The Ben and Ashley I Almost Famous Podcast - Halfway to Joey

Episode Date: February 27, 2024

We have to address the news that a former Bachelor contestant is being posted by none other than the “Princess of Pop”… Britney Spears! We’re at the point of the season where the girls start to really get a lot of time hanging out with Joey, and that will definitely affect Ben and Ashley’s predictions. And, Ben shares some behind the scenes info on how things feel for the lead at the halfway point. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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

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

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

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

Does anyone know what show they've come to see? It's a story. It's about the scariest night of my life. this is wisecrack available now listen to wisecrack on the iHeart radio app apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts this is the ben and ashley i almost famous podcast with iHeart radio this is bachelor episode seven recap on the almost famous podcast we have so much to talk about when it comes to the highly anticipated episode where we had six incredible women left with our amazing bachelor, Joey. Amazing Bachelor. Love him more every week.

Amazing Bachelor. Some would say he isn't. What? They've been making headlines for maybe saying he isn't amazing. But I would say this. I think we know as much about Joey as we know about any bachelor. Like we know what he likes as a hobby. We know where he's from.

Um, we know that he's good looking. We know that he cares. Like, we don't usually know that much about a bachelor, bachelorette, if we're really honest. And I think we know as much, maybe that's all he's got. Maybe he's got some cool hobbies. Maybe he's got some desire to find a partner. Uh, maybe he has, uh, a desire to explore a little bit with this partner. And honestly, like, if somebody's like Ben explained your life, that might be about all I got. I got a few hobbies. I got a great wife. I got a dog and I work. Like, that's you know what like that's about all you got um anyways he i think he's killing it so we were very um anticipatory about the the who would be there in the final four there was a little shocker to me honestly but we'll talk about that later to start i got a DM from an almost famous listener who asked us to talk about something uh and i was unaware of this something until the DM came in so thank you for sending that DM. You know who you are, and I don't want to say your name on the podcast

because I did not get your permission to do that, but you know who you are. The conversation is about Britney Spears. And this is the headline. Britney Spears is one of us, a Ben Smith fan. Now, Ben Smith was on a couple seasons ago over The Bachelorette.

We don't hear a lot from him these days. But, here's a situation, Ashley, and you've got to help me understand what's going on. Britney Spears, like, reposted his picture on her Instagram. Well, it's Brittany. So we, it's kind of hard to figure out what's going on with her sometimes. So what she did was she posted a picture. Yeah.

She posted a picture of Ben standing outside of a sauna, like one of those portable saunas. and then Brittany said in the caption, I want a hot sauna in my house. And then there's the photo emoji and then she adds Ben at Ben v. Smith. Now, there's lots of things that could be going on here. The juiciest for us would be if Brittany took this photo of Ben standing outside the sauna

and somehow they have some personal relationship, whether that's him coaching her physically or friendship or otherwise. Fitness coaching, by the way. Let's be clear. Yeah, well, he's a fitness coach. He also is like a lifestyle, like, health coach. Yeah.

So it could have been that. Or it could be like a lot less juicy. And it could just be Brittany being like kind of like Brittany, randomly screenshoting a picture of a random man outside of, standing outside of a sauna and then just, she did that because she just wanted to tell her audience that she also wants a hot sauna in her house. You be the judge.

That's all we know. Does Brittany follow? I don't, let me see it. Let me see. Does she follow him? I mean, this situation is wild to me because it is, it is an unexpected bachelor person, right? Ben Smith was a big name, but we just haven't heard from him.

So it's not like he stayed in the headlines. He's kind of gone off and did his own thing when it comes to fitness and health after the show. She doesn't follow him. So she doesn't follow Ben Smith. Somehow she saw a picture of Ben Smith or a sauna. Yeah, she probably just looked up Sana. Saw a hot guy in front of Asana,

screenshot it and was like, this feels nice. Because Brittany loves to just take random pictures from the internet. She's always done this. Like I'm scrolling through right now, and here's just some, you know, floral landscapes. And like, look, look at this screenshot of just little cupids. Like, she probably just screenshot it, not having any clue that this guy at one point was kind of famous.

It's, so Brittany just likes to keep us guessing, is what you're saying. Yeah. Okay. Well, that's that, that's all we have. that's as much as we could find. We did dig into this situation for everybody to try to give a little more explanation. But I feel like we gave us the best explanation

that anybody can have right now. Well, I guess we could just call Ben. Does anybody have his number? I think what the best, all we need right here is if possible, if one of us could text Ben Smith and ask for some clarity. and we can read that text online.

I'll just do it right now. Yeah, just as we're going through this year. I'm going to let him know on Wednesday. We'll let you guys know. Yeah, that would be great. Okay. I felt weird deemming him in the first place because I'm sure his entire,

in, like, his mailbox must be just nuts. And I didn't want to infringe on like any privacy in case he was like seeing Britney. I hope he has no idea why his picture was posted. Like, I hope he's just like, I'm pretty sure that's what he's going to say. I hope that's the case. Well, sorry that we didn't have more details in here.

We did work for it. We did reach out to Ben Smith. We will continue to reach out to Ben Smith to get more details on this situation. But thank you for always listeners, bringing up situations that you want to hear us kind of investigate and dive into. We will do as best we can. We promise you that. Okay. Let's start with episode seven of The Bachelor there in Jasper, Canada.

another breathtakingly beautiful place. I am so excited to watch this episode because it reminds me of my home in Evergreen, Colorado. But it also is just such a gorgeous place to fall in love, as they like to say. It is, there's elk, there's clear water, there are mountains and beauty and fresh air.

This episode for me is an exciting one because, as we mentioned last, week, there's six women left and we know all six women and we like all six women and we don't know going into this episode exactly who is going to be going home. We had our predictions. Ashley, we have the people that we think he has the best connections with. But quite honestly, any two going home this week was not only going to be a little sad to me because I like all of them, but also at some level shocking. Yeah. Oh, yeah. They're all going to, I think they're all going to be like, oh, so that's the one he chose to do it. They're all going to be like. It is a wild time in

the bachelor world because for the first time and a long time, I think really the top eight, we can say, hey, we knew. The top six, we fell in love with. Top four, we're emotionally invested in. And the bottom two, we're just going to be really confused by because we don't know who he's going to choose and how this is going to play out. The bottom two. Or the top two, I guess. I would call top two. Yeah. So, yeah, I'm so excited. I'm so excited. about getting into this next chapter. I feel like it's almost like a whole new season when you get to top four. Can I remind everybody that they're halfway through filming right now?

Like I say that every year. I know. Now they're halfway. So like that that's how much these girls are going to get more time with him. That's why you see like all this. You'll never see the complaints of one-on-one dates again because those, well, everybody gets one-on-ones now. But I just want to be clear.

I say this every year, but I think it's one of the most interesting parts. even when I was on the show was up until hometowns, that's halfway through filming. Now, the rest of filming exists now. So as much, many episodes have you seen, seven episodes has been filmed. Now we'll see as much time being spent on the final four. It's so fun. I love this time of year. And I specifically love this time of year because Joey is such a fab bachelor.

So let's go through the dates this week. there's going to be two one-on-ones and then a group date with four of them on there. The first one-on-one goes to Daisy. It's all about, you know, that was the first date. They haven't had, like, such quality time since. Is it still there? How's everyone feeling? And they had a really perfect date when it comes to Jasper, Canada.

They ice-gated. They went on horseback. they had an outdoor hot tub. They had a cute, cozy dinner. It was all wonderful. And their chemistry was 100% still there. What was, like, the big topic to discuss during this was that Daisy admitted she's not fallen in love with him yet. She's not there.

She likes him a lot. And I think that was just real. I liked that. I was like, okay, yeah, this girl's just, she's, She's keeping her head on. She's a little bit slower than some of the others. But I just love the way that she was just like,

this is my situation. There's a difference too when somebody says that and you get the sense that they're kind of questioning the relationship. I think for what's happening that's different here is Daisy is validating

that she cares deeply about him and wants to be there to pursue this in every other way. And I'm with you. I think it's weird almost when it's too early on and they're like, I'm in love with you. Yeah. I think that you might be feeling certain ways. Like you have a massive crush, you know?

But if you've gone like one real date with somebody. Yeah. There's a genuineness, though, to the Daisy Joey situation where it's like, this is just authentic. And I think they both understand the authenticity behind it. I don't know if it scares. we keep getting clips of Joey saying one of his biggest fears is that somebody will leave him at the end

and it kind of feels like they're leading up to something that I don't know if it exists or not but I think there's like a trust and an authenticity and understanding it feels like between Daisy and Joey and that might be where their chemistry even lies is that they just have such a better understanding than everybody else. There's not a question about

what their pursuits are or their desires are. it's a it's different because they're just more real in front of each other totally and when she tells him this she

he seems like a little bit jarred by it but I'd like to know I'd like to ask Joey would you have said to her like I'm falling in love with you yeah oh I think I think Joey's pretty I think he is

I think Joey is really into to Daisy and he has been since the beginning. I don't know what he would say when it comes down emotionally. He might be feeling very similar. Again, they haven't got a lot of time, but this was a great date. The big storyline at this point, though, comes in where Jen doesn't get the one-on-one date she wants. I feel like this should have been a sign for Jen that this wasn't going to work out at the end.

But still kind of shocking to me that she didn't get a sign. a one-on-one date. I really wanted her to get this week's date. She seemed more due for one than Kelsey. When was the last time she had a one-on-one? Jen. Jen? Like second week of dates.

So week three, I think. So it's been a long time. Yeah. And we just had a date with Kelsey two weeks ago, and it felt really great. And I think he just wanted to hang out with Kelsey. He just wanted the time. And I think with Jen, it could have been more useful. you know, because

with Jen, it could have gone to swung it one way or the other like more like more sturdy feeling in letting her go perhaps.

It was, well, not to like jump ahead but like when he let her go I was kind of like sad that the two of them just walked out and like he didn't like

have like a special moment with either of them because I felt like those two deserved it. I will say that maybe isn't a critique of Joey as much as it was maybe he couldn't even control it.

But at this point in time, I do think rose ceremonies are a little bit misplaced, especially this week with the women that were there. It felt like all of them could have gotten maybe a knock at the door or a pulled aside kind of moment, more than a rose ceremony.

Yeah. They deserve that, especially Kelsey T. Because we did get to see a lot of her and it felt like the relationship was going incredibly well, honestly. But, you know, Jen, we just didn't get to see a lot of gin. And I think we like, I mean, I think we would really like Jen. I think we saw a good bit of her, but just, and I think that he liked her the whole way through.

It says, it was just like, I think both of them, really Kelsey too. And it was just a hard, it was a hard elimination. My boyfriend's professor is way too friendly. And now I'm seriously suspicious. Well, wait a minute, Sam. Maybe her boyfriend's just looking for extra credit. Well, Dakota, it's back to school week on the OK Storytime podcast, so we'll find out soon. This person writes, my boyfriend has been hanging out with his young professor a lot.

He doesn't think it's a problem, but I don't trust her. Now, he's insisting we get to know each other, but I just want her gone. Now, hold up. Isn't that against school policy? That sounds totally inappropriate. Well, according to this person, this is her boyfriend's former professor and they're the same age. And it's even more likely that they're cheating. He insists there's nothing between them.

I mean, do you believe him? Well, he's certainly trying to get this person to believe him because he now wants them both to meet. So, do we find out if this person's boyfriend really cheated with his professor or not? To hear the explosive finale, listen to the OK Storytime podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Hi, my name is Enya Yumanzor. 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. 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.

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former believers, and experts to understand why people get pulled in and how they get out. Trust me, new episodes every Wednesday on exactly right. Listen wherever you get your podcasts. So Daisy's date wraps. She gets the rose.

Here's one thing my sister and I were discussing. Because I guess like, we're just thinking about from our family's perspective. We don't find it to be like a huge, we, we're thinking about hometowns and like, I don't know if this sounds bad, but like we wouldn't, we don't find it to be a huge deal to introduce somebody to our family because it's like a person and it's like a person you care about and it's like when you introduce somebody to your family, do you think that it needs to be somebody that you're going to be with forever?

Like, I don't know. felt like sometimes like with the girls it's too big of a deal. Like there's so many people use it as like, um, like a front. Like, like, oh, I don't know. Like, it's a big deal. Like, I don't know if I'm there yet. I'm like, but let me just, I don't, I think you're, you're, I personally think you're spot on where it's not a big deal. I just think the format of the show knowing that the next time they see their daughter could potentially be when she's going to be engaged or heartbroken. It puts a different weight to it. I don't, I mean, my, I love my parents.

I would introduce them to a lot of people. Yeah. I wouldn't, you know, maybe get them excited about some random back in the day. But, you know, anybody I was spending time with, I wanted them to know and kind of, I guess, follow my journey of dating. But if I, you know, in this situation, I do believe it's different because of the, you know, the association that at the end of this, my daughter could be engaged. And this is the one and only time I'm meeting this guy. And what do I say? What do I do in this moment? It is, I've talked to Joey about this. It is still to this day, one of the most, like, stressful.

And my life obviously has been pretty good. This has been one of the most stressful weeks in my life, hometowns. It was, I was sick to my stomach. Well, that's, I understand it totally from the leads point of view. Like, there's so much pressure and like, holy shit, am I leading this whole family on? But, like, if you're, like, was one of the cast members and you're one of the four, the whole, like, but there's other people going on and, like, blah, blah, like, I'm just be like, yeah, but, like, let's bring it on. This is going to be so fun. Yeah, I think you, to have fun with it. Yeah.

I think you just have to, like, I think you just have to have fun with it. I think you have to have the energy to just have fun with it. I don't think you need to put more pressure on it than it's already going to be there. Yeah. And it's cool that your faith, I mean, for me, it was cool that my family was going to be a part. Now I never had a hometown on Caitlin's season. But it was cool that my family was going to be a part of this experience. And also get to meet Caitlin at the time.

Like, that was exciting for me. and that they would see all these producers that I'd spent months with at this point and get to meet, like there's so much excitement to. Yeah. But I do, I mean, could we say this, Ashley? Like, every family has their own little dance.

They're all different. Oh, 100%. So is it maybe that all these women have such close ties to their family that they're like, I know they care about me so much that this is going to ultimately be really hard on them and I know that they're not going to have fun with this. Like maybe all of them kind of have the same family.

It's just different family vibes, I guess. Because like I know that if I brought like the bachelor home, my mom would like be like peeing her pants. Like there's nothing more exciting in this world than like that happening to my mom like back in the day. You kind of did with Jared. You know, I know. Yeah. We definitely had like a hometown date. And she was like, oh my God.

My mom ate up our like quote hometown date when Jared came over for the first time. Yeah. Yeah, I think I dropped somebody off at the airport I was like in the basement or something And my mom like sat down with Jared and she was like So do you think that like maybe down the road Like my mom loves this stuff So I just think of it too personally from like

My background I think Yeah, there's emotion involved My dad would be like Why would you want to be with her? Do you know how much she is to handle To save yourself or run now? Yeah See, he's a smart man

See, there's just different emotions dynamics. I think all of these women have already told us stories about why their families matter, too. I think that's a unique dynamic that we don't always hear. Also, all of the women that are left have told us reasons why their family are either very connected or maybe a little disconnected. Another thing I've appreciated about this season is the insight into kind of behind the scenes of everybody's life, which I think is very valuable now going into hometowns. But there is one person. that doesn't feel like they're going to make it to hometowns.

That's Maria. Maria has, I'm not going to say a breakdown. I think that's what she called her, what she was having. I think she is really in it and has felt all sorts of emotions throughout this process and has a had a roller coaster ride through this season. Did you think she was going to be going home on her own accord? Ashley. How do you solve a problem like Maria?

I've just had to put that somewhere in any of these recaps. Please tell me that you know that's from the sound of music. No, I had no clue. Are you serious? That sounded good, though. Wow. Just a classic. Anyway, you guys know that like, even though my friend, Sydney, has obviously an issue with Maria.

I have not had an issue with what I've seen from Maria on TV. and I find her to have a great personality for television and I think this was the one moment where I was like this was in the past couple weeks a moment where I was like she's fishing here she is just fishing she needs so she wants so she wants so much validation but I don't think she needs it I think she's confident in where they sit they sit

but she wanted him to basically say like you're getting a hometown I can't wait to meet your family I can't I see you at the end like she wanted so much of that and then her plan totally backfires with him and she's like I think I have to leave I think this process is for me and then he goes so are you leaving and then she's like yeah and then she gets up goes to the other room and I was like I don't know how they're going to rebound from this moment and then she sits back down. This was one of like the most attractive scenes with Joey. Again, I was like, this dude just kills this lead role. He has such a good job because he is like standing his ground. He's not feeding into what I think was kind of like a bullshit moment. And he is like

still listening and understanding and being like gentle with her feelings during it. I just thought was a great moment I don't even remember what the heck he said but like basically he was like you want the validation or you're going to leave well it's like I'm in this position right now where like I'm you know I'm I'm here

I could give you the opportunity to do it but you're the one that wants to leave so basically he's saying like she was being selfish in the moment because there's nothing else he can do to help her here, except for, you know, give her a rose, which he probably was going to do. I see where she's coming from. I do. She wants more attention than she's getting.

But she's getting a lot of attention, I feel. Yeah, but you, I think this is a marker of how, where she feels like her relationship is compared to some of the other women. I don't think she's as confident in their relationship as she is around seeing like the Kelsey A's and the daisies now. I think she's questioning exactly where am I at, and she cares about him. And so she's saying, how do I stand out here? Like, how do I actually ask him where we're at compared to everybody else? Because it is. It's an emotional roller coaster.

Like, it is really hard to feel good about where you're at, especially when you care deeply about the lead. Did she go about it in the right way? Ah, no, she probably could just sat down asking. But this is maybe who she is. Like, she is maybe a little bit more, like, dramatic. And she does say things sometimes that she may be positing. possibly regrets and looks back on. But what did she get out of it?

Well, she got a rose and she got a kiss and she got this cute little flirty moment where they're like hugging each other. And I think it connects them in a way that maybe she needed. It was a connecting moment for sure. Because it was kind of like a fight. And they mended the fight. I mean, how many times do you say something you don't mean

or you react in a way you don't want to react? And you have to go back and be like, I'm sorry. Like, I overreacted there. I made that way more dramatic than I wanted to. That all kind of blew up in my face. Like, that happens, right? Doesn't usually happen on national television.

What about when she said, like, I'm not even going to kiss you. And then he was like, what? You're not even going to kiss me? And she goes right in for it. Well, she's like, and I kind of like that moment. I did too. And he goes, you're all over the place. It was just so real.

And I did love the moment. It was weird. I still, I stand by the fact that I think that. she was totally fishing, wanted her answer there, and she wanted to eliminate girls right there. But the moment was really compelling. And just one of those, again, like last week, their date, it felt like no, it felt like not a TV moment.

No, it wasn't. I mean, she said, I'm not going to kiss you because I saw you kissing other women. You need to learn your lesson. And I'm like, that's fair. and it's funny and it's cute and it's flirtatious and then she goes in and kisses him anyways and I'm like this

this is playful and this is fun and I and I see the two of them together but it totally spooked him he's like forever weary of her now sure I'm sure he's questioning

where she stands at this point and I don't know if hometowns is necessarily going to help that because he's probably going to get questions about where does Maria stand with everybody else and she's going to have to hear him say like I have feelings for a lot of people and I've got to have to figure this out in the end and that's not going to help the situation. But it is probably out of the top three now because I had Kelsey T up there and obviously she's going home. If we have, you know, I think for me it's

Daisy and Kelsey A and Maria. It definitely is the one relationship. that is the most fragile and also the one that has a lot of similarities to the others in terms of connection and comfort. I will say I think Maria's relationship with Joey has had the most obstacles that they've been able to get over and not obstacles in the terms of like relationships ending obstacles like, hey, there's these rumors about you dating somebody else back home and all this stuff. It's obstacles with other women. Obstacles and with emotion. Obstacles. and miscommunication, all those things, that I do think they have

a strong foundation. I feel like don't put her against like Daisy and Kelsey. But I do feel like Rachel has lost a little steam. We just didn't see her this week much. And we haven't seen, I know we just recently saw like a very good

one-on-one with her and some flirtatious moments. But even that one on one day, we said, hey, felt like it was a little bit more disconnected than their even first, you know? or their first, like, wedding day group day. Yeah, wedding date moment. And it does feel, I think in my mind, like the top three is very clear to me at this point in time.

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

former professor and they're the same age. And it's even more likely that they're cheating. He insists there's nothing between them. I mean, do you believe him? Well, he's certainly trying to get this person to believe him because he now wants them both to meet. So, do we find out if this person's boyfriend really cheated with his professor or not. To hear the explosive finale, listen to the OK Storytime podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. 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 like 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 at this thing, see?

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. A foot washed up a shoe with some bones in it. They had no idea who it was. Most everything was burned up pretty good from the fire that not a whole lot was salvageable.

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Okay. Well, we do have a group date. Ashley, there's not a lot to talk about on this group date, other than the fact that can I say for the first time in a long time, I've agreed with you on something that you stick by. And that is that you don't like, yeah, competition dates. And I've always said I like them. I think they're fun. I think when it gets down to the like four people, people on a competition date. It mostly feels like a waste of time. It felt awkward. It felt like it was unnecessary. Their relationships have moved way past. How can I impress you doing this random obstacle that I've never done before? The axe throwing, which I thought Maria was really funny. She's like, this is not my scene and I am not really putting effort into this. Yeah, it just feels like we've moved past it, right? And maybe they just needed this date to kind of fill space. And it was fun to watch. I enjoyed the activity and I enjoyed seeing all these things done. I just felt like as a date, it felt awkward to me, a little,

a little cringy even at moments where it's like this, why are they cutting wood for this guy? Like at this point, this is done. Yeah, gotcha. So what came out of that? No group date rose. Obviously, we had the Maria conversation. The no group date rose was definitely a good idea, though.

the whole moment with Maria and then like I think he really needed time to think about the macro yes 100% so not a lot gets brought up there so then we have the Kelsey A date Kelsey A date is similar to Daisy's date

comparatively it feels very similar they're yes they really like each other yes they're very attracted to each other yes they get along great they're both in this together I mean, the depth of their relationship, I think, at this point, really now needs to be stepped up after hometown. Like, we're ready for Kelsey A and Daisy to go to hometowns. I'm really excited about Kelsey's hometown because we, her dad, we share the stories of her dad, how emotional she gets talking about him.

He just sounds like a sweet man. And then at the scene to the next episode, you get a couple glimpses of him. And I'm like, this is a good daddy. I like this. I like this man. yeah you know what i'm saying though it just feels like the only way we're going to get progress in their relationships is to now separate everybody because they're so far along i mean those two are are two of the strongest top two in recent memory for me yeah for sure so the cocteau party

gets uh canceled not a shock here it happens a lot of seasons yeah it does but like the only weird thing that happened, and I cannot claim that canceling the cocktail party was Joey's idea. I'll tell you how this usually works out. Usually at this point in time, you are so tired of cocktail parties. Dude, this guy was so tired. You could tell in this episode, he was like, oh my gosh, I'm just getting over it. Yeah, you're over it. So as a lead, most leads I talk to and remembering back on my time, if everybody wants a little insight, is most leads at this point are over the whole thing. They're done with the dates.

They're done with the cocktail parties. All they want to do is spend time with the people that are left and do it in a way that isn't so kind of like formal, right? Coming up, you're going to have some hometowns. You're going to have overnights, which are super fun because you get cameras away from you, including the lead for the first time in months. Then you're down to two. And at that point, everything changes.

And you're in a whole different headspace. So you're kind of done with the Bachelor deal, the Bachelorette deal. Cocktail parties aren't fun to you anymore. You don't want to like bounce around to all these women that you know so well and it feels weird when five of them are sitting in a room alone and there's always the chance that drama can arise.

And so the producers will come in and they'll say, hey, what do you want to do about tonight? And they'll say, we'll give you two options. You have the cocktail party or you don't. Yeah, you have the cocktail party and you have to leave in 30 minutes or you don't and we can do a, rose ceremony in 30 minutes and you'll be back home by 830 tonight and you know delightful there's a game on you know this is during football season so you're like you're good tune into the

game and you're like I know exactly what I want to do like I am so over this thing let's just do the rose ceremony and so you know if there's questions maybe still and there's big conversation that need to be had sure you might have a cocktail party for the most part you are so excited when they give you the offer to just cancel it. But then how do you feel in this situation? Then he obviously did have to have a conversation with Maria. I don't know. I don't know how this played out.

I would imagine this is what happened in Joey's head. He goes, hey, I just want to have a rose ceremony. And the show goes, awesome. That means an early dinner for us. And he goes, but the only thing is I need to talk to Maria. And they say, well, just do it at the rose ceremony. He goes, that's a fine deal. Like, yeah, this may not make sense on the messaging.

The girls may not like this. move, but like... But 100% this is what I'm going to do. It saves me three hours tonight. What it also means to me is that like he just knew that like if Maria gave him the right answer, that she was definitely far and beyond his feelings for Jen and Kelsey. So it was like it wasn't going to like they couldn't win him over, I think at that point.

Yeah. He knew what he was going to do, but he needed to, he needed some clarity. And so he took like the best. audibled route to having as little amount of obligation as he could that evening and getting out of there in time for a good dinner and a football game. I'm guaranteeing it. I mean, I'm serious. And that's fine. Like, for me, that doesn't, it's very understandable. And I think every fan should understand where he's coming from in this is that the more time I can get just to chill right now, the better for everybody and the better for me personally. And I'm going to find

ways to do that. You're kind of always looking now for ways to do that. And so, Yeah, the messaging was weird and I can see where some of the women were a little thrown off by it but it's just the way it had to be done and you're gonna have to get over it and I guarantee it when it comes to them getting in the roses.

I think Rachel was the one that really thrown off by it. She was fine. She's like, I don't care now. I was fine. So Marie and him kind of get pulled aside. They have a little conversation. It's like the same conversation

they have, a little chiller from the night before. And she's like, I'm rattled by the other girls. And then he's like, okay, well, I just want to let you know that I do really like, you. Yeah. Like, do you want to be here or not? And she says yes. And he's like, all right, let's go back in there. Let's do this thing. And so Kelsey T, shocker elimination for me. I really thought she was going to be around. I thought she was in, she was moving her way up until the top, maybe even like kind of close to two, pushing two a little bit. Yeah. And then

Jen, um, Jen goes home as well. Not as much of a shocker there. Kind of the whole episode kind of leaned into that moment. Yeah. Writing was on the wall. I will miss Kelsey T. I do feel like she, um, you know, like we keep saying it. Like I just,

I want to see more of her, I guess. I liked her personality. I liked who she was. I thought she was great, uh, for Joey. But at the end of the day,

I'm not that shocked because Kelsey A and Daisy are still there. And for me, as long as they're still there, everybody else right now is just kind of like around, if that makes sense. Well, This is my plea to the bachelor producers who aren't, I think, planning paradise.

But I think this is such an unfortunate season for them not to be planning paradise because this is the group of girls that we actually care about seeing again. I agree with you, Ashley. So I was like, guys, look at the ratings, look at these girls' following counts. People are going to watch this paradise.

You guys got to fit it in. Yeah. I mean, maybe they come up with something different. Maybe they're... Yeah, do it at the mansion, do something. It doesn't have to be like this big travel show. no it just feels like for years we were kind of like hey are we excited about paradise sure because it's always paradise and it's fun to watch but we aren't that excited about much here other than

the fact that it's on tv and it kind of gets us back in the groove now i'm sitting here at the end joey's season and also as some levels charity season again uh and going i there's a lot of people i want to see back on that beach i think they're going to turn it around i think it's going to happen somehow. All right. Good. I want my buddy Wells to have a job. There's that one too.

There's that aspect. All right. So, seen to the next episode, like I said, really like Kelsey's dad thus far. It seems like the Rachel's parents

are going to be the ones that give us the drama here and a little bit with Maria's dad. But Rachel's parents, yeah, I don't know. It seems very tearful.

I don't even want to judge off of this because every time, it looks so dramatic, and it never is as dramatic as they make it slug. And honestly, when it comes to hometowns, unless you're a jojos. Yeah, unless you're a jojos, and you're like, goodness gracious, I don't belong here. Like, they do not want me around. You know, I think all in, it's hard for me to criticize families who are protective of any of their sons or daughters in hometowns.

hometowns for me, I will watch with one hand over my eyes because it's so hard for me. Like I have these memories of it and I have these memories of looking dads in the eyes and being like, hey, if it comes down to this moment, how do you feel about it and being like, this is such a big moment for you? And you have some, you know, dork walking through your front door and he's asking you these questions and you're like, this whole thing feels stupid to me. And this whole thing is not what I've ever dreamed of for my daughter. And this whole thing is messed up. And I'm like, I get it.

Like, I totally understand. But I have to do this. And you have to do this too. And this sucks. And I just, I, I love hometowns for certain reasons. I hate hometowns because I know it's so uncomfortable for the lead and for, and for these families. I love hometowns.

Yeah, I'm sure. I'm sure you do. You know. Yeah. It makes me feel all icky inside. Yeah. I just remember. I remember those feelings of,

like having massive like anxiety pulling up to the house and walking through the front door and being like, hey, man, here, here I am. Like, how many girls you date right now, Ben? Well, multiple. Sorry. Your daughter's great though. Uh, anyways, it's, it's hard. Uh, and it's, it's hard for everybody involved. Uh, so hometowns is next week. We're down to four. Ashley, I gave you my top three. I'm assuming your top three is the same. But, who do you believe um who do you believe has the most encouraging like is there anybody in this group right now that their hometown is going to sway joey's opinion no no no i think rachel goes home next week which is uh unfortunate we love rachel again i don't know when

we're going to see her again but it's great she was such a good person on the show uh i think Rachel goes home and it's Maria Daisy and Kelsey on to overnights. That's my opinion. I will be shocked if that changes. Okay. Yeah, I think that's what makes the most sense right now. Okay. So I'll stick with you on that. Well, we'll be back next week. Uh, breaking down another episode of The Bachelor. Also, almost good advice. We have some interviews now coming up with some past contestants. Also some contestants that are currently on the season. We are kind of of working into that time of the year where we're going to really start diving into interviews

with people from this season to understand who they are, hear their side of the story. And it's an exciting time to be the Almost Famous Podcast. It is. We have a lot of cool things coming up. So thank you for listening. We'll be back next time.

But until then, I've been Ben. I've been Ashley. Send us your problems for almost good advice. Bye. Follow the Ben and Ashley I, almost famous podcasts on iHeartRadio or subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts. My boyfriend's professor is way too friendly, and now I'm seriously suspicious. Wait a minute, Sam. Maybe her boyfriend's just looking for extra credit.

Well, Dakota, luckily, it's back to school week on the OK Storytime podcast, so we'll find out soon. This person writes, my boyfriend's been hanging out with his young professor a lot. He doesn't think it's a problem, but I don't trust her. Now he's insisting we get to know each other, but I just want her gone. Oh, hold up. Isn't that against school policy? That seems inappropriate. Maybe find out how it ends by listening to the OK Storytime podcast and the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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