The Ben and Ashley I Almost Famous Podcast - Honeymoon Higgins

Episode Date: December 1, 2021

Ben’s back! Get ready to hear all the secret details of his fairytale wedding… including what happened on the wedding night!We break down the hometowns episode of Michelle’s season and we discover a shocking revelation about how things might end.And, could Blake Moynes be our next Bachelor?? Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Guess who's back. Ben's back. What's up, everybody? Yeah. All right, before we go into all the details of his wedding and his honeymoon, we want to give the batch-brack rule of the week so that we don't forget because, I mean, wow, we have, like, so much, like, juicy stuff about to come our way that, like, you know, we don't want to get cut up in it. Okay, batch-bragut rule of the week for week eight, which is December 7th, is plus 10 when a contestant says that they want to slash can see themselves. starting to have a family slash having kids with Michelle. All right.

You're not going to get, I mean, there's only four left. Yeah, they're all going to say that. I would think that everybody gets a point. There's three left at that point, right? Yeah, everybody wins. You know what that game? Yeah, yeah. Okay, so Ben's back.

And Ben, Ethan and I, of course, talked about your beautiful wedding and how perfect this ceremony was and how beautiful your bride was and how great it was to see everyone and how everything was just set up so nicely and like there was just so much love and warmth in the air give it to us from your perspective like was the day, did the date turn out exactly the way that you wanted it to? Well, a lot of that is going to be dependent on you

and I'll explain why. What? I'll explain why. So when Jessica and I plan this wedding, the hope of this wedding, was that we knew we would have the most fun, no matter what, right? We would have a great time. It was going to be our special day.

Like, we were marrying each other. We were ready for this moment. But everything that we decided on details or how it was going to be set up was dependent on we would have even more fun if everybody else had fun. Like, we wanted it to feel like a celebration. And so before I go into the details of that day and kind of what that felt like to us, do you mind answering the question? Like, I want you to do it honestly.

Did you have a good time at this wedding? Oh my God. We had a blast. It was great. It truly was a big celebration feel. We had so much fun. I can't imagine it being better. Well, that makes me happy because then yes, it was a success.

And we've, I mean, I don't know if anybody would tell us they didn't have a good time when it's your own wedding. But so far, the responses have been really positive. And one of the ways we did this was, you know, we didn't do a sit-down dinner. we did food stands not only because it's a lot more COVID safe but also because it just we didn't want to stop the party as soon as the ceremony was over we wanted the party to start and we did that yeah there was no lull no you didn't have like any there wasn't any cocktail hour so like there was no break in the festivity feel no you walk into the reception and the party starts so a couple things that happened that nobody knows yet um we had an incredible opportunity uh jessica's favorite song uh with her father is cinderella um and that is a song that so many people uh dance to at their wedding uh it's something that you know for jessica uh her dad and her dance to it as their children and they had the original artist

Michael W. Smith. He recorded a video because he couldn't be there at the wedding a video for Jessica and her dad to dance to at the reception, which I didn't know what was happening and it rocked me. Oh, that's so cute to know the backstory.

Yeah, so that was the original writer, Michael W. Smith. You'd look up Michael W. Smith, Cinderella song and it would come up. And so he recorded a lot, not a live, he recorded a video of him singing it. I thought it turned out awesome. My mom and I danced to Ben Rector, Extraordinary Magic. And I thought those two, that was like two very special moments. Her dad loves her a ton.

She loves her dad a ton. And he's been very supportive through this whole thing for this wedding. And to see them dance together was really special. And then to have my mom and I dance together who, you know, we're very close. who I love dearly, who's a friend, who's a mentor, everything to me,

just be able to have that. That might be outside of the ceremony, my favorite parts of weddings, just those little private moments where you can see parents, you know, gladfully, joyfully pass their kids off

and say, you guys go try this thing now. See what this takes you. My favorite part of your wedding was your vows, her walking down the aisle, and just like the tent was so like well lit at that point and that's one of the nice things about the sun setting so early is like it really it wasn't candlelight but it felt like candlelight and I'm like looking over people trying to see your face I got little glimpses and of course like seeing your face watching her was the was one of my favorite parts and then I loved the rehearsal dinner with all the speeches particularly both sets of parent speeches were just they were wonderful they had such great stories and they're just there's there are everything you'd imagine ben higgins a ben higgins

wedding uh speech to be like you know even though you are the one giving that giving it like it was like you all over it just like warm and wonderful and hey ben's not perfect but he tries really hard your dad yeah i love no i said i said i said the line was ben's not perfect but he tries really hard he Your dad? Yeah, I love, no, I said the line was, Ben's not perfect, but he tries really hard. And I was like, that's perfect. That's all I need. He just, he just tries.

Well, Ashley, you know, you were the only person from the Bachelor world at the rehearsal. But we shared a lot of life together now. I mean, we've been doing this podcast together for so many years. We've seen a lot of ups and downs, you know, through relationship, through life, through struggles, through, you know, wondering where this goes. so that was special to have you there. And it was really special to have Jared Fly from Cancun to be there to even be at the wedding because that was not easy.

And it just meant a lot to see him. But yeah, so the wedding itself was wonderful at every level for us. I mean, it's such an amazing day full of celebration leading up to even the weekend ahead. We got to, you know, obviously have the rehearsal, which was beautiful. and so intimate. And then I got to have all of my buddies stay at the venue. There was a separate house at Cherokee Docks where we got married, where they got to stay with me and kind of celebrate with me and send me off well.

The venue was perfect. Cherokee Docks and just north of Nashville, Tennessee, was the best venue I could have thought of. And then the Jordan Khan Orchestra, well, the Taylor Pace band, was the band that played. and Taylor Pace and his crew, I mean, Ashley, come on. Are they not one of the best bands you've ever heard? We had Jordan Kahn.

You had Jordan Kahn, I know. Yeah, yeah. And they're both. They can't go wrong. Is incredible. Yes. They're amazing. They're not like your average wedding band.

Five hours people were dancing. But the ceremony, so the details of the ceremony were this. We had three officiants, each one of them from different stages in our life. Which I really liked in the way that you did it. really worked. It wasn't weird to have three different ones. Really? Good. Not at all. It was her family's pastor that started because we wanted her dad, Jay, to be able to send off Jessica to his friend, like standing up there. And then after that was a buddy of mine named Chad Brueggeman, who was a pastor out here in Denver for years. He no longer lives here, but he's stayed a tremendous

friend of mine. Then has had a huge impact in Jessica and I's relationship. And then the final one was Denny Wilson, who's from Warsaw, who was my pastor growing up, and also one of my parents' best friends. And so it worked. We didn't know if it would. We just knew we wanted them involved. And if it didn't work, it didn't work. But we wanted them all involved in it. And it did work. I was very composed, I thought, up until the moment where Jessica did her vows, and she ended it with a lifetime with you wouldn't be long enough. And I lost it. Like, it just, to have somebody look across at you and tell you that and mean it, I know from the depths of her soul is something so incredible. Like to have another human look at you and say, I love you and I like you so much that the rest of my life is not long enough with you.

Really like took my, like it took everything out of me. Like, it just did. It just sucked. Like, it was like I was fill, at that moment, I felt like I was, I was filling up with something brand new. I've loved her, and I've loved her for a long time. And I know she loved me. And, you know, we've been sharing life together for years now.

But there was something about that moment in particular that, that hit hard for me. It did. So then I did my vows. I was able to keep it together. I had written them, you know, off and on for last. couple months and they've changed a little bit as time's gone on and as different things have happened. But I really, in those, people at the wedding were like, how did you go about writing your vows? And really how I did it was this. I thought, okay, what does the, I wanted to write

it in three sections. What does the world think of Jessica? Like, how can I in this moment in front of so many friends and family tell her how she's seen and how people feel about her? and then also the next section was what does Jessica do for me as a man like what does she do for me in our partnership and the final was what are we going to do together and what can I do for her and I told her before the week before the wedding I'm not going to make many promises in my vows because I don't know if I'm going to keep all of them some of them I am but I'm not going to get up there and say hey I'm always going to be happy or hey I'm always going to stand by your side because I don't know I might get weak and fail and fail her at some level so I really wanted

communicate to her that I'm going to do my best to be her best partner possible, that I'm going to love her with everything I got, that, yeah, a lifetime with her is not long enough either. And it was special. The vows are something that I'll never forget, looking at her and be able to do that. And then looking out at the crowd and seeing people from the bachelor world, people from my childhood, people from my first job in Denver, family and friends, grandparents sitting out there in this beautiful tent that we got married in. I don't know, for those that get married or for those who have this moment, like it's something super sacred. And I think that's, I don't know, there's, there's, there's not many words

you can put behind that feeling of just being, feeling so supported. Yeah, I know. I know I've told you this, but it's like unfortunate that you'll never get all those people in a room together ever again. I know. I know. But that's why also we wanted them dancing and celebrating because if we're going to get them in one room once, we want them to celebrate. Like this is a celebration. We want to make that very clear. This is a great thing. This is not, you know, Jessica and I losing our lives. In fact, my freedoms and my ability to dream has gotten greater when Jessica's in my life. And I hope she would say the same thing. And so we wanted this to be a celebration because if you're

going to have everybody there once, let's make magic happen. And I'm, I'm telling you, Ashley can attest, for five hours people danced. Five hours straight, people were dancing and drinking and eating and celebrating. We didn't get to say hi to everybody. We definitely didn't get to have any intimate conversations with anybody there. But hopefully, as our life continues, those people will still be around for us to have those conversations with, just not in a room full of people that we would love to be talking to. So you had 400 people there.

You didn't get to say hi to everyone. and are you still happy that you had such a big wedding? I am. I am because there's still even people that I wish we could have invited that we didn't get to. Yeah. You know, I think there's pros and cons.

The cons are that, yeah, you don't, but even if we had 50 people there, we wouldn't be able to. I didn't. I mean, I had 185, and I didn't say hi to half of them because Jared and I did a thing where it was you go say hi to your side,

I'll say how to my side. If I haven't met the people on your side, today is not the day for me to meet them. It's not because it's hard to talk. It's hard to dig in because there's always somebody pulling you in a different direction too. And one thing I promised Jessica was if we had a big wedding, I would make sure that we got time to dance together. And so at some point in time, we said, we're going to go dance together. We're going to get up and just have fun.

We did. And so unfortunately, like, yeah, some people we didn't get to say hi to. But again, I hope that as life moves on now, outside the wedding, we see those people and we can talk to him about our wedding we can talk to him about life we can catch up with them um but yeah it didn't matter the size we weren't able to say hi to everybody anyways hey how about that garter toss talking about a moment that you guys had together on the dance floor was that good oh my gosh we didn't do that and it is it was so funny to watch it me me go up the dress like yeah like how did you feel doing that in front of everyone well jesskin

knew this um i wasn't like thrilled about it like i was just well i was nervous about you know it just looks funny like you're sticking your head on to do it for traditional sake well i i wanted to do it there wasn't that i just was like anxious about the idea of like hey i'm putting my head up her wedding dress in front of 400 of our friends and family like that's uh that's a very intimate moment and and so finally i just decided maybe it was like one one shot of tequila something. I just said, I'm just going to do it. Like, there's no, like, just go after it. And so I did. I went up and I grabbed it with my teeth because I've seen that done before. I've never been taught on how to do it. I ripped it off and then I flung it in the back. But yes, it feels weird.

Like, I mean, I don't know if I'll ever get to the age. My, you know, my parents are pretty open, like, about, like, their, like, romance. Like, they joke about it. They laugh about it. It's always been something I've grown up with. Like, they don't shy away from it. And so I, you know, I, I guess, am very comfortable, like, joking about it. that because you're married that happens yeah um but it i don't know if i ever get to the age where i feel super comfortable like with physical intimacy in front of friends and family like i just don't know like beyond like a little kiss like kissing yeah yeah like i'm not trying to get hot and heavy in a room full of people ever or talk in detail yeah parents yeah there's some

people who talk about sex with their parents so openly and i'm like i will never be like that just the fact that we talked about like conception in the day it may have happened was just far enough but i definitely am not as at all closed off as some of these guys on the bachelorette episode were which like they didn't talk they don't talk to their parents about romance or feelings at all no and i i mean that was shocking to me shocking i mean you know my parents to the extent to extent like my parents didn't know every day i had in college they didn't know every person that I've hung out with. They didn't know, you know, always,

even, like, some of my most massive, like, heartbreaks. You know, they were there for some of them, like, ironically, just, like, randomly in the same place as I was when I got them. And even then, you know, I didn't go into detail with them. But I mean, usually there's just, like, one or two people that I would. And your parents have this thing where, like, they're so protective of you.

Like, they're obviously going to choose your side in most things. Most parents would. that you know you want them to love on you you want them to be there um but like sharing the details of the good and the bad doesn't always feel helpful because they're going to come at it from one angle and that's you know in support of you and so yeah unless unless you're Jared they're like do you tell him how wonderful he is do you know how lucky you are Anyway, great. Let's get back to the wedding. Anything else about the wedding itself that you want to mention before we go on to more of the honeymoon portion?

Yeah, I mean, so one thing we did was a suggestion from everybody we talked to was, and this is for anybody out there, take a moment and look around. The ceremony is the best time to do it. Like take a breath, look around it, like take a moment and just soak in all. the eyes looking at you and all the souls and the people that are sitting in your audience. That's a big deal. We did that. Then after the ceremony, we did go and spend 15 to 20 minutes and we just ate together. Nothing else really happened. We just literally sat down and ate and had a drink and just were like, holy cow, it's happening. We're at our wedding. This is going on. And then we walked out into the reception and we danced. Jessica and I danced to a song by Cody Johnson called on my way to you.

And the whole reason we chose that is because if you listen to the words, it just talks about this guy who has this beautiful girl now in his life. And it tells the story of him, all the kisses he's had, all the heartbreaks he's had, all the people he's hurt, all the stupid things he's done have all led him to this amazing human. And that song felt like it matched us. Like, you know, Jessica is about his, she's just a great human. Like her scars and wounds that she's caused other people and herself are a lot less than mine. And somehow, you know, at the end of it all, I get to marry her.

And so that song really felt good to us, and it still feels great to us. We still dance to it. And it's always going to have a special place in our heart. So that was the wedding. And then after the wedding, we left on a pontoon. Yes. And it was amazing. Ashley, let me tell you this.

So it was a big deal for Jessica's mind. to get me a pontoon to leave from because I grew up on a lake and I just love the pontoon. So it's like 10.30 at night. We get in this pontoon. It's freezing. So we step back in the back with the two captains, Captain Trippy and Captain Jesse. And they really don't have any, they're great, like so nice, but they don't have any like sentiment for it being our wedding night. They're just like, they're talking to us about fishing. They're talking and they take a huge lap around the lake, like showing us all the different things of the lake, which was awesome. Jess is like I'm freezing

Can we get off of this? She's in her wedding dress Like looking so beautiful Sitting in the back of a pontoon With Trippy and Jesse And then Trippy and Jesse dropped us off back at the venue At the mansion

Because we actually stayed there Which nobody knew Because there was You know This mansion is Reba McIntyre's house Three years ago It's huge, beautiful And so we actually stayed

in Reba's master bedroom Oh my God How cool! That was so cool. That was like the one thing I was curious about. I was like, what's in that house though? I want to see inside the house. Okay, so you guys say that there was like your honeymoon suite.

That's so cool. The house is insane. Movie theater, arcade, weightlifting room, three-story closet that has like the dry cleaner machine going up it. Three-story closet. Yes. Yeah, leading up to her master bedroom, like insane stuff, Ash. But it's just a venue now.

Yeah, just a venue. Nobody's home. Not a venue, but if anybody's getting married, just a venue, but if anybody's getting married in Nashville, I'm telling you, this place is legit. It was. All right. So before we get into part two of the wedding festivities, let's take a quick break and let anticipation linger.

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This season, we're going even deeper into the world of music and entertainment with raw and honest conversations with some of your favorite Latin artists and celebrities. You didn't have to audition? No, I didn't audition. I haven't audition in, like, over 25 years. Oh, wow.

That's a real G-talk right there. Oh, yeah. We've got some of the biggest actors, musicians, content creators, and culture shifters sharing their real stories of failure and success. You were destined to be a start. We talk all about what's viral and trending

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you know what I'm me? Yeah. But the whole pretending and code, you know, It takes a toll on you. Listen to the new season of Grasas Has Come Again as part of My Cultura Podcast Network on the IHartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Okay. So, wedding night. Eustin and I debated it a little, well, we didn't really debate it. We, like, wondered. We pondered.

Okay. Because 50% of couples don't really do anything on their wedding night because, like, they're so tired. Really? Um, this is like a real stat or I remember this stat. Um, I of course had to be traditional about it. I was like, I don't care how tired or like, you know, whatever. Yeah, whatever's happening. You know what I mean?

So, um, I'm not going to ask you blatantly, but I'll say when you guys got back to your room, did you sleep or like did it take a while to sleep? I don't know if you could ever say it takes a while. um but uh no we didn't actually after three something years three years um no we didn't sleep um but it was really fun like we had a so this is what happened uh we went back um went upstairs uh and then um we weren't tired yet like our adrenaline was so high well there's that too that's why like i don't really know if i buy the whole like your tired thing if you're tired then maybe you like went to like an after party with like friends and you got back at three i don't know but i i

did not feel tired no did you notice that we closed our wedding down at 1030 because jessica and i were like i don't care if it's our wedding or not when 11 o'clock rolls around we're done with the day oh totally i mean you and i have similar mentalities on that i think jared and i were out because it was like 1130 but i was like i'm not hanging out with anybody afterward it is a is our wedding night Yeah, that's, and we, oh, yeah. You're going to carry me across the threshold. Did you carry her? I did carry her.

I actually carried it upstairs. I did do it. That's good of me. And I had a bad knee. Actually, I didn't carry up the stairs. You carried her with the knee. I carried her in the bedroom, picked her up. She's light as a feather, though.

Yeah, she's a tiny little girl. And then we went down to the kitchen because here's the dream ash. So once everything was done, we went downstairs and the catering company had filled up the refrigerator. in the house with all of the leftover pizza and cheeseburgers not knowing and so jessica and i loaded up we we microwaved everything available we opened up another bottle of wine had a drink um and just sat in this massive house with just the two of us and we're like we're married and like we're a couple and now we're connected in a way we haven't ever been and it was just really like it was a really fun

evening and we stayed up probably till 1.30 talking and eating and drinking and laughing. But yeah, it was a special night. I would say I'm shocked that 50% of the couples go to bed. I want to look back on our wedding night and at least like have it as a marker for our relationship. But also I'd recommend doing something fun too. Like without, you know, if you can get away from the crowds for a bit, like just like us eating at that kitchen table together afterwards, we'll be something we remember forever, like forever and ever. Yeah. Oh, okay, so then you left for your honeymoon to St. Barts. Yep. How, wait, you say St. Barts, not St. Barth's. It's St. Bartholomey is the island. It's best known as St. Barts, but I'm sure people out there are like St. Bartholome. So we ended up

going back to her parents' house the next day. So we helped load up the cars. Her family had stayed up near the venue that night and then we went back to her house and my parents and her extended family because she has an Italian family that's massive. We all had like a late brunch at her parents' house and then just watch football. I was exhausted. Oh, that's nice. And we, you know, we got our COVID test done that day for our flight the next day. And then we went to bed early and we rested because we had an early flight. We left at like 6 o'clock in the morning out of Nashville to go to St. Barts and start a honeymoon, which Ashley, I'm telling you, St. Barts is unlike any island in the Caribbean. So, you know, most of the time you go to a Caribbean island. And some of the

stuff I love most about a Caribbean island is you go and you get a cheeseburger and a fish sandwich and you sit on the beach. Well, St. Barts is set up to be like this very fancy place with like Michelin Star restaurants, five star resorts, huge houses. That's why you always hear all these celebrities going to St. Bart's. I mean, it's so different. But my favorite part of the honeymoon outside of the obvious was

Was there like supposed to be a wink there? Nice wink. Was we stayed at a resort called La Bartholomey and it was this beautiful little resort only like 50 rooms. We had a little private pool. You walk right of our room onto the beach and the

sea turtles were in the bay that our resort was on. And so every day I got to snorkel with sea turtles. Aw, that's so cool. It was so magical. Jessica and I went out snorkeling one day. We saw five sea turtles, and I promise you, one of them looked at us and waved. I promise you that.

Oh, so finding Nemo. Yeah. What was up with that burger with, like, the most massive amount of cheese I've ever seen? Yeah. So one of the things you'll find out in St. Bart's is there's nothing, nothing comes cheap. And so this burger was like $38. You know, it's our honeymoon, so what are you going to do? Yeah, you didn't think about it.

Yeah, but we, this was at the resort. Labartholome had this burger. And it was, it's like known for this like foamy beer cheese, jalapeno cheese, just like soaking over the burger. And I'm telling you it was good. And like, especially on your honeymoon after you've, I guess I didn't watch my weight or, you know, work out as much because my knee. but like you know jesska was very very strict on her diet and her exercise plan and she hadn't

drank for two months before the wedding uh so like her devouring a cheeseburger was like heaven for my eyes like that's all i want to see um but we we just toured the island we hiked a lot uh we we took uh we went out to incredible dinners every night uh we you guys hung out at the same same bar every night every night we went back to law bartholamine had an espresso martini one of the night we went to an italian restaurant here's a good story and jessica uh who is so tiny and that can't handle much alcohol we had martinies and we shared a bottle of wine and she went back and we got an espresso martini and i have a video she threw out she she didn't she didn't feel well let's say that yeah um but she got but it was

it was like you know i've never seen her do that before my life um but there was something about the honeymoon whereas like we just wanted to like have no worries like we just and like it was all in good fun and yeah she she felt awful but I have these videos in my phone and we have this

like we have these memories now I don't know Ash there's something there's something really cool about being married and now having marriage memories. Does it feel different? Everybody kept saying does it feel different? It feels different. It does. We spend a ton of time together in Denver

Probably every day of our lives If I'm not traveling And there's something about now that feels different And this is how I explained it to somebody Before when we're engaged There's something in my mind that was always saying Like I'm planning this Or she's planning this because we're engaged

And now anything we do that's big We're doing it together as a married couple Like I'm not thinking five years down the road now I guess I had a little bit of this when we were engaged. But now when I think five years down the road, I know she's going to be there. Like, I know she's going to be my side. Like, we are in it.

And so we're making these decisions together. We're going through life together. We're living together and frolicing together. And, you know, when I go on vacation, now I want her there because I want my friend there. I want my lover there. Like, I want her with me. And so it does feel different.

and you know and I think it always will speaking about living together were you still you were not living in that house that you're recording from technically were you often on at the end of it so I had I've had renters come into my other house and so I had to pick up and go but I wasn't home so for the last you know really after my surgery we had my parents out here. And then Jessica was gone. She was in Nashville pretty much preparing for this wedding. So not really, but kind of. If we're like, hey, we'd never like, I never was like living at this house. I got most of my stuff here, all of my stuff here, I guess, because the renters had moved in. So yeah, pretty much. I can't, I can't say it wasn't like a, it was a slow transition,

but it was necessary. I don't know what else we could have done. as we were like leaving for the last three weeks just you know with two mortgages so yeah we had to okay my last question yeah do you have any like post wedding post honeymoon depression about it all being over yeah I do um I do I it would be great if we could have that all the time and I want people that came there to our wedding to know just how much it meant to us and we talk about it still every night and it's weird that it's over um because there's so much prep and planning going on yeah i would say 100% i didn't think i would i was really thinking that like i wanted jessica to have the most beautiful wedding of her life

but i ended up having some of the most fun of my life and so yeah i'm sad that that night is over yeah well yeah i am when i say that like you live through memories like you really do yeah like sometimes i can just like almost feel like i'm there again and you'll look at pictures and videos and all that obviously it's not the same but it's not the same it's one of the most vivid memories you'll ever have i would i would i would have to say it is at this point it always will be but then even this ash um and we can close up here because we talked a lot about me and jess and i um you know we just decorated our christmas tree we didn't got a christmas tree oh i did want to talk about that yeah for the our first one ever we never did it when we were dating um because we

weren't in the same place. So we went down. We got a permit. State of Colorado gives these permits out to go into like over, you know, tree populated areas and cut down a tree because it helps deforestation and it helps wildfires. So we did that. We got really overzealous. We picked a massive tree that I'm looking at right now, not on purpose, just because it was beautiful. And then we've decorated the last two nights. And I put Christmas lights out around our house. I've never done that my life. And so I, you know, I'm feeling very married. Oh, that's like such a nice, cool time to get married. Such a cozy time of year. It is. It is. But there is one story that I'd like to share that nobody knows yet. Oh, okay. Go for it. I'm currently struggling with it. Struggling.

Yeah. And if any people listening have ever done this and I have any advice for me, please write us it would mean a lot on our honeymoon we were snorkeling one day and i got caught in a shallow area and stepped on a sea urchin and it is in my foot still i wish i could show you it um there's like probably 10 different spikes in my big toe and in my foot and it's getting really swollen and i can't tell if they're like pushing out and like trying to leave my body or if they're just getting like infected but they hurt like the dickens and um i need advice on how to get them out they don't even look like splinters or anything like they look like you have a little bit maybe a little bruising yeah it's like bruising and you but you can see dots where like you can see

where where they're at but it's like so swollen around there so that didn't ruin our trip but it definitely didn't help the hiking which we really wanted to do and like all of that stuff i we fought through it. But yeah, if anybody has any advice on what you can do, that would be really helpful. I mean, should you go to the doctor? I don't know. Well, that could be good advice. I don't know that doctors, like, really know.

Yeah, I was going to say. See, urgence. That would be nice. Yeah, maybe that's the advice we'll get, we'll go to the doctor. Well, hey, pictures will be posted to the wedding. They're not done yet. Obviously, they're getting edited on that stuff. I'll start posting on social media.

So for anybody watching, we'll share some with the almost famous. family. It's been super fun leading up to this wedding. We're now married. Jessica and I are very happy, and we're very excited to be back. I've missed the podcast. I don't like getting on Instagram and seeing new faces. I mean, it's been a lot of new faces. I've been gone a lot. And so we're back, better than ever, ready to break down this week's episode of the Bachelorette right after take a break. 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 podcasts.

Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports. 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 it in my eyes closed.

I'm Mani. I'm Noah. This is Devin. 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. See? 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... High Heart Radio app, search emergency intercom, and listen now. Hi, I'm Janica Lopez, and in the new season of the Overcover podcast, I'm taking you on an exciting journey of self-reflection. 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? I wanted to be successful on my own, not just because of who my mom is. Like, I felt like I needed to be better or work twice as hard as she did.

Join me for conversations about healing and growth. Life is freaking hard. And growth doesn't happen in comfort. It happens in motion, even when you're hurting. All from one of my favorite spaces, The Kitchen. Honestly, these are going to come out so freaking amazing. Be a part of my new chapter and listen to the new season of the Overcomfit podcast as part of the MyCultura podcast network on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast.

The Super Secret Bestie Club podcast season four is here. And we're locked in. That means more juicy cheesement. Terrible love advice. Evil spells to cast on your ex. No, no, no, no, we're not doing that this season. Oh. Well, this season, we're leveling up.

Each episode will feature a special bestie, and you're not going to want to miss it. Get in here. Today we have a very special guest with us. Our new Super Secret Bestie is The Diva of the People. The Diva of the People. I'm just like text your ex. My theory is that if you need to figure out that the stove is hot, go and touch it. Go and figure it out for yourself.

Okay. That's us. That's us. My name is Curley. And I'm Maya. In each episode, we'll talk about love, friendship, heart breaks, men, and of course, our favorite secrets. Listen to the Super Secret Bestie Club as a part of the Michael Thura podcast network available on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

We're here with episode seven of Michelle's season of The Bachelorette. We are down to hometowns, which we say every year, but a little interesting nugget, just for those who haven't been listening. When you get to hometowns, you're actually halfway through the recording of the season. And so the final four actually get a lot of time. Like a month. A month with the lead. where before, you know, you're filtering through.

So for us, we're like this episode, 7, it feels like it's moving so fast. Well, now it slows down when you're within it. And so when you see relationships really start to get stronger after hometowns, there's a reason why you're spending a few days a week with them. You're going on a bunch of dates with all these people. But we're down to hometowns, and Michelle kicks it off with Ashley, take it away. Brandon's hometown, he wants to bring back. Portland to Michelle.

He's just lived there his whole life, 27 years. And she, he takes her to a skateboard rink. Wants to get her out of her comfort zone. He loves skateboarding. It's, there's like nothing to say about it. It's cute. It's fun. But the important part is that she gets to meet his family later on that night.

And she meets his brother who ends up delaying his, his, like, deployment. with the Navy, uh, just to meet Michelle. And then his mom and his dad. And keep in mind that Michelle did meet, uh, that, that Brandon did get to meet Michelle's parents last week. And she said she, he passed that test with flying color. So she was kind of nervous about doing the same with his family. There wasn't like a ton of depth to the conversations. I'd say that, um, Michelle loved the fact that she's going to take on his dad in basketball. It was fun to be able to talk about something lighthearted like that. And then Brandon said to his mom that Michelle is one of the strongest women he's ever met.

So like anything that, anything that stood out to you here? I mean, I think what stood out to me was, and maybe it was just me, and you can disagree with me. I saw a new side of Brandon during this date. like he felt a lot more relaxed a lot less let's say polished like he was he was maybe just even how he was articulated himself like he was just joking around he wasn't you know fumbling for words he was just kind of having a good time with her and i and i did see that change outside of that and his comfortability with her um no i don't think there was anything mind boggling i don't think there was anything that stood out.

I do think if I was to rank her connection with the parents, this would be probably the second best connection with the parents out of any of them. I felt like it wasn't bad. It wasn't good. But I do feel like the parents during this segment or this episode of this year were just a lot more hesitant than most years. Like you didn't have your bachelor super fan. like parent that was like oh my gosh i'm so nervous like all the parents felt comfortable

i mean just to be themselves and they weren't pushing anything too hard and they were mostly worried about their sons they were all kind of even killed they all kind of blend in together i'm going to be honest because nobody really made a big stink there's no one where you're like oh man i don't want that to be my mother-in-law or father-in-law or anything like that nobody overly intimidating the biggest standout comment or conversation was probably Nate's dad, stepdad, saying that he was probably not ready for an engagement. But we'll get that. We'll get down there. That was a big hometown. There's a lot there in that meeting between the two of them to talk about. Most things to say about this episode, I think, fall into that last fourth. Definitely. Yeah. So up next,

we had Rodney's hometown date. Rodney is somebody that it feels like a lot of people in America fall in love with. It's obvious why he's been very nice, very charming, very sweet. He's felt like the underdog all season, even though none of us here believed he was. Ashley, though, when it comes to his hometown date, as we later find out, it just didn't hit.

And why do you believe that? I think it was just that romantic connection, not necessarily being there fully. she definitely liked him as a best friend definitely like laughing with him she brought that up on multiple occasions but I just feel like the romance wasn't necessarily there for her

and it was really funny because this was one of those times, rare times where like I actually think that that last scene behind the credits was very telling and it wasn't just a joking scene it was written all over her face

to me that she was over it when he couldn't get the lines down for their little chef show. Yeah. Their food show. You can see like frustration where I think that if you really were into the person, you'd be cracking up alongside with them. But she was like, no.

Like I want to get this done. Yeah. There was like, uh, and she was like irritated. And trust me, Jessica gets irritated with me, but. Oh, and Jared has had moments. Oh, me recording an Insta story, an ad on Instagram. Are you kidding me? like are you have done that 15 times it's not cute anymore but at this stage in the relationship

probably should maybe still be cute it definitely should be I do think it was telling you're right the the romantic connection just wasn't there however I do believe Rodney still belong in the top four uh huh I do believe that he made progress Michelle and Roddy made progress in their relationship. She felt very excited to see him, but it is interesting. Like, during your hometown dates, you have to start asking yourself that question of, like, who could I possibly get engaged to? Or who do I want to leave this whole thing with? Might be the better way to say that. And when you start asking yourself those questions in the midst of these dates, there is a, there is a little bit more of a heaviness to it. And maybe when she started asking that sitting across from

Rodney, she said, just like, no, but this isn't it. Like, this isn't my guy. And maybe she felt that way about somebody else here. But for Rodney, it was enough for him to end up going home. But his hometown date was fine. It was fun. I think that, you know, Rodney is such as lovable, warm character.

I don't know exactly where that came from because I expected his family to be very, like, loud and boisterous and, like, huggy and loving. I didn't feel like that as much Yeah But it was another kind of fine hometown date And nothing stood out to me Nope I agree All right

So let's move on to Joe's Which I feel like I have a little bit more to say Just because there was such a lack of conversation It was silly The producers must have been like If that's what the producers were able to get out of them They must have been Struggle Bussing for the couple

hours that they were sitting down there, just because the guys and the family seemed so shy. Well, or do you just think it was lack of interest, confusion? Like, where do you think that was coming from? No, I think with Joe's family, it was shyness. Like, Joe even said, like, you'll hit it off with Hannah. And Hannah was definitely needed. That's the sister-in-law. It was definitely needed there for commentary reasons because the brother and the dad just had nothing to contribute. And I don't think that that was in a in a I don't care about

this type of way. I think it was really like, oh my gosh, there are so many cameras and lights I'm frozen. And plus I'm talking about emotions and my son's romantic life. This is like all a bit out of my comfort zone. Isn't this the day, isn't Joe and his dad

when he asked his dad, dad, dad, do you have anything else? Yeah. And he's like, nope. I'm good. No. He goes, nope. He was like, no, you have to have more questions. He goes, Yeah. No. I thought I was hilarious.

Maybe I have questions, but I'm not asking them here. And you've never, I don't think you've ever met somebody so not nervous about like how they're going to look. Like he wasn't mean. It wasn't like he was going to come off as like a villain or like the, the parent that like ends up starting a podcast afterwards because they make a name for themselves. He just was like, I'm good. Like I'm fine here.

Like I showed up. That's all I need to do. I've said hi to you. I love your son. but this is it. Totally. All right, well, to reverse the timeline, they also end up going to prom on this date.

There's like a lot of prom themes going on lately, I feel like. But this one was kind of cute because they are from the same city and Joe never went to prom. And he remembered from the letter that Michelle shared or the poem, whatever it was, that she was picked last for prom, which that's just, you know, mind-blowing. um but that was cute that was a cute little thing to do what does that mean to be picked last for prom i didn't really think about like you weren't picked weird it sounds like she made it a sport

but really it just means that like i guess a lot of people were being asked and then it was kind of got down to oh there's only a few more girls left to ask i'll ask her okay that makes sense but yeah it does i mean that's yeah maybe i'm confused because it's shocking that michelle wouldn't be asked to prom and then also you know i don't remember like the the timeline of prom but i never remember who was pick last or first or i just thought people asked each other and then you show up to this big room and everybody's there i am um actually there's an infatuation right now that the bachelor has and the bachelorette has food tasting well no with high school thing in high school yeah and like high school's a great time uh huge impact in our lives

but but but is it is it that big of a deal to where like i mean every we've seen it multiple times now the prom the high school thing like you know jo's walking around being that's where i went to biology at and stuff it's like that's cool but it's high school like legit so glad you said this because it is always fun to go back to your high school and reminisce and be like, look through the window. And be like, oh, my God, my classroom looks so much different. Now I can't believe what they've done and the smell of the hallways and all that stuff.

But it's only cool and nostalgic for you. Your spouse doesn't give a crap. Like, I took Jared to my high school during COVID because he wanted to run around the track. And I'm thinking and reminiscing and this is where I did that and it's sort of that. It's like, cool, sweet, nice. And he does kind of the same thing with me.

Yeah. But it's just like you're never going to understand what it feels like for the other person. Be a weird date. Like it's just an odd day. I took Jessica to my old office up here in Colorado a couple weeks ago. I was so excited. We drove over and it's empty right now. The office is empty.

So we were looking through the windows. And I was like, that's where I did that. And that's that. And that was, you know, Tyson's old desk. And there was Adam's old desk. and Dylan's old desk. And I could tell, she was just like, that's awesome. I have no clue.

You have nothing else to say. Yeah, I have no clue what that means. Like, that sounds great, Ben. Good job. Yeah. 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 IHart Women's Sports. 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.

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. 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. Do this, pull that, turn this. It's just, I can do it my eyes close.

I'm Manny. I'm Noah. This is Devin. 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. Hey, sis, what if I could promise you you never had to listen to a condescending finance, bro,

tell you how to manage your money again. Welcome to Brown Ambition. This is the hard part when you pay down those credit cards. If you haven't gotten to the bottom of why you were racking up credit or turning to credit cards, you may just recreate the same problem a year from now. When you do feel like you are bleeding from these high interest rates, I would start shopping for a debt consolidation loan, starting with your local credit union, shopping around online, looking for some online lenders because they tend to have fewer fees and be more affordable. Listen, I am not here to judge. It is so expensive in these streets.

I 100% can see how in just a few months you can have this much credit card debt when it weighs on you. It's really easy to just, like, stick your head in the sand. It's nice and dark in the sand. Even if it's scary, it's not going to go away just because you're avoiding it. And in fact, it may get even worse. For more judgment-free money advice, listen to Brown Ambition on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Hola, it's Honey German. And my podcast, Grasasas Come Again, is back.

This season, we're going even deeper into the world of music and entertainment with raw and honest conversations with some of your favorite Latin artists and celebrities. You didn't have to audition. No, I didn't audition. I haven't auditioned in like over 25 years. Oh, wow. That's a real G-talk right there. Oh, yeah. We've got some of the biggest actors, musicians,

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or wherever you get your podcast. But Joe's date, did, I did feel like, for whatever reason, I could tell during that day that Joe and Michelle have something special. She, even in the words that she used to explain him to her, to his family, I can tell that Joe at that moment, I was going to be a shocking exit if he was released on this episode. I just didn't see it happening because I felt like they do have something good going. There's a lot of depth there. And it feels like, even kind of based on their history of chatting a little bit. There obviously is a lot of intrigue still. But that's how I'm going to

describe their relationship. Is it still at a level of intrigue? That it's not quite to where I feel like in two weeks we're going to watch them get engaged. They might leave this thing together, which would be awesome. But I still think it's a lot of curiosity and not as much the love and the connection that sometimes we see on hometowns for our couples that were like, oh, this is it. But that's kind of how I feel about all of these guys. Like, she keeps talking about how her connection to them, she, like, wishes that she had one connection,

but now she's blessed with four. And I'm like, yeah, you might have four connections, but, like, do you have, like, four people you can imagine yourself being engaged to you, let alone one? I mean, she says yes. I don't feel it through the TV, but then again, it's just through the TV. So I, yeah, I mean, if I would say right now, which guys are most into her, I would say Brandon.

I would say Nate than Brandon, but you would say Brandon than Nate, right? I'd say Brandon and then Nate. So I think that I think, I think Nate is into her and I think she's into him. But he also is like the one that I would worry the most about it lasting long term with. I get that. Well, yeah, mostly and we can jump into it now. It's Nate's hometown day. I mean, that's where this, that's where that, you know, comes from,

where you worried about it lasting long time, any amount of time with, because his family is nervous about the same thing that they don't know if Nate is ready. But Nate starts this day out by wanting to bring a piece of Austin to Minnesota. And so they paddle board like they would in Austin. It's a very popular thing there that they, you know, kind of had a little picnic like they would at Zucker Park. when Michelle during this little picnic time starts asking Nate who am I meeting and what's it going to be like

you can tell that the emotional openness of Nate and this family is not there that's not even a bad thing they just don't have that type of relationship but you can tell it then and that's like okay

because there's lots of families like that I don't come from a family like that I can't imagine having not said I love you and not talking about emotions and, like, difficulties and all that. But it still seems like they're close despite that. Yes, close. That was the vibe that I got. So just this date, I just felt like it was really productive for him.

I think she kind of said the same thing. Like, even if they don't end up together, this was like a moment that is so important that he had, that he had in his life. Yeah. To be able to say, I love you to his step. dad for the first time did his dad say it back they didn't show it but he said that he did okay so i guess um yeah yeah and i think that he was most emotional about the family dynamic as well throughout the night and less and it was like michelle was a side note which again i think is totally okay in the situation yeah it's a lot for your family to go into uh and when there are you know

when you're being asked to sit your family down and tell them about stuff that you've never talked to him before in this environment with cameras, with people. I could see where Nate's mind would go, I have to work on this stuff and in order to get to a place where they even can get to know Michelle

and know Michelle and I's relationship. Yeah, but Michelle definitely left this date with worries, concerns about his readiness. Yeah. Well, mostly because, his family told her like straight upset it yeah like you should be worried about this like i don't know if he's ready now it's not necessarily a relationship thing just because he's never had a relationship or brought a girl home before i don't think that's a red flag she said that she said that's a red flag

but like it's that's debatable did jess ever have a serious relationship before you yeah i didn't think so not like no not a real serious one i think her parents had met a few of the people but like she was known she always will say like she was the one date wonder like she went on one date and was done and so no she didn't um yeah but that wasn't a red flag because like you knew because she knew herself so well and her family like she was so comfortable with intimacy and all that yeah definitely it wasn't a red flag i mean there was things like even when her dating she just didn't know like how to progress in the dating world which was fine i used to be like that i was like so what's the next step Yeah.

So then like your boyfriend and girlfriend, and it's like, what do you do? Yeah. How do you find things to talk about? Yeah. That's a real thing. Yeah. It comes naturally, even though you have no idea that it's going to come naturally. No.

So I don't think that's a real. I think from all of this, I am most nervous about Nate because of it felt like his family trying to say it without fully saying it as a long-term relationship. We don't know if he's ready. Not because he hasn't had one, but because of just who he is right now in his life. We don't know if he's ready. And that was what worried me most. Yeah.

All right. Well, we'll see. They definitely built it up as if he was going to be on the chopping block. But that is not what happened. He got called second. He got called second, which I don't put too much weight. into but ended up Rodney's going home and Rodney was sent home in an emotional exit one that felt like he was upset and he was hurt he cared a lot about Michelle this had to be a great

experience for him as we said a month ago what our hope was that he would realize he's not the underdog and that he would get some confidence from this thing because I do believe he felt that way and that he would grow and we'd watch it on television I think we did I think we saw Rodney grow into a very confident, which he should be, person from the time that he admitted that he didn't feel like he belonged there to the time he got released. Yeah. Yeah. He should definitely. He's going to be one of those people that leaves the show building confidence. And that's going to help him in his dating life. Yeah. We're going to see him thrive. And at least we hope so. So the sneak peek. The mental all is next. Um,

We got to see some guys who caused some controversy during the season come back to the mental all. The Bachelor is returning with Clayton. We get a little preview. Have they announced this yet, though, outside of this? No. I mean, yes, maybe. I have no idea.

I have not seen official announcement that Clayton is the Bachelor. I mean, I don't know if they're just not going to or what, but I haven't seen it yet. He still looks super undynamic during his season, but I do. Do you have faith that the girls will carry it? We got some inside information that this season's really good. Yes. I don't know if it's ever going to be said that it's not good. But we do hear that it's good.

I don't think, I mean, from Fan Affair, I don't think people are thrilled. I don't think it's because Clayton's a bad dude. I don't think it's because I'm not going to really enjoy talking about this podcast. But it's just because I don't think he shined in a captivating way during his time. I'm on The Bachelorette. Like he didn't have his one moment even, his one Bachelor. They tried with his exit. They tried.

They tried. And it still didn't feel genuine to me because I knew that they had to do it. Yeah. I mean, it was like. I even got a DM from somebody who's a listener of the podcast and said, do you think that possibly they recorded that segment after they named him the Bachelor? Maybe. I mean, they had to go.

They had to really, really fight for this one because he just didn't have his one moment where other guys did this season. They had their one moment that would stand out. He didn't have it. And I think the fans are confused at how he was chosen so easily, but we're gonna wait and watch.

I'm just hoping it's a good season. The Bachelor needs a good season. It needs a captivating season. It needs one that we can get into. I'm hoping it's it. We're gonna hold our breath. for that, because we hope for it. But that is this week's episode.

Next week, we're down to the final three of Michelle's season. It's Nate, it's Brandon, and it's Joe. Three people that are not shocking to us that are still around. It was fairly expected. But now it gets really interesting, because I don't know if I could rank them, but if you had to, Ashley, what is your ranking of the person that you believe will win this thing

and be with Michelle in the end? Do you know, it's so weird. What? I have changed my ranking. Brandon is number one to me now. Okay. I feel like she's most in all with him. Yeah.

And I think he's most in all with her. That would be nice. And then I think Nate is second and then Joe is third. And I thought that based on last week, Joe may have been more like second. What about you? I would go, I'd still go Joe.

Then I'd go Brandon. and I would go to Nate. I thought Nate's hometown. Wait, wait, wait. So what's the rank? Brandon, then Joe. Brandon number one. Sorry, Joe, number one.

Okay. Really? So my number three and you're number one. Yeah. Okay. I just feel like there's something really strong there. I don't know if it's like perfected and that we can, I just feel like there's something really strong there.

And I think they both want each other, which I think helps. I don't get that feeling as much for the other guy. So then Brandon number two and Nate number three. So it's Joe Brandon, Nate, for me. Okay. We'll see how it goes. And like I told the audience last week, we are unspoiled, and it is fun to be unspoiled. I haven't been spoiled in a long time.

Exactly. This is a couple seasons in a row now, and it's really nice. It is fun. Well, let's take a break. We come back. We'll have Bachelor headlines, and there are a lot of them this week. 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 podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of I heart women's sports. 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 IHeart Radio app.

Search Emergency Intercom. 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, 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 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. The Super Secret Bestie Club podcast season four is here. And we're locked in. That means more juicy cheesement. Terrible love advice.

Evil spells to cast on your ex. No, no, no, no. We're not doing that this season. Oh. Well, this season, we're leveling up. Each episode will feature a special bestie, and you're not going to want to miss it. Get in here. Today we have a very special guest with us.

Our new Super Secret Bestie is The Diva of the People. The Diva of the People. I'm just like text your ex. My theory is that if you need to figure out that the stove is hot, go and touch it. Go and figure it out for yourself. Okay. That's us.

That's us. My name is Curley. And I'm Maya. In each episode, we'll talk about love, friendship, heartbreaks, men, and of course, our favorite secrets. Listen to the Super Secret Bestie Club as a part of the Michael Tura podcast network available on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast.

Hey, sis, what if I could promise you you never had to listen to a condescending finance, bro, tell you how to manage your money again. Welcome to Brown Ambition. This is the hard part when you pay down those credit cards. If you haven't gotten to the bottom of why you were racking up credit or turning to credit cards, you may just recreate the same problem a year from now. When you do feel like you are bleeding from these high interest rates, I would start shopping for a debt consolidation loan, starting with your local credit union, shopping around online, looking for some online. online lenders because they tend to have fewer fees and be more affordable. Listen, I am not here to judge. It is so expensive in these streets. I 100% can see how in just a few months you can have this much credit card debt when it weighs on you. It's really easy to just like stick

your head in the sand. It's nice and dark in the sand. Even if it's scary, it's not going to go away just because you're avoiding it. And in fact, it may get even worse. For more judgment-free money advice, listen to Brown Ambition on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your First headline of this week with our resident expert, Ashley I. Canetti. Blake Moynes gives super honest answer about whether he'd be The Bachelor. This according to us weekly. I don't believe his answer for a smidget. When asked about being The Bachelor, he said no.

He said, I am in no way prepared. pair to go through meeting 30 women, especially after all of that, referring to what he has just been through with Katie. He goes, my ego is hurt right now. I feel like an idiot with how things played out when you're so sure about something and you feel like you found your rock and all the sudden to be able to turn that rock and try to find another one within a time frame that we have on The Bachelorette. No. He also a sort of also tells us weekly that he was blindsided to find out that Katie had already moved on to another relationship, which we will talk about in a minute with this guy, John. John Hersey.

Now, okay, so we're getting a little detail now. This interview, when Blake said, no, he would not be the bachelor, was recorded or at least released on November 24th. So this was obviously obviously once Katie had kind of put the stuff with John out there it's making me feel like especially reading these quotes from Blake that he was the one broken up with do you feel like this was a mutual breakup now

because I think like if you were to ask me in October I was like yeah sure but now I mean there's so much speculation as to what's going on there were pictures of Blake and Katie in the back of an airplane, a little prop plane, that John was flying with another girl. Like, they were on a double date together, and then all of a sudden...

Thanks, Switch. Yeah. I'm not accusing Katie at all of cheating, and we do have a headline about this in a little bit. That's where I'm going to jump to is right now. This goes into this next headline. Blake Moyne's mom is out here liking Instagram comments about Katie Thurston's alleged deception, this according to Cosmo. So this is the headline that Blake Moyne's mom is liking Instagram comments about Katie Thurston's alleged deception.

First off, I'm not a fan of that. Like, that's not okay. Yeah. But that is the headline and it is happening. Okay, so this is one of the comments that she liked. Nah, this is terrible on Katie's part. I truly feel sorry for Blake in any relationship. You put a sense of trust in one another, especially in long.

distance relationships. There's no denying the dishonesty and deception for months upon months. And I think this fan is saying this because Katie was so open about her friendship with John and how much she was hanging out with him. They also both unfollowed each other. Again, sources saying that Blake felt blindsided. Yeah. So the deception part is probably that Katie had a relationship with John that was like deeper and less friendly perhaps or was evolving into something that was less friendly while being with Blake because the timeline between the announcement of their breakup and the announcement of this relationship was so short. And hey, we've talked about it before, Ashley, how soon is too soon to move on? There's no good answer to that. There is no good answer to that. I would say what is like, you know, usually happens. It's a few months, a few weeks, whatever.

But at the same time, if this John guy and Katie end up in love and get married, then like, yeah, unfortunate for Blake. But is it wrong? As long as there wasn't cheating going on. In my point of view, no, it would be okay. As long as it wasn't cheating, cheating. as long as long as there wasn't cheating as long as they were actually truly strictly friends until until that breakup happened and that could be 1,000% possible it could be well it's a messy situation obviously bachelor nation breakups are never fun and katy you know has kind of been all over the place uh with this whole thing and then posting about with the taylor swift stuff so the taylor swift stuff should i break that down a little bit bit. Yeah, go ahead, because it brings attention to kind of her strategy as this breakup happened.

It definitely didn't go with, you know, when I had my breakup, the strategy was, I'm going to stay quiet. We're both going to stay quiet, right? You know, she moved on fast, or fast, I guess, she moved on faster than I did. And that hurts, but, you know, you can't be mad about it. Like, it just happens. Like, you find somebody else and you try your best to move on. But we stayed quiet because we thought that was, like, the best thing. Katie hasn't gone with that strategy. good, bad, or indifferent? So Katie did this thing that we did talk about last week, but I didn't have a great grasp on it

because she wasn't saving these stories to her, like, bio, if you know what I mean? Like, so once they were done, they were done. So I didn't see them all in consecutive order, but now I have. So she has this thing called 12 Days of Messi, and she basically used a different song from Taylor Swift's Red album

to, in a way, dedicate, to different guys, most of them public exes. I think they might all be public exes. So the first day was day one. It was Blake and the song was, we are never getting back together. Okay, that's pretty blatantly obvious what she was trying to say there.

Feels heavy, feels hard. Yeah, that sounds harsh as if like he did something wrong, right? And maybe he did. We don't know, but yeah, it definitely feels that way. Like, it doesn't feel like kind. yeah okay so then number two is andrew she's referring to andrew from her season and the song is run and the basically i'm i don't not this is a new one so i'm not exactly sure lyrically what it

what it is but i do believe that's like if you were to like call me back right now like i would go for it you know we can do this all over again and then she posted a picture along with it with the note that she gave to Andrew saying, if you change your mind, I'll be waiting. Oh, that was what Andrew gave to her on his season. Which timeout? Doesn't that feel weird considering she's at this point? With somebody else?

Yeah, okay, I'm just wondering. That is weird. All right, I'm just wondering. Okay. Day number three is Girl at Home, and that is dedicated to Aaron and James. Girl at Home is the song, I know you have Girl at Home.

Basically, it's about, like, I'm not going to date you because I know you have a girl at home. Maybe we shouldn't go through all of them because it can take a minute, but this is notable because it's Thomas and Thomas is pretty relevant right now. She uses the song, I knew you were trouble, you know, I knew you were trouble when you walked in to Thomas. Mikey, holy ground, which makes sense because he was the virgin. then we have Brandon she refers to and Michael A she uses

I almost do and that is a song about like if the guy reaches out to you so in the song the guy reaches out to Taylor and Taylor talks about how hard it is

for her to like not respond because she knows that if she were to respond that it would just like the cycle would happen it again. So also kind of interesting. So maybe Michael has reached out to Katie. Maybe. But also here, to close this one up, was there any about John? You're like, okay, Ashley, shut up. So yes, the one about John is begin again, which is the song on the album about like never thinking that I was going to get over

the last guy. But then I showed up at a coffee shop and I had a cute date. And, And you were so pleasant. I never would have thought that I would want to begin again, but you make me want to. Oh, my goodness. Well, a lot going on over there in the Katie Thurston, Blake Moynes, Taylor Swift World. Obviously, a lot of opinions being had, but that's what we know right now. Now, on to a next relationship, one that is in really good spirits and a really good place. But an interesting headline that coming from the Ben Higgins and Jessica Higgins' wedding.

Bachelor Nations, Dean Ungler, told Kalyn she should propose to him. This is according to E. Yeah, heard about this this week. So what happened here? This conversation happened at your wedding? Yeah, conversation happened at my wedding. Okay, so Derek Pace, fiancé, was talking to Kaylin. and she said, are they married since, you know, she asked Eric, like, are they married because he's wearing a ring?

And then he said, as far as the government's concerned, no, but as far as our heart's concerned, yes, that's what Dean said. And then Kailen leaned over and said, we'll be engaged by 2022, trust me. then dean goes i don't know if she's speaking for me or if she's saying that because she's going to propose to me he says i've made it pretty clear to her i was like if you really want to get married you should be the one proposing to me so i think she's got something in the works for that my goodness well couldn't think of it happening in any other way um seriously oh come on don't put Kaylin in that situation, Dean. Yeah. Well,

hopefully she's confident that he would say yes. I think he would. He's just going to be that guy. One of my best friends, she joked for, she joked one night. She was like, one day I'm going to propose to you.

And she, he made her keep that promise. And she did. Well, there you go. Hey. New times, new things. Why not? But come on, Dean. If Kailen wants you to propose to her, if that's her desire, then go for it. That's my opinion.

Like if she's saying, I want to propose to you, great, whatever. But if she's asking, like, saying, Dean, come on, please. Then give, come on, Dean. I know. Well, next headline is this. Colton Underwood wants to find himself in coming out Colton trailer. The quote is, I watched the trailer. Yeah, it's a good trailer.

The quote is, I didn't want to be gay. this according to us weekly. So you definitely get the vibe through watching the trailer that we're going to have a lot of things addressed. One, his just his hesitance is just wanting to literally, he said like he would, he just thought at one point he would die with this secret. We are going to talk about being like a football player who's gay.

We're going to talk about coming out to his dad, which he was so, so nervous about and he does it on camera on the show. And we're also going to address Cassie a lot. he talks about how he totally screwed her over and he just treated her so poorly he treated her poorly we talk about the restraining order in this show and it's going to be a lot but it looks very intriguing to me it does um it does look very intriguing to me yeah it looks well done Yeah. If I, yeah.

I, uh, you know, there's, uh, I hope it's going to help many. Um, I hope Colton's good. But, uh, I haven't talked to Colton in years. Yeah. So I have no clue. But it does look intriguing. Final headline of today is one kind of writing off of our comments earlier. It says John Hersey went on record denying Katie Thurston, cheated on Blake Moynes,

just according to Cosmo. So at this point, We do believe from everything we hear and know that there was no cheating going on. Okay, so there's two parts to this. Blake is on, was on the Talking It Out podcast where he starts saying that, you know, you think about timelines, it's kind of suspicious. I know they spend a lot of time together and stuff, but there's no way I didn't have, I never had an inkling that they would like get together.

He also said, I'm a secure guy, I'm a confident guy, and I give my trust out 100%, especially to the person I should be trusting the most. I really don't think there was any physical cheating there, but there was definitely clearly emotional for it to translate as quickly as possible, or as quickly as it did. And Blake is obviously not the only one questioning this timeline, this super quick timeline. So because there's so many fans out there doing so,

on Friday, John revealed that he had a lot of thoughts, on the subject, and he wrote about these thoughts on Reddit. Hmm. Why there? John, why would you go there? Come on the almost famous podcast, John. What? Okay, he goes, this is where he posted a lengthy open letter denying any and all

rumors of wrongdoing or infidelity. Katie and I developed an incredible and deep friendship over the last half a year or so. The circumstances by which this friendship formed was a series of crazy random and coincidental events that I'm sure you'll hear all about at a later point. My point for now is that they were always platonic. He says that he and Katie hadn't even had a romantic connection when he was actively vying for her love on the season.

because he was on her season, and stating very directly that they hadn't cheated and there was no wrongdoing prior to the end of her engagement. He also went on to address that fast and messy timeline, which he admitted that he and Katie knew didn't make for good optics. He said, I urge you to put yourself in our shoes. Once Katie and I realized there was a romantic connection that we were interested in exploring,

we were not starting from scratch, we were building off of the foundation of a close, friendship which through which we had already gotten to know each other so well the speed at which I fell for this incredible nurturing caring genuinely caring human was honestly terrifying I was scared but every step felt so right wow but read it what an interesting choice what an interesting choice well to close out today's episode we want to give a big congratulations to ask and Kevin, they have revealed the baby's name for the first time. They clapped back at critics, so they didn't reveal it right away.

But August William Wint, they're going to call him, Augie, was born 11, 20, 21, 7.5 pounds. Congratulations to both them on announcing the name. Also, congratulations to having their little boy, August, William, Wint. Well, he's so cute. He's so cute. Well, that's all we have for today. What a great episode. Thanks for tuning in.

But with that, I'm back and I've been Ben. Yay. And I am here still and I've been Ashley. Bye. Follow the Ben and Ashley I, almost famous podcasts on IHartRadio 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.

Every case that is a cold case that has DNA. Right now in a backlog will be identified in our lifetime. On the new podcast, America's Crime Lab, every case has a story to tell, and the DNA holds the truth. He never thought he was going to get caught, and I just looked at my computer screen, I was just like, ah, gotcha. This technology's already solving so many cases. Listen to America's Crime Lab on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Let's start with a quick puzzle. The answer is Ken Jennings' appearance on The Puzzle.

with A.J. Jacobs. The question is, what is the most entertaining listening experience in podcast land? Jeopardy-truthers believe in... I guess they would be conspiracy theorists. That's right. They give you the answers, and you still blew it. The puzzler. Listen on the I-Heart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

What would you do if one bad decision forced you to choose between a maximum security prison or the most brutal boot camp designed to be hell on earth. Unfortunately for Mark Lombardo, this was the choice he faced. He said, you are a number, a New York State number, and we own you. Listen to shock incarceration on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Everyone thinks they'd never join a cult, but it happens all the time. to people just like you. And people just like us.

I'm Lola Blanc. And I'm Megan Elizabeth. We're the host of Trust Me, a podcast about cults, manipulation, and the psychology of belief. Each week we talk to fellow survivors, 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. This is an I-Heart podcast. Thank you.