mom is a cousin. So like,

it's not like, what do you get when a true crime producer walks into a comedy club? I know. I know, It sounds like the start of a bad joke, but that really was my reality nine years ago. I just normally do straight stand-up, but this is a bit different. On stage stood a comedian with a story that no one expected to hear. On 22nd of July 2015, a 23-year-old man had killed his family. And then he came to my house. So what do you get when a true crime producer walks into a comedy? Club. A new podcast called Wisecrack, where stand-up comedy and murder takes center stage.

Available now. Listen to Wisecrack on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The U.S. Open is here, and on my podcast, Good Game with Sarah Spain, I'm breaking down the players from rising stars to legends chasing history. The predictions will we see a first-time winner and the pressure. Billy Jean King says pressure is a privilege. you know. Plus, the stories and events off the court and, of course, the honey deuses, the signature cocktail of the U.S. Open. The U.S. Open has gotten to be a very fancy, wonderfully experiential sporting event. I mean, listen, the whole aim is to be accessible and inclusive for all tennis

fans, whether you play tennis or not. Tennis is full of compelling stories of late. Have you heard about icon Venus Williams' recent wildcard bids or the young Canadian, Victoria Mboko, making a name for herself? How about Naomi Osaka getting back to form? To hear this and more, listen to Good Game with Sarah Spain, an Iheart women's sports production in partnership with deep blue sports and entertainment on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports.

I don't write songs. God write songs. I take dictation. I didn't even know you've been a pastor for over 10 years. I think culture is any space that you live in that develops you. On a recent episode of Culture Raises Us podcast, I sat down with Warren Campbell, Grammy-winning producer, pastor, and music executive to talk about the beats, the business, and the legacy behind some of the biggest names in gospel, R&B, and hip-hop. This is like watching Michael Jackson talk about thoroughly before it happened.

Was there a particular moment where you realized just how instrumental music culture was to shaping all of our global ecosystem? I was eight years old, and the Motown 25 special came on, and all the great Motown artists, Marvin, Stevie Wonder, Temptations, Diana Raw. From Mary Mary to Jennifer Hudson, we get into the soul of the music and the purpose that drives it. Listen to Culture raises us on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Imagine that you're on an airplane, and all of a sudden you hear this. Attention passengers, the pilot is having an emergency, and we need someone, anyone, to land this plane.

Think you could do it? It turns out that nearly 50% of men think that they could land the plane with the help of air traffic control. And they're saying like, okay, pull this, until this. Pull that. Turn this. It's just, I can do my eyes close. I'm Manny. I'm Noah. This is Devon.

And on our new show, no such thing. We get to the bottom of questions like these. Join us as we talk to the leading expert on overconfidence. Those who lack expertise lack the expertise they need to recognize that they lack expertise. and then as we try the whole thing out for real wait what oh that's the run right i'm looking at this thing listen to no such thing on the i heart 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. Yeah, okay.

So let's talk about the women coming out of the limos. Wow. This is when he started to relax. you know, I'd say almost right away. We started to see a mat that felt so natural in this role. I think that he, I just think that it was pretty perfect, right? Yeah, I agree. I think, I really do a better job.

Yeah, I was even surprised, like, it is hard that night one, you know, it's hard. There's so much pressure. And that's the, I think I always say the night one, that's the only time really for me anyway, that it felt like it was a movie production. there's like cameras everywhere there's 30 producers and it's just like mayhem and that's the only time I felt where it was like oh my god like is this real for me was night one and I thought Matt handled like great and I think you're right like right away because the conversation he did have you know with Chris and his mom felt a little robotic but I felt like right away with the women he felt super

comfortable you know and that's huge and I hope I hope he continues that way for sure it didn't hurt that you had women I mean coming out with like gusto like there was a lot of confidence displayed on night one from the women. Now, a lot of them are obviously nervous. I think most of them are. They've been locked in quarantine for, I mean, I think it's probably been a week to five days at this point. They're just getting released to the public. They meet Matt James, who is a good looking fellow who stands like six foot five. The guy's massive. He's in his suit. There's lights. There's cameras. There's action. But these entrances were some of the best, I guess more shocking. Like, I think most entertaining entrances that I've seen in a long time on the show, at least

that's my opinion. Would you guys agree? Yeah, I enjoyed it. Yeah, I thought they were pretty good. I thought it started like really normal, right? The first like three or four, I was like, they're just going up there saying hi to Matt and that's it. And then all of a sudden, like completely switched and there was a bunch of gimmicks and fun stuff. I feel like that was intentional. I think those five women who we had slow entrances from are going to be the frontrunners. I also think that Matt perhaps was more at ease once the girls started coming through because he was like, oh, look, you've never been doing this

before either. Meenie, they were both new here, and it was like a common bond. Yeah, I think it was pretty cool to see. He was like, I can't remember which girl it was, but she was like, sorry, I'm shaking. That's like, so am I. We're both, you know, like we're both super nervous right now. That was a cool moment. Well, obviously, some of the entrances that will get talked about and that we need to talk about. There is a vibrator that shows up on night one. It becomes a highlight of the whole episode. I mean, that thing is everywhere. And there's innuendos consistently throughout the episode about this vibrator. We also have somebody show up in lingerie and asked Matt to pick out the dress.

And finally, I think the third one that stood out to me, and you guys might disagree with this, but somebody I'm very envious up because they kind of have this confidence that I did not exude on night one. They had a kind of a stillness and a calmness about him. It's MJ who shows up in the pizza delivery car and locks the door, walks the back around the car, unlocks the car, pulls out the pizza and still has their wits together. I mean, that, those moments, you got to remember how nervous these girls are. And for her to keep her, like, mind at ease enough to know what to do there. Like, I wouldn't even know how to hardly open a car door if it was night one all over again.

So I completely agree with you. But that was actually my favorite, not because of the pizza and all that, but because she handled herself so well. And she was like, no way. She's like, no way that just happened, you know. And then she walked back around. I thought she handled herself fantastic. That was, I think, like, her entrance, like her, not the gimmick, but like her entrance was one of my favorites. let's talk about the vibrator because i think the vibrator was funny to him right off the bat

out of the limo but i think it was not funny when she continued the theme throughout the night see i actually do i think it was funny just because the nerves i think she calmed a lot of people down i think also her personality like if somebody else let's say victoria for example she i feel like she rubbed a few people the wrong way if she had had the vibrator i think it would him bad but i think her name was is it katie is that katie was the one with the vibrator yes Okay, I think she, like, personality-wise, I don't think she was like, I think she just seems friendly. Like, I don't think she was doing it to, like, piss people off. So I like some of the any windows here and there.

Like, I thought that, I mean, I loved when Matt looked at it, lost his train of thought and started laughing. Like, I thought that was fantastic by Matt. Really showing some of his personality. I like that. Yeah, because what do you say? Like, hey, nice vibrator. Like, I don't know what you said. You just lost his train of thought, you know?

Marry certainly didn't like when she was tapped with it. I can't believe the drama she made about it, though. like she tapped me with the vibrator she told that to everyone it was like no you should have more of a sense of humor i think that's a red flag that marie might be taking everything to seriously in the future yeah i would have laughed about it too so we'd have to be the vibrator yeah i would say i watched it and on my notes here it's a sign of things that come for marie i'm going to be very interested in watching her story because if that is something that gets under her skin i know it is a long road ahead of you girl like there is going to be thing after thing after thing

like you almost just have to pick your battles in your mind and say is this something that really like i want to get upset about now or do i want to save this for the moment that like this really gets heated and and really gets uh ugly now tapping someone with a vibrator like it's it's i think i don't know it's weird or like funny or like it just make you giggle like i don't know it doesn't like it doesn't make you mad like there's nothing about that that like gets you heated up it's just it's just something well uh one of the hidden gyms that i want to talk about uh right off the back here there's a lot of women that came in i mean so many when they stood up at the rose ceremony on night one i looked around i was like that is a massive group of women but somebody that stood out

to me uh not exactly in their entrance but with their story is maggie maggie's from ethiopia she's 32 years old she's a model absolutely beautiful now her story is something that's super intriguing and i'm really excited to get her on the podcast at some point because i want to know what it's like to be in the united states for i think it was eight to nine years now um to come over here for school to be a pharmacist and somehow some way i have no clue if they didn't share it share it she ends up on this show absolutely wild but i am now convinced she's a frontrunner because i think matt loves stories i think he loves hearing the heart and the soul of these women so yeah i agree she's jumped off the screen at me she's gorgeous that accent like it works both ways men love accents too you know

not just women like i she jumped off the screen to me and i mean it is pretty wild to think that like i think in her bio it said something about her winning the lottery basically to come to america And then she basically went to the lottery again to go on The Bachelor. It's a wild story. Yeah, I'm super excited to hear that. And I'm sure she'll get a one-on-one at some point, I hope. Yeah, she carried herself with a lot of grace. I really got good vibes from her.

Another story that we heard was from Abigail. Abigail is deaf. She has a cochlear implant. So she's able to hear well enough. And she speaks pretty, you know, pretty much clearly. You wouldn't really pick up in the fact that she was having a hearing. She has a hearing problem. Um, but she, she talked about that with him and she also talked about her relationship with her sister and the way that he looked at her before going in for that kiss. I was like, oh, he is feeling it. And he, he was definitely having like a, oh, I'm the bachelor. Is kissing on the first night? Like, okay. I think I'm going to go for it moment. I love to seeing it evolve. Yes. That's so, it's so true. They had this like weird, awkward, not awkward, but it was like this weird. No, it was so awkward. It was like that first kiss awkward.

Can I kiss you? Can I not know? Yeah, it was just like They kind of like looked at each other and she was like, is he going to kiss me? And then he was like, is she going to kiss me? And then she kind of started to talk again. And Matt's like, you know what, F it? And just went in for it, which I thought was fantastic. Yeah.

But again, yeah, they're, them together. I saw she's my preseason favorite. Like, even before I watched this episode, I was like, I think, I don't know. There's something about her like smile. Sometimes I feel like you can just sometimes somebody's a good person. I could be wrong. I don't know. But I felt like he was super comfortable with her.

For some reason, I just felt like he let his walls down more than anybody else. else he did that night, you know, so I'm excited to see their connect. I don't think we can downplay that kiss either. Like, I don't think Matt James is somebody that wants to go kissing too many people this season. In fact, I could almost go as far as saying, I know that. Like, I believe and am fairly certain that this isn't something that he's just going to throw around to fill awkward space. Like, he's not just going to kiss because the conversation's weird. So this kiss on night one, after a few minutes of knowing each other, I think. think is a big deal. Obviously she gets the first impression rose, as we all know, but a big deal

for like kind of the storyline that they're going to have. Because I think Matt James is smitten right away. And all he needs is to be smitten with one person. Yeah, I like, yeah, I zoom her to top three already. I feel like our top three is almost, I mean, given the past few seasons have had sleepers who make top three. But if I had to choose, these are my top three. And I want you guys to give yours, Rachel, Brie, and Abigail. So that's almost those are, so I'm going to go top four. I'm going to go hometowns. I always go hometowns.

But I also have Brie, Rachel, and Abigail in there. And then I think who's the girl that was from? She had the truck, the pickup truck. She was from North Carolina. Yeah, her name. I know, I was trying to think of her name. I can't remember it. But I think she, the sweet tea thing was super sweet.

And he seems like they seem to click. And I think she might be the fourth in there. I don't know what order, but I think that's the four. That's Kayla. Kayla, yes, I think Kayla, yeah. So my top three, I'm never good at this. I lose every time. And in fact, most of the girls I choose go home the second week,

but I believe that I'm on to something this week. My top three right now are Abigail, Maggie, and Sineh. And then I'll throw Rachel in as number four. I was just so into how into Rachel was to Matt. Like, I just thought that was the cutest thing ever. and I think she really likes him. So I'll use that as my top four. Again, that's Abigail, Maggie, Seney, and Rachel.

I love Rachel. I loved her dress. I loved her makeup. I love her face. I love her just personality, her vibes. I loved how moved she was by the prayer because the prayer did a lot for me too. I thought that was a beautiful way of starting the night

and something we've never seen before. And it just did feel as, Rachel said, so authentic. Yeah, she like, didn't she like tear up almost? Like after his prayer. Yeah, that stood out to me too. I was like, okay, like she seems super genuine. Yeah, I like her. The, uh, the prayer was a really pivotal point in the show, um, because I think it set

the tone for who Matt James is, right? And what he's looking for. I think all these women right away knew Matt is a man of faith, um, that his faith is going to hopefully, uh, well, it is going to guide him with, you know, good decisions, bad decisions. it's still going to guide him no matter what through this experience. And it also shows what he's looking for. He's looking for somebody to probably come into his life with him and share that faith, help grow that faith, explore that faith. And it was a great way to start this season.

And here, it might be the thing that surprised me both, right? Like, my faith is very important to me. I honestly never thought about starting my season out with a prayer. Never crossed my mind. Never even considered it. Now, say what you want about that. whatever but for a guy to do that with no experience with no prep for this super nervous and says no this is how I'm going to do this like this is going to be me from day one I thought was an incredible

thing for us to see him do as the bachelor yeah I really enjoyed it and it was he nailed the prayer too because sometimes I think a prayer it can alienate some people on occasion like if you say it wrong, but it was never like, I hope that I find a white. It was like, I hope we enjoy that. You know, it was all about we like really was able to like bring people in. I thought it was fantastic too. And I didn't expect to like it. And I did. Love it. And then another person that I think is worth mentioning about like having a strong right off the back connection would be Brie, who, you know, Blake and I put into our top three's force. Bree was the person I thought was going to get the first impression rose and was the person that I was comparing his

conversation with Abigail to because I just felt like both were deeper conversations. He was really connecting, looking at them in a way that he was like, I'm feeling this. With Bree, he was relating to her on the fact that they both come, they're both biracial. And they just seem to have very similar backgrounds. Both of their parents were divorced and they had issues with romance because of it. So I really thought that was going to lead him to the first impression rose. but I'm happy with the fact that I would have been happy with either of the two of them getting it. Well, let's move on to pause here for a second to talk about things now that we know about Matt. We've now gone through the entrances, the ones that stood out to us, the start of the show.

But some of the things now that we know about Matt is that he's a Christian. He was raised in a Christian household and he believes that still to this day. Also, that he's very close with his mom. And his mom and dad separated when he was young. And the relationship with his dad isn't as much there. And I don't know to what extent yet. But it's not there. He didn't obviously have his dad show up to the show.

He speaks about kind of being really close with his mom. So he kind of are getting the hint that him and his dad are not too close. Now, this obviously is a story that, you know, like as we talked about the beginning of episode, we thought we knew a lot about Matt. But this was something I didn't know. And something that takes a lot of vulnerability as he asked, for in the women he asked for in himself right away is to share some things that are probably the hardest for him to speak about yeah i mean i i was surprised how because i know like you said

we don't really know matt going in um and i was surprised how much we already got to know about that like within the first episode i really feel like i i got to know a lot about him i think there's still more to come but yeah i mean that's one thing that i didn't know i didn't even honestly i didn't know his faith was as prominent in life as it is you know and so i think it's i think it's great to see this side of matt i know we touched on earlier but it was just amazing how within this episode I feel like he was he got to be so rootable so well liked and people have never met him before just it's it's it's really crazy how attached I feel to him and how much I want him to find love through knowing him for an

hour and 20 minute TV time I even we even got to see a little goofy sat at Matt too like I love there was one moment where I was like okay madam that's when he was playing chess and he like moved that one piece like wrong and that girl's like can you do that he's like no I'm just playing just making sure you know how to do it I was like sometimes when you're too nervous you don't mess or joke around like that you know so I think that show that he was like relaxed a little bit in the role and I was like okay like that was a funny move you know just those little things sometimes we uh I think it's almost promised so we're going to have two really good seasons back to back of the bachelorette now the bachelor but some side topics that don't really fit into

anything but that are obviously going to be big storylines that we need to bring up and discuss Cynthia Raleigh's daughter, Kit, is now on the show. Kit came in. Cynthia Raleigh is obviously known in the fashion world. She's a huge name. Kit is obviously the one that kind of goes against Victoria, Queen Victoria, saying, no, I'm the president of the CEO, you know, whatever was going on there. What do you think about somebody that are, you know, she's considered a socialite already in New York.

I think that's something to mention. What do you think of somebody that's already a socialite coming on to? the show with the name that she has is going to be a lot of attention on her obviously we're talking about her and she really didn't have a big part in this episode yeah not really i mean yeah the victorian kit thing i think that might be the two-on-one this season you know i feel like that's going to be fun to watch but i'll be honest i you know reading her bio and the social i think this girl is going to be super i don't know what the word i'm looking for like you know um confident yeah exactly like but honestly i didn't think she came off as about i thought she was pretty sweet and

everything but we'll see if she can you know keep that up with it because i think her and Victoria are going to have a pretty big feud. Yeah, I mean, you're right. I think she's going to have a bigger part the rest of the season than she did this episode. Yeah, but I also feel like she'll be the person that we're really rooting for against Victoria because Victoria was already driving me nuts the first night. And like, sometimes the villain can be funny at first, but like I didn't find her funny whatsoever.

I love the way Kit was standing up to her. I love Kit's sense of confidence. She might be a little bougie. but she really does she like knows herself and she's not going to put up with any crap thinks she's really pretty and she's only 21

she definitely comes across far more mature at least in the way that she can handle herself now emotionally we'll see yeah I thought it I thought it was super you're right about Victoria

like I think some villains sometimes can be like a bit charming and kind of likable but I'm scared for Victoria I don't think she's going to come off that way So it's going to be interesting season to see her, yeah. Yeah, but she's the kind of villain who, like, she was there. Like, she put herself there and gave herself this persona right off the bat on purpose.

Yeah, I agree. She's not backing away from that persona, I don't think. It's just always shocking to me. Every season, it still shocks me. Like, I think it shows a lot about your character, right? We've talked about it with Tasia. We talked about it with Claire. We've talked about it season after season.

But you know that Matt James has a massive night in front of them. with trying to talk to every single one of these women. He is going to be exhausted, like understand what his role is right now, yet somebody still chooses to interrupt him two or three times or however thinking that that is the right thing to do. At that point in time, I will say this for anybody watching the show, when somebody does that, your alert system should go off and go, I got to keep my eye out for this human because they are about to cause havoc.

It happens every time and somehow they do it year after. year after year um and it's just not okay it's not respectful of matt it's not respectful of the other women it's exhausting and ultimately like at some point like matt has to look at victoria and be like can you just not for five minutes like just give me breath well another big story to discuss here is Heather m Heather m shows up in the highlights and the kind of the recap at the end of the episode do you think she shows up to the season I mean it looks like she does she shows up up to be part of the season for sure, whether or not she's let in, we don't know. It definitely seems like she's not the only girl that shows up beyond night one, too.

There's another girl. It seems like she has closer ties to Matt. With Heather, I'm thinking because she's such close friends with Hannah, that she was like, Hannah was encouraging her to do it and thinking that they'd be a good match, but not coming on night one is a no-no. you if you're heather you try to come on on night one and that'll be fine and totally fair yeah i agree i think i mean she must become i mean yeah you're right like she must obviously come on to try be on the show whether matt lets her in or not or they you know she gets a rose or not

but that's the only i was trying to think of like a connection between them but it really is only hana b like i don't i don't know if heather's maybe hung out with matt before you know pre-show like at some kind of event or something and she hit it off um maybe and maybe that is maybe there's something we don't know me they did have like a connection at some event or something but As far as I know, Hannaby's the only connection they really have. So it's going to be interesting to see how that plays out. And then the final one is Tyler eventually makes an appearance. Now, we just talked about Tyler earlier, you know, how Matt was going to manage, you know,

being known to kind of as Tyler's friend for a while now being The Bachelor. But Tyler does come on to this season. What are your thoughts? I mean, I'm not shocked. You know, I figured Tyler would come on. And I try and like think of it. Like there's been a lot of people who come on. I mean, there was, for Hannaby, it was like Demi and some.

someone else can we remember they did their best friends like always show up yeah so i don't want to read into it too much like oh look they're trying to bring tyler in to steal someone that's spot like i'm not trying to think of it as they were really close even before show so it's even better than bringing in like demi for hannah because they've known each other for years you know and so i hope hopefully they do have an actual like good conversation and they get advice and things so but what i'd want for tyler is for him to come in later like when we get to top six or whatever so we can like actually get a good evaluation of what he thinks of his remaining ladies. Did it seem like he came in super early? I couldn't tell.

I don't know. I feel like it's probably going to be middle, middle at least. So like 10 or something. Those screeners always, always confuse me. I'm always up in arms. Yeah, they say something. There's a word taken out of place. And all of a sudden, I'm watching for it all season. You know, there's an ambulance that comes up and somebody's sick and it ends up just, you know, being nothing. But, well, okay, let's end this thought with this. Blake, we're going to bring you back after the break to talk a little bit about you and break that. down some headlines with you. But to sum up this episode,

I want to hear your ratings and your final thoughts. So anything we didn't get to, please share and also give your rating on the premiere episode of Matt James' season. We'll start with Blake. So you want like a rating of the episode? 1 to 10. Okay, 1 to 10. Rating of 1 to 10, let's see.

Honestly, this was a good, it was a good first episode, I think mostly because I got to know Matt more than I thought that I would. I thought it would be, you know, sometimes this first episode, since we already know the lead, we get more of like the girls. But I thought I really got to know Matt here. I'm going to give it a solid hard eight. I'm going to give it a hard eight. I'm going to give it a hard eight because I always leave him for improvement. So I'm going to give it a hard eight too. I would normally give an episode like this a seven. I feel like, you know, it's a little too methodical night one at this point. But I'm giving it an eight because it did do such a good job at getting us attached to Matt. And it really highlighted him as far as Matt as the bachelor. I'm going to give him a 10 so far in this episode. I would give it an 8 and a 10 as well. Matt being the bachelor's 10,

considering everything that went on. I thought it was a great episode. I really enjoyed getting to see these women. I thought unlike last season at the very beginning, I felt like we really got to know more the personalities of these women right off the bat. There's some women that I could, like, that stood out to me that I know the names of after week one,

which I didn't know until week four of last year, you know, of the Bachelorette season. a great episode. I'm looking forward to it for the future. Let's take a break here. When we come back, we're going to have Blake on still to talk about his life

and everything going on with the rumors of Becca Kufrin and his opinion on the Kelly and Peter breakup. We'll be back. My name is Ed. Everyone say hello, Ed. I'm from a very rural background myself.

My dad is a farmer and the mom is a cousin. What do you get when a true crime producer walks into a comedy club? I know it sounds like the start of a bad joke, but that really was my reality nine years ago. I just normally do straight stand-up, but this is a bit different. On stage stood a comedian with a story that no one expected to hear. The 22nd of July 2015, a 23-year-old man had killed his family. And then he came to my house.

So what do you get when a true crime producer walks into a comedy club? A new podcast called Wisecrack, where stand-up comedy and murder takes center stage. Available now. Listen to Wisecrack on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The U.S. Open is here. And on my podcast, Good Game with Sarah. Spain. I'm breaking down the players from rising stars to legends chasing history. The predictions will we see a first time winner and the pressure. Billy Jean King says pressure is a privilege,

you know. Plus, the stories and events off the court and of course the honey deuses, the signature cocktail of the U.S. Open. The U.S. Open has gotten to be a very fancy, wonderfully experiential sporting event. I mean, listen, the whole aim is to be accessible and inclusive for all tennis fans, play tennis or not? Tennis is full of compelling stories of late. Have you heard about Icon Venus Williams' recent wild card bids? Or the young Canadian, Victoria Mboko, making a name for herself? How about Naomi Osaka getting back to form?

To hear this and more, listen to Good Game with Sarah Spain, an Iheart women's sports production in partnership with deep blue sports and entertainment on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports. I don't like some. God write songs. I take dictation. I didn't even know you've been a pastor for over 10 years.

I think culture is any space that you live in that develops you. On a recent episode of Culture Raises Us podcast, I sat down with Warren Campbell, Grammy-winning producer, pastor, and music executive to talk about the beats, the business, and the legacy behind some of the biggest names in gospel, R&B, and hip-hop. This is like watching Michael Jackson talk about thoroughly before it happened. Was there a particular moment where you realize just how instrumental music

culture was to shaping all of our global ecosystem. I was eight years old, and the Motown 25 special came on. And all the great Motown artists, Marvin, Stevie Wonder, Temptations, Diana Roth. From Mary Mary to Jennifer Hudson, we get into the soul of the music and the purpose that drives it. Listen to Culture raises us on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Imagine that you're on an airplane, and all of a sudden you hear this. Attention passengers. The pilot is having an emergency and we need someone, anyone to land this plane.

Think you could do it? It turns out that nearly 50% of men think that they could land the plane with the help of air traffic control. And they're saying like, okay, pull this. Do this. Pull that. Turn this. It's just... I can do my eyes close. I'm Manny. I'm Noah. This is Devon. And on our new show, no such thing. We get to the bottom of questions like these. Join us as we talk to the leading expert on overconfidence. Those who lack expertise lack the expertise they need to recognize that they lack expertise. And then as we try the whole thing out for real.

Wait, what? Oh, that's the run right. I'm looking at this thing. Listen to no such thing on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hi, my name is Enya 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. We still have Blake on.

Blake, here's the headline from Us Weekly. I'm going to read it to you, and I just want to hear you respond. Says Blake Hortzman claps back at, and I quote, stupid comment after supporting Peter Weber amid split from Kelly Flanagan.

Wait, what? What's the headline? Let me repeat it. This is a good moment for us. You're going to learn about it as well. It's according to Us Weekly. On my name's in the headline. Yeah.

As Blake Horsman claps back at stupid comment after supporting Peter Weber amid split from Kelly Flanagan. Let me read it to you. Bachelor Nation bros. Blake Horsman took aim at an insensitive comment after showing his support for Peter Weber amid the pilot split from girlfriend Kelly Flanagan. Keep your head up, brother. Horseman 31 commented beneath Weber's breakup announcement. To which one Instagram user replied, This is a stupid thing to say to someone.

The Bachelor in Paradise alum fire back. what you said is a stupid thing to say to someone. God, they were read an article about anything, I swear. I had no idea that was even out there. I mean, yeah, I just wrote underneath, you know, like, you know, what I would do it under friends, you know, pictures. And I was like, yeah, keep your head up.

And somebody was like, that's stupid thing to say. I'm like, really? Like, I feel like what you just said is a stupid thing to say. Yeah, these situations are always really hard and tempers are high and everything. Because, you know, everybody's got their faves. And, you know, so it's always, I always get funny. Anytime I comment on somebody's photo and vaccination, I get some kind of either stagecoach joke in there,

or I get somebody saying something. So I'm used to it. Well, that article is out there, so I'm glad you could respond to it. Appreciate that. So do you know anything about their breakup? No, I don't. Actually, I really don't.

I was shocked. I remember waking up in the morning. I saw the post. I was like, oh, my God. I feel like they were just going to move in in New York. And I don't know. I guess I think they're obvious, something's going to come out.

I think it happened just so fast that something that sort of drove into that. It wasn't really a, and they didn't even take time. Like, you know, some people would be broken up for like three months and then post a picture and like, you know, and a post with a caption and everything. But that was quick. So, I mean, there's no hope of getting back together. I feel like then they didn't think there was any promise in that. So I don't know.

It's interesting. We'll see what happens. But I don't know anything. All right. Well, Ben and I are going to discuss more about their breakup later in the headlines. But more headlines pertaining to you. Last week, we discussed how Becca Kufrin. revealed on her Instagram stories that your date during her season was her favorite.

It was a little shady towards her ex-fiancee Garrett. How did it feel to see that up there? I mean, that date was a lot of fun. Okay, that date was great. If you guys remember, like, we got to break all of like, no shade to Ari, but like we got to break all of Ari stuff, you know, and like kind of like, quote unquote, like get rid of the memory of Ari so she can move on. So, I don't know, the date was fantastic.

like, listen, I think people read into it, like they do everything, read into it a lot. You know, it wasn't like, what's your romantic date? It was like literally, what's your, you know, most fun date? And like she said that one. So, but I mean, yeah, it was fun date. So it felt good. I guess it was a fun day. And I agree. That was probably my favorite date, one of the, my favorite dates that I've done, whether it be Bacheloret or Paradise. So did that stir up any sort of like DMing between you two? Well, we've been in, you know, contact, like DMs and stuff. Like, we're friends, you know, so it's not like we haven't DM before. But of course, I was like, oh okay like I reposted it actually I think I think I reposted it so yeah of course we like talk

on a kid through dms I mean I know we asked you this last time and it was also post breakup but like no no rekindling there ever no we're still just friends we're still just friends and we support each other with that is that where that ends still just friends yes still just friends but it is pretty cool to see how the support out there a lot of people want us to get back together I've been seeing that like crazy but no we are still just friends I think I can speak on behalf of us that we are shipping this, but we also may be shipping you in Elise who have been spending a lot of time together. And I know that last time we asked you, you guys were also still just friends, but it seems a little bit more suspicious now

because of all these Insta stories you've been posting. No, we really are. Me and Elise are like really close friends. I met her at the Bachelor Live on stage. And then she came to my DJ set out there in Scottsdale. And we just became friends. Then over the pandemic we talked here and there. No, she's just a good person. And, you know,

she's, she's, she's always somebody easy to talk to and can be there for you. And so she's just been there. And then I just happened to be out in Scottsdale for a golf tournament.

And I went and hung out with her and she, like made me a funny, uh, ugly Christmas sort of my face on it. I'm like, no, me and Lisa are just friends. We always have been.

Um, she's great. We can confirm. She's been great to us in the podcast. Yeah. Uh, she's been awesome. Really since the beginning of this podcast,

kind of supporting us, help us out and then coming on and sharing wisdom and advice with us. So, hey, we love Elise also. We, we as well, Ashley and I are just friends with her. It's like any time I hang out with anybody, you know, any, any female, any of the opposite sex I'm dating, you know, or we're hooking, you know, so comes with a territory. All right. Well, you led yourself here. What was the last time you went on a real date? I mean, I'd keep my dating history private, actually. Super private. We did watch the football game together this weekend. We did. Yeah. I mean, Penn had that.

a big date this weekend. Okay. Well, you guys, we asked Blake a whole bunch of questions about whether he would ever do Bachelor in Paradise or anything in the franchise ever again during our in-depth episode, which is, you know, it's an evergreen episode. If you guys didn't catch it back in April, you can go back and listen to that now. It was April 16th release. And Blake, I have no further questions. Okay. I blame all of this on you, Ash. You and Jason started this Becca thing, so that's on you. Sorry.

It should continue to. No, it's not going to slow down. If it's up to me, it should just keep happening until it happens. Well, hey, everybody, if you want to hear more of Blake and his co-host, Eric, make sure you listen to Behind the Rose. That's everywhere you can listen to the podcast. Blake Horsman, thanks for coming on. Thanks for sharing the time.

And we'll be talked to you, I'm sure, again, sometime soon. Yeah, absolutely. Thanks, guys. Appreciate it. Good seeing you. Bye. Good seeing you. My name is Ed. Everyone say hello Ed.

From a very rural background myself, my dad is a farmer and my mom is a cousin, so like it's not like... What do you get when a true crime producer walks into a comedy club? I know it sounds like the start of a bad joke, but that really was my reality nine years ago. I just normally do straight stand-up, but this is a bit different. On stage stood a comedian with a story that no one expected to hear. On the 22nd of July 2015, a 23-year-old man had killed his family. And then he came to my house. So what do you get when a true crime producer walks into a comedy club?

A new podcast called Wisecrack, where stand-up comedy and murder takes center stage. Available now. Listen to Wisecrack on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast. or wherever you get your podcasts. The U.S. Open is here, and on my podcast, Good Game with Sarah Spain, I'm breaking down the players from rising stars to legends chasing history, the predictions, well, we see a first-time winner, and the pressure. Billy Jean King says pressure is a privilege, you know.

Plus, the stories and events off the court, and of course the honey deuses, the signature cocktail of the U.S. Open. The U.S. Open has gotten to be a very fancy, wonderfully experiential. sporting event. I mean, listen, the whole aim is to be accessible and inclusive for all tennis fans, whether you play tennis or not. Tennis is full of compelling stories of late. Have you heard about Icon Venus Williams' recent wildcard bids or the young Canadian, Victoria Mboko, making a name for herself? How about Naomi Osaka getting back to form? To hear this and more, listen to Good Game with Sarah Spain, an IHeart women's sports production in partnership with deep blue sports and

entertainment on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of I Heart Women's Sports. I don't write songs. God write songs. I take dictation. I didn't even know you've been a pastor for over 10 years. I think culture is any space that you live in that develops you. On a recent episode of Culture Raises Us podcast, I sat down with Warren Campbell, Grammy-winning producer, pastor, and music executive to talk about the beats, the business, and the legacy behind some of the biggest names in gospel, R&B, and hip-hop.

This is like watching Michael Jackson talk about throw. before it happened. Was there a particular moment where you realize just how instrumental music culture was to shaping all of our global ecosystem? I was eight years old, and the Motown 25 special came on. And all the great Motown artists, Marvin, Stevie Wonder, Temptations, Diana Raw. From Mary Mary to Jennifer Hudson, we get into the soul of the music and the purpose that drives it. Listen to Culture raises us on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. you're on an airplane and all of a sudden you hear this.

Attention passengers, the pilot is having an emergency and we need someone, anyone to land this plane. Think you could do it? It turns out that nearly 50% of men think that they could land the plane with the help of air traffic control. And they're saying like, okay, pull this, do this, pull that, turn this. It's just, I can do it my eyes close. I'm Manny. I'm Noah. This is Devon. And on our new show, no such thing, we can get to the bottom of questions like these. Join us as we talk to the leading expert on overconfidence. Those who lack expertise lack the expertise they need to recognize that they lack expertise. And then as we try the whole thing out for real. Wait, what? Oh, that's

the run right. I'm looking at this thing. Listen to no such thing on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hi, my name is Enya Humanzor. And I'm Drew Phillips. And we run a podcast called Emergency Intercom. If you're a crime 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. We're back with another breakdown of Bachelor headlines.

They continue to flow in and we continue to talk about him. This week's top headline is one that we've hinted at, discussed, but we're shocked by. Bachelor's Peter Weber and Kelly Flanagan split. The quote is, these moments in life always hurt. This is according to Us Weekly. We're the only ones that were shocked by this? Apparently, there have been signs on their social media, but I guess I don't keep enough tab. on them to know that they hadn't been featuring each other lately.

I did have a little red flag go up in my head during Christmas week when they weren't spending Christmas together, but I was like, hey, nine-month relationship, I don't know. I don't think you have to spend, or there's an expectation to spend Christmas together nine months in. Yeah, but I heard something. I don't know if it's true or not. Our listeners always know this more than we do sometimes. But I heard that Kelly Flanagan was wearing Peter Weber, like, face socks on Christmas.

Oh, really? Yeah. So I guess this was a thing. And so it's obviously happened in a short amount of time where things, you know, maybe they were rocky before. And this just was kind of something happened that kind of made it made them decide, hey, this isn't for the best. But, yes, I would say that you and I both are shocked. Like without social media, this seemed like a couple. who had made it through quarantine, who were traveling together, who were obviously connecting

each other's families, it was surprising to me that they are no longer in a relationship. Yeah, and apparently one of the dividing moments for them was like the move to New York, because I know that in our hot topics in the past few months, we've been talking about how they planned on moving to New York together, but that somehow created a point. point of division for them. So who knows what's there. You can, of course, dissect and analyze their two separate Instagram posts. Peter posted on the 31st of December.

Kelly posted on January 3rd. It seems like they're on good terms. Kelly says that they're in two different stages of their life and saw their future paths differently. And then Peter said that, you know, they decided to go their separate ways. Love can make you feel on top of the world. It can make you feel pain. You wish you didn't have to exist. He said that they have countless beautiful memories. The relationship simply didn't work out. Kelly is someone that

he will always have a special love for. So we don't have details, of course. You know, they're not going to air right away what happened. But they seem on good terms. And of course, people, Peter's mom, Barb, had to speak up on behalf of the breakup, and she had to do it publicly. So she wrote under Peter's Instagram saying, love can be fickle, and it is not for the timid. Those who have experienced it know this all too well, but it is better to have loved and lost than have never to loved at all. Our hearts ache for you too. Kelly will always have a piece of our hearts, and we wish her only the best. mom and dad I'd also like to take a second here and say that I found out this week that Barb is on cameo so she might be the only parent that's ever gone on the show that that has a cameo or a own brand per se for herself I think that Barb costs as much as Jared and I do on cameo well there you go I don't know how that makes you feel well this headline is one that I'm glad we're talking about there was rumors and there was questions about Zach

Clark, who obviously Tasha picked in the end and who is now happily engaged to Tasia, you know, there was drinks shown of, he was shown drinking something during the show. And so people wondered, well, if you are sober, how are you drinking on the show? This is according to people. Ashley, what do we got? Well, he was always drinking apple cider or ginger ale. And I'll tell you, apple cider and ginger ale sound a lot more appealing. than the champagne that they give you at rose ceremonies.

Do you remember the taste of that champagne? It is the cheapest champagne. Oh, it's so bad. It has a specific, it's a specific taste. And every time I have a glass of champagne on the set of The Bachelor or whatever, I get thrown back to a rose ceremony and like having those, the ease, like, that like post-traumatic stress, sorry, bad term, but you know what I mean. of going through a rose ceremony and that sweet relief of getting through.

So it's just one of those tastes that's so nostalgic to me. It's just not good. And now I'm rambling. The bottom line here is Zach never drank. And there was a moment. I think it may have been the top four rose ceremony when Tasha said that she got handed a glass of champagne. And she said, no, she sent it back and asked for some apple cider to join Zach and drink it and not drinking. And she said that that was one of the moments that she knew when she just made that impromptu decision.

Oh, how sweet. Well, yes, it is true that the, you know what my theory is that the champagne is just saved over season to season. Like, why are you buying brand new balls of champagne every season? So there could be champagne on there from like Bob Guinea season that now we're consuming, which, hey, champagne might be better. I don't know. Super vintage? Yeah, we'll call it that. Well, this headline is one that's been talked about all week, but not shocking to anybody who is in Bachelor Nation, who has been on the show or anybody's ever watched the show.

However, it has been an interesting story to see unfold. The headline means this, Chris Harrison not leaving Bachelor franchise, despite move to Texas. Yes, the move to Texas is confirmed. But Chris Harrison is going nowhere. Yeah, this is just, no, you don't put these two together. just to let you know, they only film about two weeks in L.A. And in those two weeks, well, Harrison stays in his house because his house is very close to the Bachelor Mansion. But most the production crew stays in a hotel those two weeks anyway.

So if Harrison is getting rid of his California house, and I would assume that he's probably going to have some place he keeps there, even if he's like, you know, downsizing. He films maybe a total of one month out of the year in L.A. on a typical non-COVID year. So I think that he can keep his primary home in Texas and fly out to wherever they're shooting, which let's hope starting, I don't know, next bachelor season they're able to travel again, but who knows? Anyway, you guys, logically, this makes total sense for him to be able to live anywhere. he wants in America and continue to be the host of The Bachelor. Yeah, I mean, there's so many positives living in Texas. L.A. obviously is going to look different here post-pandemic than it did before. There's a lot of people moving and a lot of stars do travel for work.

Ryan Seacrest is one of those. You know, he's like bi-coastal. He goes from L.A. to New York for the Ryan and Kelly show and then back for American Idol and his radio show. This isn't shocking. But Matthew McConaughey lives in Texas, full time. Definitely. So Chris Harrison is from Texas. He's moving back to Texas to be closer to his family.

Good for him. He also has a new, or I don't know if it's completely new, but you know that he has that bar. He's a big brewery that he's highly invested into. So good for Chris Harrison. He's not going anywhere. You don't worry about that, Bachelor Nation. That guy is here to stay, and he just doesn't age.

So why would we want him to go? It's better with age. So much sexier now than he was a decade. to go. The, uh, this headline reads and it's one that we've, uh, been interested about kind of behind the scenes and waiting to update you on until there is more information, um, kind of communicated. But Ryan Sutter opens up about no longer feeling alone amid mystery illness. Well, we still don't know what he has, which I cannot imagine how that feels to be going through. But he said that he learned a lot about resiliency this year. He said for years, he's followed this

ideal laid out by Gandhi that strength was measured by an adominable will he says he pushed himself to develop a mindset where he would never give up never give in never give off any sign of weakness he did this mostly on his own choosing solitude as his practice um but he said he had a few breakdowns that he fewer he said that he had a few breakdowns um But mostly, he said he internalized difficulty and distracted himself from the presence through physical exertion. He says this work for him. He said he felt confident, resilient until this year. And this year, he says that he's learned to ask for help, to lean on people around him.

He said that Trista has developed a medical strategy to aid him. And he says that though he believes that there is a tremendous value in strong will and self-reliance, He says he now realizes that sometimes those things are romantic excuses. So like nice ways of being stubborn. He says that it is sometimes necessary to let others in and to ask for help and to be able to accept it. We're with Ryan. We'll continue to keep everybody updated as we hear more. It is good to hear that he, you know, his strength internally has continued to show through and that he doesn't feel alone.

Being alone has to be one of the worst feelings that any human can feel. And so we're with Ryan and anybody else out there really during COVID that's feeling alone. That's just not fun. And so reach out for help when needed. We have another kind of surprising illness that's hit Bachelor Nation. Bachelorette alum Emily Maynard reveals she was diagnosed with Bell's palsy while pregnant with fifth child. Now, Ashley, I have recently learned of how common Bell's palsy is. I, you know, I've had a friend whose father had it when we were children, I was kind of shocked

like when it happened, right? Your face kind of has a lot of weakness and your muscles kind of lose their ability to function. But it's more common in people than I knew. And well, Emily Maynard has announced that she had Bell's palsy. Okay, so exactly my feelings. I was like, oh my God, Emily had Bell's palsy or she has Bell's palsy. That's so serious, you know? I was just thinking that this was like a really big deal and I was going to last her whole life. But apparently it comes in increments or like it's often just temporary.

Nobody knows the exact cause of the condition, which is super crazy. But she had it while she was pregnant, had to wear a patch. But it seems like she's fine now. I mean, was your friend's dad like just all the sudden like one day he had strength come back to his face? Yeah, it's kind of a more gradual process, I remember. So, like, you know, you start feeling like the twitching and the ability for your face to kind of function again. It comes back slowly, but it's common for it to, it's most of the time temporary. At least that's according to the Mayo Clinic.

But it is, it isn't uncommon. And but it's still, I mean, a very scary, a very scary thing to have happened when your face, you know, kind of loses his ability to function in the ways that you're normal. It's scary. Well, Bachelor alum Lauren Bushnell and Country. senior Chris Lane reveal their baby's sex. This according to Good Morning America. Well, what a cute gender reveal. So they're having a boy.

And if you guys saw on Lawrence, Instagram, she posted a video of them finding out. So they set up a golf ball that was filled with a powder, blue powder. And Chris hit it off the tea and it exploded into a little blue smoke. And he was geeking out. was so cute it's it's like we see so many of these gender reveals these days that it's like woohoo yay right but like this one actually gave me feelings because this man was so excited about having a boy did you watch ben is that you that you'd watch right that's not oh yeah no it's not weird of course and i mean the best thing is he says he has his own little golfing buddy now so

uh one of the yeah i mean come on that you know my my dad and i are getting for the Diamond Resorts tournament here in just two short weeks. One of the coolest things is he caddies for me because we've grown up playing so much golf together. That's like one of the things that we get to do that we share, that we can still do, you know, when I was young and he was younger. Now that he's older and I'm getting older, we can still do it the same way we did it before. I think Chris is spot on. Like one of the coolest things you can do in life is play golf with your son or daughter, but it's really fun to go out and play golf with your dad. It really helps bond you.

And I know I always look forward to it. So congratulations to Chris and Lauren. A baby boy is on the way. Hey, Ben, how do you feel about gender reveals? They're great for the gram, but I don't know if I can do one. Well, yeah, they're great for the gram. I didn't know they were a thing before social media. They weren't a thing before social media.

But, I mean, they work, right? Like, it's a fun thing to do. I'm sure one day, if all goes well, I'll be able to. to have a gender reveal of some sort. It'll be fun for the family. I think one of the coolest parts about a gender reveal is probably the celebration with family afterwards. Like the whole moment of like, you know, finding out is cool.

But it doesn't, you know, maybe it does. Parents, let me know if I'm wrong. It doesn't change anything. Like, you're going to love that child the same way if it was a boy or a girl, but it's exciting to find out the gender and then celebrate whatever, you know, the child's going to be. with your friends and family. I mean, that's kind of fun.

It's another reason to have a party. Yeah, I feel like I kind of need a private moment. That's fair too. Well, you can have that. We'll see. We'll play it by here. Maybe for the first one, you do it. And then for the second one, private moment. Who knows?

Anyway, moving on to our last headline. The Bachelorette's Mikey Tenorelli. Now, here's something funny. I was just looking up Mikey Tenorelli last evening. Now, it wasn't because of his engagement. It was because at least Delbaum had post posted on her Instagram, she was at some market shopping and she saw this like wet heated pad. So like it was a pad that you got wet and then you heated it and it went on your body and

helped relieve like muscle pain. Why you would want a wet heat, I don't know that yet. I don't want wet heat. I think it, I think the package said moist, which is just a really awkward word to use in marketing. But anyways, the cover of this package had Mikey on it. And I was like, I know I recognize this guy. I just don't know how. And so I was researching it.

Found out was him. And then find out that he's engaged to Kate Wood. And it, quote, is, best day of my life, is according to people. Very happy for Mikey. I was down in Bachelor in Paradise 2 with Mikey. He within an hour picked my sister up and carried her into the ocean. He had a big crush on her for a little bit. Okay, well, maybe not a big crush.

But he had immediate attraction to her. and it was funny because that is not her type but anyway I am very happy because this is a guy that you could tell really wanted a wife and family and now he's got it so good you know good luck and best wishes for them they got engaged

at Nubbs Nob in Michigan like right on the ski slope so it's very very sweet to see this. It's actually Nubbs Knob Nubbs Knob. I've been there Yeah, noob's not. Oh, you've been there. Okay. But you get it.

Well, hey, happy for Mikey. Happy for Kate. Ashley, tell me this. We've now broken down the episode. We've watched the premiere episode. How excited are you for this season of The Bachelor? Well, I'm very excited for Matt to hopefully find love. I'm a little bit worried that he's going to freaking freak out and like he's going to scare himself off.

Don't we all? all. I mean, hey, it just happens during that show. In fact, I was talking to a couple posts or past bachelors during the episode. And the agreement with all of us, we were also in the same thing like, hey, it really looks like this hurts him. And knowing Matt, you know, I know it hurts him. But he does break down. But here's the truth. So does everybody else. Like nobody makes it through this thing unscathed, unemotional. It's one of the, in a sense, the most beautiful parts of the show is it pulls out raw emotion. Now, when that emotion is manipulated, not cool.

But when that emotion then transforms into a love story or it transforms into one of these contestants become a better human, it's really, really cool. And I believe that Matt is a great human going in. He'll be an even better human going out. And I'm super pumped for this season. I think it's going to be absolutely incredible. Well, one thing I can say I'm sure of is that he does. not leave this experience, not having experienced love.

He's definitely going to fall in love. I think he will too. That man has a big old heart, and I think he has some contestants. I'm super excited to see their stories kind of transform and evolve in front of our very eyes. Well, hey, with that, this has been another episode of the Almost Famous Podcast. Yes, this is Matt James' week one premiere episode. We'll be back next week with another episode of the Almost Famous Podcast. breaking down Matt James's second episode that is promised to be something incredible.

With that, I've been Ben. And I've been Ashley. Bye, guys. Follow the Ben and Ashley I, almost famous podcasts on IHeartRadio or subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts. Hi, my name is Enya Yumanzoor. And I'm Drew Phillips. And we run a podcast called Emergency Intercom. If you're a crime junkie and you love crimes,

We're not the podcast for you. But if you have unmedicated ADHD... Oh my God, perfect. And want to hear people with mental illness, psychobabble. Yes, yes. Then Emergency Intercom is the podcast for you. Open your free IHeartRadio app. Search Emergency Intercom and listen now.

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 themselves. 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. How serious is youth vaping? Irreversible lung damage serious. One in ten kids vape serious, which warrants a serious conversation from a serious parental figure, like yourself.

Not the seriously know-at-all sports dad or the seriously smart podcaster. It requires a serious conversation that is best had by you. No, seriously. The best person to talk to your child about vaping is you. To start the conversation, visit talk about vaping.org. Brought to you by the American Lung Association and the Ad Council. Why are TSA rules so confusing? You got a hood of you. I'll take it all!

I'm Manny. I'm Noah. This is Devin. And we're best friends and journalists with a new podcast called No Suarez. thing, where we get to the bottom of questions like that. Why are you screaming at me? I can't expect what to do. Now, if the rule was the same, go off on me.

I deserve it. You know, lock him up. Listen to No such thing on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. No such thing. I'm Dr. Joy Hardin-Bradford, host of the Therapy for Black Girls podcast. I know how overwhelming it can feel if flying makes you anxious. In session 418 of the Therapy for Black Girl's podcast, I know how overwhelming it can feel.

Black Girls podcast. Dr. Angela Neal-Barnett and I discuss flight anxiety. What is not a norm is to allow it to prevent you from doing the things that you want to do, the things that you were meant to do. Listen to therapy for Black girls on the IHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. This is an IHeart podcast.