The Ben and Ashley I Almost Famous Podcast - King of Paradise with Chris Bukowski

Episode Date: August 13, 2019

Ben is fresh off Ashley and Jared’s Rhode Island wedding and he’s ready to give all the behind the scenes details! We find out who was the first to cry, how did his girlfriend Jess get along with Bachelor Nation, and we hear a secret about the bouquet toss! Ben opens up about words of advice Jared gave him the first night they met and changed his life forever. Plus we talk to Chris Bukowski about what he’ll do next if he doesn’t find love on Paradise this season.And of course, we recap this week's episode of Bachelor in Paradise! Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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It can happen to anyone. Parked cars get hot fast and can be deadly. So get in the habit of checking the back seat when you leave. The message from NHTSA and the ad council. This is the Ben and Ashley I almost famous podcast with IHartRadio. This is a really like emotional day for the podcast. Not only am I super tired, like ridiculously exhausted. I am also without my co-host, Ashley Haven.

What are we going to do about this? Is she no longer Ashley I? We have an ass. I don't know. We haven't asked her. She's married. Honestly, it's another human being when you say Ashley Haven. Totally.

I don't know what to do with it and I'm tired and I can't process it. This is the day after the Ashley and Jerry. at extravaganza, the wedding of the millennia. We are here live talking about Paradise because that's how much we love the show. But I'm pooped. Wait, where are you right now? I'm in Newport. I'm right where the wedding took place.

Jessica actually just left to jump on a flight. And I stuck around for an evening to do the podcast and talk to you all. We have Tori and Danielle in studio along with Easton. we like to call them the magic behind the scenes, the engine that keeps this thing moving. But today they're going to sit here and talk to me because there's just so much to process that we all want to make sure that we get it all out there. So let me start here, though. If anybody didn't know that listen to the podcast, Ashley got married yesterday. She got married to wonderful.

Yeah. She got married to Jared Haven, who was a good friend of mine from Caitlin C. and The Bachelorette, but I tell you one thing. There was a lot of anticipation behind this wedding, and I think for two reasons. And you all in studio, please tell me if I'm wrong. And all of you out there, I've been loving the tweets. We got hundreds of tweets this week from you all tagging the almost famous podcast. I tried to go through and like them all just to show you that we were watching.

But please send in your opinions. Anyways, there was a ton of anticipation behind this wedding for two reasons. One, this love story has been incredible and we've been to watch it for years and years and years and we're fans of these two but two it's Ashley and we've always known that Ashley's wedding day was something that she was like like always pumped for always prepping for and so there was so much kind of nerves that I even had as I was getting ready for the wedding thinking out of any wedding I've ever been to this is the one that I know was most most anticipated by the bride and it did not fail it did not fall It was absolutely magical.

Let me walk through a few of the details. I stayed in the house with Nick Vile, Chris Stranberg, who was Cupcake on Caitlin's season, and Dean Ungler. And then Jessica stayed at her cousin's house and would come back and forth. So we got to spend a ton of time together, which was absolutely incredible. It was fun for Jessica to be able to meet so many people from the Bachelor franchise. She had been down and met some people before. But there's the first time she'd been surrounded by some of my closest friends all in one room. And so we get ready for this wedding and to find out the wedding, the chapel was right across the street from where Airbnb was.

We walk in and there's, I'm not kidding you, the street is lined with Newport's finest taking pictures as we walk it. Like it looked like, it looked like what I imagined the royal wedding. Like people were standing across the street with security blocking them from the entrance to the chapel. It made, Ashley had to feel so loved. It was the Oscars of Bachelor Weddings. Yeah. It really was. It was crazy.

I mean, there was literally people standing on both sides of the street and we walked. So like our Airbnb sat kind of right across the street from the Kay Chapel and the Viking Hotel. And so as we walk out of our lane and turn the corner, then all these people are there. And the last time I had a bunch of people lining a road for me was during my half marathon and I was jacked. I thought, you know, there's an adrenaline rush to walk through a group group people. It was good. But, yeah, the ceremony was awesome. Along Gail did the ceremony who was the executive producer on The Bachelor during a lot of the seasons that Ashter was on.

He's no longer with the show, but he did the ceremony. Is he the one with like the really long, like frizzy kind of hair? Yeah, it's like curly and crazy. And he writes now a lot for Netflix and for horror films. But he's a big personality. and an extremely intelligent guy, and just a really fun guy to talk to, but eccentric is a good word to use to describe him. And he wrote a very eccentric, but very personal, very personal ceremony that talked about, he compared this a little behind the scenes. He compared Ashley to being a goldfish to where when she sees, she lives in this glass bowl that's hard on all sides.

And when she sees something, she goes after it as hard as she can. and then she runs into the side of the bowl and then it hits her nose and it stops her and she cries and she's hurt and she feels it it's painful and then she gets back up on her feet or I guess if you're a goldfish you start swimming again and you look at the other side of the bowl and there's something you want you swim over to it and you hit your nose and you just keep doing that you just keep bouncing back and forth across the bowl because you believe there's a big world out there full of possibilities and intrigue yet there's this there's this bull that's stopping you and he compared jared to the bowl to where he wouldn't stop her anymore that he he

would be the one that she could live with within this bowl safely without hitting her nose that he would be the protective force around her um that he would allow her to be her biggest and best self while she was still trying to to to push through the sides and continue to hit her nose that jared be the one that says no you can you can live with me and within me and I'll be the guide to help you get there. And it was really beautiful. The whole ceremony worked. Jessica looked over at me halfway through the ceremony because people were crying and laughing all at the same time.

And she goes, I've never been to a ceremony. It's felt so personal. Like, it just felt like Ashley and Jared. Ashley sneezed halfway in between the ceremony. Their dogs walked down the aisle. She kept looking out at the audience and doing her like Ashley's smile face. You can't tell crying or smiling. It was wonderful.

I literally got chills from that goldfish thing analogy. That was, it's so perfect for them, so perfect. It really is. When you find that kind of safe comfort, right, that can then be your partner that loves you unconditionally and that wants to be your support, it's a really beautiful thing. And that's what Ashley and Jared have. I mean, if you look at their dynamic, Ashley is emotional. She feels deeply. She's sporadic.

She's passionate. She's purpose-filled. And she sets her sights on something and goes after it and doesn't really know kind of what's going on around her while she's pursuing these things. And then you have Jared, who's calm, collected, patient, who loves his comfort zone, who maybe doesn't, he has goals and is driven, but yet he doesn't always know how to step foot to do them. And so between the two of them, they're the perfect match. And we've always known this. Bachelor Nation has always known that Jared and Ashley were meant for each other. Always known that Jared and Ashley were something special.

we were just waiting for them to figure it out and the fear came really even for us on this podcast at one point in Ashley's life that she was like they were never going to figure it out I mean we sat with her when Ashley and Jared which you would tell us no it's no longer ever going to be a thing right you know that's a scary moment to look back on now right but full circle yeah look at them now

I know and Ben we just have so many questions to ask you so we're going to do some rapid fire perfect but before we do that let's take a quick break can talk about some of our sponsors. Hey, guys, I know that you're probably tired of hearing about wedding talk, but I'm sorry. I can't talk enough about the great items we've gotten from our crate and barrel registry. We recently got a KitchenAid mixer. It comes in this exclusive color.

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I know you're super intrigued about everything happening at the Iconetti Haven wedding in Newport, Rhode Island this weekend. Definitely. It seemed like honest, I had a lot of fomo. So much fomo. Like, I had to stop watching stories at certain points because I was like the boat ride, the games, the weather. The whole weekend when I was looking at pictures, I literally was thinking that Ashley was. princess jasmine like everything she wore i was like you were literally a disney princess yeah yeah and she changed dresses at like i saw that it was wild i've but she i've ever seen

actually do that face where she kind of becomes a model for a second she's like it's really serious and you can't tell if she's like trying too hard or just like naturally that like she did that she did that face and she walked into the reception. She did that face and the whole like it was she's done that face many times I guess I should say that was the she pulled it off perfectly

in that moment. It was like it was like Zoolander. Everything came together for that moment and the world stopped when Ashley walked in before we get started on the rapid fire crazy fact here their reception was at a place that the original Great Gatsby was filmed. It's called Rosecliff.

It is the most in true Lise's dancing with Arnold Schwarzenegger was filmed there. It is the most amazing place. You walk out from this mansion into the backyard and it opens up for like five acres to the water, to the ocean, and there's a huge fountain in the middle. I don't know how many times in life and listeners, I'm sure you've had this, where you see something and like everything slows down. It's one of the most beautiful things that you've ever seen. Their reception was really that. They had these, like, rose. I called them this morning.

I saw Ashley before they left on their honeymoon. I said, Ashley, your rose deals in the middle of the table were beautiful. Like, they're huge. And she goes, they're actually rose bushes that they put in the middle of the table. These, like, huge, massive rose bushes sat in the middle of each table at the ceremony and were lifted up, like, 10 foot in the air. It was, I don't know. This is wild. I'm from, Jessica and I talk about today.

I'm from Indiana. Like, I'm used to a pulled pork barbecue buffet. I'm not kidding. And I don't, nothing against it. I really enjoy those. The bride and groom burger. Yeah, like, that's what I'm used to for weddings. This thing was spectacular.

Okay, so I'm going to slow down. I'm going to stop. I would love for you all to rapid fire me with questions. I want to answer them the best I can. And then we'll move on to breaking down this week's episode of Bachelor in Paradise. Perfect. Danielle, you want to go first? Sure.

Okay. I want to know who cried first. Ben or Ben or Ashley Well that's a great question I'm gonna throw you in this now Who cried first? Ben So you, Ashley or Jared? Jared cried first, I cried second

Ashley cried the third I cried when Ashley walked down the aisle And Jared looked at Ashley I started crying and then I think Ashley cried Once she got up on stage Oh my gosh Well that brings me to my question Who did you look at first? Jared

Once the door's open for the bride Jared or Ashley Jared I had my eyes on Jared and because that's one of my favorite parts of any wedding and I don't know if please write in with what your favorite parts are at the Ben and Ashley at IHeartMedia.com but my favorite part is watching the grooms face as the bride comes in. Right. Yeah. Hey Ben, this is Easton. First time call her a long time engineer here. I have a question about those Dunkin Donuts that had you on them. How did that work? How did that happen? Yeah. So what Easton's talking about is at the

of the night, the gift as we walk out were two donuts. And one of the donuts had a picture on them of you and your date that you got right when you walked in. So as you walk into the reception, there is a photographer that are taking pictures. In the end of the night, you walk out and you literally had a donut with your face printed on it of the picture. I don't know how it worked, but within four hours from us walking in and walking out, they had every single person got one of these donuts to walk away with. It was wild Dunkin' Donuts did it. um they there's two things easton that they pulled off for this wedding one is that that was amazing and they're edible two is the wedding video company that they hired put together a video starting on

friday and by the time we that wedding ended on sunday they had the whole thing completed including including the ceremony including the wedding ceremony they had edited it by the time we left the reception they had this video done they even had footage on the reception in contact by the time I'm going to get married. $10 million. I sent a tape with a bunch of ABC people, and they were all like, no, this is one of the most impressive, like, things we've ever seen pulled up. It was.

It was incredible. So, yeah, Easton, good question. Duncan Donuts really did a great job there. I got to give it to them. They have great donuts and the second best coffee in the world compared to generous. Hey, Ashley runs on Duncan. Okay, next question. So you mentioned that this was one of the first times Jess really was around Bachelor

nation and a lot of people from the franchise who did she hit it off with the most yeah uh well first off it was and it was it was really i don't think people realize how nervous jessica is to enter into this world at all um because it is intimidating and there's a lot of attention around it and i think she feels consistent like she's going to be constantly judged um and she's not and she also knows that but it's a feeling she has and so this was a big deal for her anytime she interest into these groups. And she really left today going, holy cow, I never realized how nice everybody was going to be to me. Like that was one takeaway. So nobody was mean to Jessica. Everybody invested into her and spoke highly of her and spoke to her. But there was two people that

really stood out. You're not going to be surprised by this. Tanya and Becca were incredible. Absolutely incredible to Jessica. Now, Jessica spent a lot of time with my roommates in my house and Nick and Dean and Chris. And that was great. But Tanya and Becker. And Becca came over to our Airbnb one night after we went out for dinner and just talked to Jessica and I for probably three hours, just about life. And they did that like on their own time and on Jessica's vacation and time away. So yeah, that was amazing. Those two women are those two women are just I hope they feel how great they are. They are the best. Literally gold. Okay, who gave the best speech at the rehearsal dinner because it seemed like there were quite a few people who stood up and gave a

little something yeah i'm gonna you know there was uh there was a few there was a few there i thought jared speech was really really nice uh nas perrez um did an incredible speech um a couple ashley's friends really really crushed it uh and then nick vile um he he gave a speech and got really emotional it was good it was it was good to see him kind of uh pour his hat on his heart out there. So those were really great, but I want to say this too. Fred, Jared's dad afterwards, goes, you know, sometimes you sit inside these speech things and, you know, you get one good one about eight bad ones because there's eight people total that spoke. And the one part that we all took away was every single speech was meaningful. It was heartfelt. It was true. It was

authentic. And we all walked away from those speeches. I think knowing Ashley, actually Ashley's father said this at the reception. He goes, after those speeches, I knew my daughter. Oh, I love that. Who was the drunkest? Who had one too many drinks? Ooh, that's a good question. Well, honestly, and I don't want to just back out of this question. So Ashley and Jared aren't big drinkers.

I don't know if you knew that. They're not big partiers. They love their time at home. And so the wedding wasn't set up to drink at. So we had an open bar when we first got there. And then we had a beautiful dinner. But during the dinner, there was multiple kind of events. kind of events, I'll say, like in Ashley's style where we had David Cook come out and sing,

and then we had a slideshow of Ashley's childhood, and then we had speeches by all the fathers and dances. And then once that was done, the DJ started for another probably 45 minutes, and then it was over. And so it was very Ashley and Jaredesque. So there wasn't like an opportunity for anybody to get too drunk. It just didn't happen, which was good because that's not what they wanted. And so, yeah, I don't think there was anybody that kind of walked out of they're feeling it. So then on that note, what was for dinner? Okay, so we had a beef filet, or you could choose salmon.

We had caprice salad with antipasta, and then the final dish was wedding cake that was nine like layers tall. Oh, my God. Yeah. It was wild. The stress for whoever carried that in. They had to have a separate room just for the wedding cake cutting, because it was wild. It was like so big.

Oh, yeah. It was massive. Absolutely. I mean, massive. Um, okay. So who caught the bouquet? It was set up. This is one.

I don't know. I wanted it to be chess. Ah, yeah, right? No. Oh, so Nick Vial caught the bouquet. What? How did he catch it? Somehow that just seems so fitting to me that like somehow he's there.

But in your part, he was the only one standing there ready to catch it. Wait, could you say the only. The only one? The only one. So Ashley was like, Nick, stand out here. And then they threw it and Nick caught it. So I feel like it was set up. I don't know if it was requested upon or what.

But Nick caught the bouquet. Okay, that's interesting. Did they toss the garter? Does that thing people do? I didn't see it. No, they had decided not to. I'll have to ask Ashley when she's back why she decided not to. But it was a conscious decision not to do the garter throwing.

You know, at my wedding, we threw a garter off of me. I was wearing one the whole night, and we pulled my pant leg up and threw that. It was fun. Nice. How did you get that off, buddy? I had to pull my pants up in front of my closest friends and family. Ethan, I expect nothing less from you. Okay, Ben, one other question.

What was one thing that you saw from that wedding that you said, that is definitely going to be at my wedding? Oh, that's a good one. That's a great question. Well, you know, one thing they really did well was when you walked into the reception, they had it lined with people passing out drinks and food and so it really made you feel welcomed right away and then you walked out and here's the one part that I would take it my I wanted an outdoor part to my wedding like I want something to be like the cocktails hour that we had outside um it was like just in the eating time was one of the most beautiful things I'd ever seen I want people outside

drinking talking mingling enjoying themselves um at my wedding outside it feels area it feels more fun it feels fresh it feels like a party right so yeah that was definitely a good takeaway one more a lot of this to be honest a lot of this stuff that was done at these what this wedding like i don't think i could ever pull off like only ashley could pull off this stuff that happened at this wedding it just it was just very ashley was very pink it was very big it was very like it was just it was just completely ashly and so i walked away from a lot of it being like there is no way i could do this Their wedding planner, Troy, did an insane job. The guy was just magic.

He was awesome. Okay. Last but not least, when did you look over at Jess and say, I can't wait till this is our time? Aw. Because I know that happened. That totally happened. A hand squeeze. Something happened where you guys were like, can't wait for our time.

Okay. So here's where it hit me. I don't know if I looked over and said it to her, but I was pretty emotional right away when it came to the wedding and Ashley walked down Jared saw her and they're up there and Ashley's like getting fixed up and then you know just continually hit me that this was the moment she's been waiting for and she found this isn't just a ceremony to her this is this is a miracle coming true she found a man that loves her and so I started crying I started crying pretty good and just looked I could see like through the corner eyes she looked up at me and I was like I don't mind to cry in front

of her but I don't know if I ever have and she just looked at me and then she took her hand and she grabbed my hand and she just squeezed it and just sat and looked forward and just like like was like just kind of patting my hand like oh it's all good like this is good and I was like this is this is a girl loves me like this girl loves me she she she she she she she's in it with me no matter thick and thin so that was that was sweet did you hear the music he's doing with you no I did not hear the music but uh I'm assuming it was really great hey can I tell you guys a story we're ready yeah of course i think i've i've touched on a few times um during this podcast but i've really interesting so we all know we love ashley uh actually i could go on and on

and i will and i do uh you know she feels she says things that are crazy and awkward and weird and then she feels strong and she feels a lot of emotion and she cares and every single one of her friends that stood up on stage during the rehearsal said, I've never met a friend that literally would be laid beside me as I'm in the hospital. She's done it or she lays beside me during every breakup or she'll sit beside me between like Ashley just loves hard and she wants people to be the fullest version of themselves. I can go on and on about Ashley, but I want to talk about Jared. Jared, because Ashley is such a big figure, a prominent figure, Jared doesn't get talked

about a lot. But I want everybody to know how incredible of a man Jared Haben is. And he is the ying to Ashley's Yang completely. I mean, he is the opposite of Ashley and that's what makes them so great. But Jared has been consistent to me ever since the time I was on the show. And on the very first night of the Bachelorette, this is a moment that really means a lot to me personally, I get out of the limo, feeling completely out of place, not knowing what I'm doing. I go inside of the house and I sit down on the couch and I'm sitting there and all of a sudden I hear this laughter coming from one of the windows of the house and so I get up and I look out of it and it's Jared taking off his shirt and during Bachelorette and his shirt says

Love Man on it. And I was like, that guy is a nerd, a complete nerd and I like it and I need to talk to him because he's going to make me feel more normal here. So he comes to the house and it just happens that he sits right next to me. And we get to talk a little bit. And then I just, I couldn't help it. I just looked at him. I said, dude, man, like, I don't belong here. Like, I don't. There was professional athletes and there was a great looking dudes coming in and they all had swagger and nice suits and all those things. I said, Jared, I don't belong here. And he, without hesitation, without ever knowing me, Jared looked at me and he goes, don't be crazy, man. You belong anywhere. You belong anywhere. And that really was, like this moment of accountability from somebody that didn't know me, somebody that had never met me that kept me saying, okay, Ben, stop being the victim here. Stop getting down on yourself here.

That's doing you no good. And it has been a consistent message in my mind ever since then. And I don't even know if Jared knows it. But when I do feel that way, his little love man voice is whispering a mirror saying, don't be crazy, man. You belong anywhere. You belong everywhere you're at.

And then at the end of the show, Jared and I didn't have a lot of time to talk privately. Cameras are around very often and we're down to the final four and down to the final five and three of the guys on a date and Jared and I are not and we just get the opportunity to go into a steam room during the show and we locked ourselves in the steam room for 45 minutes when it was at full capacity just so we could talk without cameras. And at that moment I realized that this dude cared so deeply for the people around him. He asked me questions about my life, which I don't feel like gets to happen very often.

He asked me questions about my family, about what I want in a partner, if maybe at the time Caitlin was it or not. He asked me about my insecure. Like, this dude cares. And so on their wedding day, I know this is Ashley's moment. This should be Ashley's moment. And he wants it to be Ashley's moment. But I also want Jared to feel how much he is loved as well. And I am so, so pumped for them to start their lives together.

And to close this all up, Ashley just had to put a little icing on the cake this morning because I went over to say goodbye to her before they left. and guess what shirt she was wearing. That shirt. Are you kidding? A generous coffee shirt. Aww. So, yeah, great wedding. I'm sure when Ashley gets back, we'll break it all down again.

But what an incredible experience. Hey, how about this? Let's take a break. Talk about our sponsors. And then we got to break down this week's episode of Bachelor in Paradise. Open Fit. Open Fit has been around a bit with us. We love Open Fit.

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You get full access to OpenFit, all the workouts and nutrition information, totally free. Again, just text Almost-Famous to 30-30-30, standard message in data rates. apply. 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, psycho babble. Yes, yes. Then Emergency Intercom is the podcast for you. Open your free iHeartRadio app. Search Emergency Intercom and listen that. 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, Noah. 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 runway. I'm looking at this thing. Listen to no such thing on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Club podcast season four is here.

And we're locked in. That means more juicy chisement. 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 divo 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 Tura podcast network available on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you guys. your podcast. Hola, it's Honey German, and my podcast, Grasas 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 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 with a little bit of chisement, a lot of laughs, and those amazing vibras you've come to expect. And, of course, we'll explore deeper topics dealing with identity, struggles, and all the issues affecting our Latin community.

You feel like you get a little whitewash because you have to do the code switching? I won't say whitewash because at the end of the day, you know, I'm me. But the whole pretending and code, you know, it takes a toll on you. Listen to the new season. of Grasasas Come Again as part of My Cultura Podcast Network on the IHartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, 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 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 IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Again, everybody out there listening, if you hear it in my voice right now, I'm tired. I'm exhausted.

Here's a cool part about Ashton Jern's wedding. I'm not tired from drinking. I'm tired from, like, dancing. Like, my body hurts. But we're going to get through this because Bachelor in Paradise so far has been incredible. I will say this I will say this it's fallen a little bit short

when it comes to kind of investing into the storylines that I really want to hear about I think and I want to know if you at home feel the same way I think we've focused a lot on Blake and the things that he's done outside the show and I do think for whatever reason

that's important for us to know it's good information because it is making up a lot of the storylines and the impact has a huge impact on the show but personally I just I don't want to hear about it every five minutes. Like, I want to hear about the Clay and the Coles, and I want to hear about what's happening,

even between the JPMJs and Yacahs and how Cam is processing Kalin actually not being that into him. I don't love, I just don't love the focus on Blake right now. And that's my take going into it, but I still think this season is going to end and be really good. We start out this episode with the Rose ceremony. Derek picks Demi Clay picks Nicole

Will's picks Katie Kevin picks Sydney JPJ picks Anyaka Cam picks Kalin Dylan Dylan picks Hannah G Blake picks Tasia

that seems like gonna be a problem brewing and Chris picks Christina in a surprise to send Annalise

who was blindsided by Chris Home Hot sauce Jane who literally had a thing of hot sauce six inches down her throat it cannot be healthy

And Bibiana, who once again has to go home on this franchise. We don't like that about Bibiana. Bibiana is one of our favorites. She's spicy. She's great. She's beautiful. At some point, Bibiana is going to find a guy that swoops her off her feet, and we're all going to be celebrating it. Hey, Ben.

So then, yes. Quick question for you. Do you think if the rose was first offered to Blake and was given to Hannah G, would she have accepted it before Dylan was given the rose? rose first. Based on what we saw this episode, it seems like it. If you would have asked me that scenario right after the rose ceremony, I said, I would have probably said no, because I thought her and Dylan had something like really good going. And I think she, I thought she realized it. But after watching this episode, I don't think, I think she would have. I think she would have left and said, okay, Blake, let's give this thing a shot. I actually think that's kind of what she's

saying right now on this episode. Well, and follow up, do you, if I don't know if you know this or not because I don't know you've never done Bachelor in Paradise but if let's say Blake went first and offered his rose to Hannah G and she said no because she wanted it to be given to Dylan does he get like a second go around being like okay then I pick you or would he would he have gone home immediately oh I don't know if I know the answer to that that's a great question yeah so what happens about that because I was like oh my gosh we need to know who's going first because if Blake does it that could have been a game changer to the whole scenario if she would have been like, no, sorry.

Because it seems like after this episode, she really has only communicated with Dylan that she's interested for Dylan. So it would have really confused. Yeah. So I don't know, would he have been sent home? Or could he be like, okay, sorry about that. Then Tasia.

Yeah, so here's a scenario. A guy offers a girl or a girl offers a guy when they have the power, a rose. That rose is then turned down. Does the girl or guy get another chance to find somebody else to me except the rose? Or do they both? Or then do they go home?

or there's a guy who go home or the people in power go home. I don't know the answer to that, but I bet our listeners do. So please tweet us and hashtag Almost Famous Podcast with your answer to this scenario. I'm sure it's happened before. I just don't know it. Or email us at Ben and Ashley at iHeartMedia.com. Okay. Moving on here.

The Blake and Hannah G situation, the episode after the rose ceremony kicks off with Blake claiming that he's going to go hard after Hannah G. He is pursuing Hannah G now. This has red flags written all. over it. I mean, I don't know about you and anybody else here in studio, but when I saw this, it just seems like another scenario that is going to go epically wrong for Blake. I also was not expecting Hannah G. to reciprocate feelings based on how things have gone so far, and not even because of the decisions that Blake made before the show, mostly because I thought her feelings

with Dylan were so serious. We were just talking about last week. We thought this was a new, Joe and Kendall of the franchise. But again, I guess Kendall kind of, you know, wasn't that into Joe for a while either. What do you all think here in studio? Is this something that we should be worried about? Does it make sense? Were we expecting this?

I feel like everybody was expecting it to happen with something. Hannah's beautiful. Yeah. So she was going to be a hot commodity. Blake is kind of treating this like he's running the island. So he's already been kind of dating a bunch of girls. I expected it, but I don't like it at all. I doubt many people do.

And that's the things that kind of like is a little bit concerning here is I bet it's just confusing for me to think of how good of a relationship she has currently with Dylan. And yet she's okay moving on from Dylan to Blake. And let's take what Blake has done in the past out of the equation here. That's not what we're talking about. It's just the Dylan Hannah relationship seemed so good. And it seemed like they kept having these conversations that got them to this point where I bet Dylan was thinking, oh, we're in a committed relationship. Like this is, this is something we're moving on for. And then all of a sudden he looks up again and his, he's getting, you know, his, his heart's a little broken.

I think that we haven't really, I mean, we've seen this a lot before when people start off really early on. Like we had Jade and Tanner. They started like Tanner was literally in love with Jade, the first. time you saw her and that really scared her because she was like so I'm just supposed to give you my heart week one yeah count myself out for the rest of the game that is a little scary even when you go on a date with somebody and they're like hey I want to keep pursuing you you kind of like take a step back being like whoa do I want to all of a sudden just be exclusive with you like after our first date kind of a scenario because that's essentially we have to think about these are

happening in days it's not weeks have gone by yeah and then we had that with uh Kendall and joe Kendall really back peddled and was like this is going too fast and it's making me panic I want to explore and she went and dated a couple other people and that killed honestly probably the fans more so than Joe because we were like Joe no so I don't think that it's like a shocker but I think

that it is hard now that we know so much of behind the scenes prior to the show that really affects the taste in everyone's mouth as to why she's doing that to Dylan but it is also interesting that all the girls are like choose Dylan choose Dylan

yeah it feels like Blake doesn't have a lot of people on Blake's team right now on Bachelor Paradise yeah but she's got to be the one to do it herself she's got to say okay I'm over you like you know she's going to be curious until she finally realizes he's not who she wants but she's got to make that decision I want to know though to bring into the another scenario into this when it comes to Hannah G so let's do a little Hannah G talk right now I don't from this episode I'm not convinced she actually likes Dylan that much, not just because of the Blake scenario, but because she initially was open to going on a date with Jordan Kimball. Now, she did later on decline it, but at first, when he asked,

she was said yes, which points to me that in the back of her head, she was looking for something outside of Dylan. Yeah, I agree. I think she's just really, really nervous to put all her eggs in one basket. I actually think differently than you. I think she is a little bit, and I don't mean this in a negative way, but like a people pleaser. So she doesn't know how to present a no without making somebody without the fear of making somebody feel bad, even if it's hurting them more by saying

yes. So she's saying yes to Jordan. Just to make him feel good. I think she said it to be like, sure, yeah, I'll give you a shot, but I know that's not, I have Dylan. Do you know what I mean? I think it was kind of like she was going to be in the power position to be like, it's okay to go on this

and just have fun. But then she had to take a step back waiting being like, okay, no, actually. I can't go just for fun because my situation's a little complicated. What do you think it is? Why do you think Jordan Kimball has so much confidence? I mean, he came into Paradise. And the wildest thing to me was that people were responding even. The women were like, that's Jordan Kimball.

Jordan Kimball asked me on a date to Paradise. Like Jordan Kimball, I don't know. Like was he, I mean, I know he had a big deal in Paradise last year, but like how does he have so much confidence? Where is all this, like, admiration for Jordan Kimball coming from? Who gave him the mayor, the title mayor of Paradise? I think he did. Is that some people allowing it?

Like, I don't, it's wild to me that he, yeah, yeah, he gave himself that, if anything, Chris Bukowski is the mayor of paradise. He's been around. He has the longest tenured spot. I feel like if you're the first person to be married off BIP, then you could be like, I'm the mayor. Because you're like, yeah, you did it. You did it right. You got married.

you did the he did the dang thing but yeah i don't know what makes him so special if anything he caused a lot of drama last year so much drama with the uh the annelese the chicken the chicken is that his name chicken oh chicken yeah david reese he like really got into it with him i just don't know what's happening there it was it was like okay jordan shows the paradise my first reaction seeing him show up was like oh this is going this is going to be entertaining I don't know if it's going to be funny, if it's going to be sad, if it's going to be hard to watch or whatever. It's going to be entertaining. It's, you know, he doesn't have a filter.

And I also believe when I saw him, I was like, okay, he's definitely going to shake up the Blake drama. He's going to say, in a sense, he says kind of like what Demi does. He says whatever's on his mind. He doesn't really care for if anybody's going to be upset with him for what he says. And that's a great quality to have, especially on Bachelor in Paradise. But I didn't expect him to shake up the love scenarios very much. I didn't see that happening and then he gets there and even that we see Nicole saying he chose me like and I know it's a good feeling anytime anybody chooses you I know that's a good feeling but it feels like Jordan carried some weight in paradise and quite frankly it was a little shocking and I want to know if you out there think is a little shocking were you expecting or did you assume that Jordan Kimball would shake up the love scenario as a paradise like you did you know tweet us at a almost famous podcast but of course you

he did what do you mean like that's all he did last year but but but but but people responded this year with interest oh I know why because he guys heartbroken no I know why well yeah I really wants a redemption story but no it's because everything he's saying is kind of what you stand for like when Christina he'd he pull side first uh Chris no Nicole who kind of started filling him on the Blake drama and he was like what wait what and then he pulls aside Christina and then she tells him about how Kalin was in the story then

so it's not only just Christina it's actually Kalin now and then he's hearing about Tasha so he's like what the heck is this guy doing? He's doing fantasy sweets backwards he's basically one-nighting everybody like it's everything that girls like thank you thanks for speaking as a man

on behalf of that you know it's like it's going to get the girls fired up to be like heck yes yeah you're not wrong you're really not wrong I think Jordan came in a really good time. It's going to be interesting to see how this plays out for him. I'm going to be

shocked if Nicole I don't know. Do you think Nicole and Clay stay together? No. I thought you were a fan of them. No. Well, I like them

both. I think they're both very sweet people. I don't know. Something about them. I just don't think that they like mesh well together. Wait, who do you think is reaching in that scenario you know how there's like a reacher and a settler do you think there's a reaching and there's a settler i don't want to you have to answer that um i think Nicole might be reaching for clay do you agree clay well clay has this like big presence about him he's a big

dude and and i think i actually think they stay together my my guess is that they stay together that the two of them really start to work us out that the nicole date with jordan um all kind of helps her realize how much she's into clay, which is going to be exciting. The one people we haven't quite figured out yet, though, is the Blake deal. We have to talk about Blake. Blake's a huge part of the show, a massive piece of the show. He probably will be, I bet, until the very end. And it's been interesting to see the dynamic kind of change within Paradise,

where it went from people finding out about what Blake did to then people really being upset about what Blake did. And actually, it feels like at this point, we haven't seen a lot of it. Like, people aren't liking Blake as a person. Like, he's actually maybe feeling like an outsider. The reason I'm saying this is because we see the scene that did irritate me. Not just, not because I agree with what Blake did at all. I don't.

But because we see the girls sitting around watching Blake kind of catch a football and play on the sand and they're talking about him. And then he hits his toe and rips his toenail off and they laugh. It felt weird. It felt like odd to me that people. would laugh at anybody's injuries even if you dislike them is that is that crazy of me am I missing something no no I think you're right on that it's it feels like that part maybe went a little too far but it doesn't it's not like I'm like it's a massive deal but what it's pointing to is to me is that the house is super upset with Blake that they really are

dislike him and that when you see kind of your worst enemy getting hurt you do sometimes celebrate it even if it isn't the best thing to do so there there there is a heaviness to this um i i want to see blake's redemption story with his friends in paradise i don't know if it's going to happen but that scene to me really pointed to where he stands right now we also see a cam and kaelin love story play out this was never anything i don't know i don't this is This was never anything. Caitlin, I think, saw that this was, this was an opportunity for her to be around another week. I think Cam was somebody she was probably somewhat interested in and maybe just even getting the know a little bit better.

And long story short, what ends up happening is that once Kalin, the dust settles and she's around another week and she has the power, then then Kaylin goes, Cam, you're not my guy. And he came on really strong. Like his, his game is not terrific. okay but is that his fault like she's not telling him otherwise he's literally reading her poem and she's like that was sweet you're like yeah that's so mean

you have the power with the rose you should be telling him hey go explore other relationships yeah but she wants him to give her the rose no but she's in power now she's in power like I don't think she knew how to end that conversation like I don't think I get what you're saying

And, like, you know, she's still maybe interested enough to not want to hurt his feelings completely. There's no. You don't think she's interested at all. She's not interested at all. She's not. And honestly, it hurts everyone's heart no matter who it is at the end of the day. That's so hard to see where he is crying over her. Yeah.

It's one of the hardest things to watch, though. And they put these scenes on where Cam's like, I mean, Cam is distraught now. It's like he believed, like, he believed this was something that was going to last a lifetime. And he believed this letter was a good idea. I don't think it was a good idea. I don't think it's going to be a good idea. I don't think Kalin and Cam ever even reconnect in the rest of the show.

Moving on the next scene, Nicole and Jordan are back together, or are back from the date. Nicole did end up missing Clay. This is something that's going to happen. There's, there's just, it didn't have the connection that her and Clay had. that's going to be something to watch and big mike big mike johnson the one and only comes in the paradise and he's not going to wreck things but he's going to add to it he takes calen on a date and he is giddy i mean this dude is giddy on this date he says it a multiple times it almost feels like if this relationship doesn't work out for him that he's going to leave

paradise brokenhearted the question then is is calen ready for the attention now that you're She's already accepted the attention from Cam. Is she going to accept the attention from Mike? And if she does, will she stay with him? That's a great question because he's pretty, he lays it out there already on the first date. He's like, I already like you. And they kiss.

You know what I mean? So for her, she has to be full in too. Yeah. To receive that. I'm worried that Mike's heart is going to be broken. And I'm worried that Mike's heart is going to be broken. and then it's going to be really, really healed once he's announced as the next bachelor.

I was just about to say that. Wait, I have two questions. Okay. So we've seen it before where somebody can be on Paradise and be the next Bachelor that happened with Colton and Nick. But does that hurt your chances at all?

Or does that affect your edit you get when you're on the show? If they're like... Your chances on Paradise or on the Bachelor? Sorry, for Bachelor. Like, does that... Do you get what I'm saying? Because then he has to have the most perfectly written story.

So we really shouldn't be worried about Mike. Yeah. Well, the story you have to have to have is one of heartbreak. So you have to see somebody coming in, excited for love, their heart's broken. And then they're set up to be The Bachelor. And I think we've seen at work. I mean, if Nick and Colton are the two examples, it's worked because people are invested into their stories.

And also we see with Colton, I mean, we forget when Colton left his season of the Bachelor, he was disliked. Like people did not like him. And he goes on Paradise and his story gets a little bit worse until it gets a lot better at the very end. There's a redemption there for him going into being The Bachelor. And so people forget, they truly forget that during his time on The Bachelorette, he wasn't the most favorite character. And then on Paradise, he had a couple weeks of struggle and pain leading up to then him into him being announced at The Bachelor, which obviously worked out for him. So I do think it's a way of the show is leaning towards

because we are so invested into their stories. Okay, we got in this podcast with a few things. Quick updates, just to keep everybody up to date. Mike and Kailen went on the date. Wills is pushing for Katie. She, I don't know what that was. It was like the weirdest. It was kind of like Will said.

It didn't make any sense. One of the oddest scenes, I don't know if she was trying to break up with them and just didn't know how, but it just didn't work. They're not a thing, but Chris B and Katie kind of are. Leading up to Hannah G. and Blake in one of the most emotionally taxing scenes in paradise this year so far, Dylan approaches Blake and Hannah dancing on the beach. Now, I want to ask you all, Easton, you're included in this, is it a, was it a wise move for Dylan to go up, knowing that Hannah G is somebody he's interested in, knowing Hannah G is somebody he's dated, that he's pursuing, that he has mentioned that he wants to be exclusive with, and I think he believes they are. So he's acting like her boyfriend. It was it a wise move for him to go up to her on the beach while she's with Blake.

Was that fair or should he have kept his distance? He should have stayed away. Should he kept his distance. Yeah. Oh, fight for your girl. You got to fight for the girl? Do you think that's a good move? Like, I'm on Easton's side a little bit.

Like, I think I would have sat back and been like if she's not into me, then you know what? This is going to be over. Like, I almost, if I was Dylan, I could have seen myself in that moment going up. I'm going to go home. Like, this girl that I obviously came here for that I was exclusive to, I was interested in. She's not pursuing me like I'm pursuing her. It's time for me to leave. This is embarrassing for me.

But you're saying, Daniel, that you actually would like for him to come up to you on the beach and say, no, I like you. I'm not going to let this go this easy. So here's the thing. It depends on how much you're into that person. When I see Dylan and Hannah's relationship, Dylan is like, this is my wife. Like he, you can just see it. He is so giddy about her. And they only have a couple weeks on the show.

Every minute counts. So if she's like walking away with Blake, he's going to let it happen? I'm like, no, you fight for your girl. That's who you want to be your wife. It's so obvious. So steal her away. and then if she doesn't react to it then then you take the hint it's definitely a move that Dylan thought about and was confident in I've never seen a man on this show be so

confident in and kind of the that type of interaction you see it often and the show set up for it but to have that type of resolve and saying I know this is my girl I'm going to walk across that beach, it's going to be awkward, and I'm going to confront this and say, I need you to talk to me. Now, did Blake do anything wrong here? That's a question that a lot of listeners have written into us over the last night. Has Blake done anything wrong in this scenario by saying, Dylan, you've been with her all day? I want to pursue her, give her my time. Hannah G's just standing there at this point, so we don't know how she feels. But is Blake doing anything? I mean, it's going to be interesting to hear from all of you after this

podcast but has Blake done anything in this moment that we are upset by I I don't think you can be upset at him but I don't like it I'm very team Hannah and Dylan the only hard part was the dancing because then Tasha's like oh he did that to me and then Christina's like oh he did that to me oh good point and then Hannah G was like falling victim to it yeah the dancing move I guess has been done a couple times so like that was his that was his seduction into Oh, didn't Christina say, oh, he doesn't know that's me. Yeah. So we have a lot of people racking up the credibility that this move does work.

And it did because then he spins her out and spins her in and then kisses her. I mean, because without, like, if that move isn't done multiple times with multiple people, all of us are watching and going, oh, that's cool. Like, that's one of those moves we would talk about, like, how sweet was that moment, right? Yeah. but instead we're going oh come on right like that's that's nothing this is just weird i don't know just another day for blake just another day for blake this isn't going to end well for blake i don't think i think my prediction that i have zero idea is that this is going to end and i think we all kind of believe this this is going to end really good for hannah g and dylan and hannah g is going to come

to her senses almost the ashley icenetti jared haven scenario um but really bad for blake Well, I do think that Dylan thought, I think he was so confident when he approached the situation because I think he thought he was saving her in a way because I think Hannah-Gie hasn't been communicating to Dylan that she's interested in Blake as well. It sounds like a lot of it has been, oh, I'm here to spend more time with Dylan. So Dylan's like, oh, well, she just feels like she has to kiss him. Like she felt like she had to kiss Will's. so I'm going to go save her from the situation when really she is interested in Blake but she's not communicating that

because I think she also doesn't want to come to terms with it with everybody saying hey I still have feelings for Blake even though it's been a rough rough little ride for him so I think that's why he was so confident yeah there's a lot of open ended storylines right now in Paradise we have one of the most sought after guests this season

on any type of press any type of media we've seen them everywhere on TV and radio and podcasting, and we've got our hands on them. That's Chris Bukowski. Chris Bukowski has been on six seasons of the Bachelor franchise. He has known in this world as a man who continues to fight for love, even when he falls short, over and over and over again. Some executives this season have literally claimed that he is responsible for the bump and ratings, and we are lucky enough to have him with all the dirt, all the stories, and all the history right here on the almost famous podcast.

But before we do, let me take a second and talk to you about Rothies. Now, Ashley isn't in studio today. It's pretty obvious, I think, right? But I'm going to tell you about one of her favorite products. Have you heard about this company making stylish shoes for women and girls out of recycled plastic water bottles? This is kind of this new trend in footwear and apparel where plastic water bottles are being reused for something great. And that Rothies does it so well. They execute this whole thing so well.

And they're insanely comfortable and washable material. They're stylish, sustainable, comfortable, washable, really all in one pair of shoes. They're the perfect flats for life on the go. They launch new colors and patterns every week. And they sell out constantly. I love these because Ashley and the girls around me always wear uncomfortable shoes. And I feel bad as a guy. But with Rothies, they're ultra comfortable.

As soon as you slip them on, that's right. there's zero break-in period in these shoes plus rothies always come with free shipping and free returns exchanges no risks no worries no reason not to try let me repeat that rothies always comes with free shipping and free returns slash exchanges no risk no worries no reason not to try it'll blow your mind my camel ones and my leopard ones are amazing i i can't i don't even know what camel Camo. Camel. Camel. Camel. You would love the camouflage. I would like the camouflage. Camel. They might have camel. That's also a color. But camo and leopard, you can just wear T-shirt, jeans, and the shoes outfit. Why don't we get Jess a pair?

Well, let's get Jess a pair. So, okay, so here's what I think we should get for Jess. Okay. The checkered blue. I think she would look, they're a little bit sporty. They're slip-ons. do you think yeah does it make her a little bit taller because jess just likes to wear shoes it make her a little bit taller just enough she'll be just a little bit taller i'm going to order him for her hey yeah please do that i'll bring him to vegas she can she can get him when we see her in vegas for the i heart radio music festival jessica and i will be in vegas come say hi

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is on the line. Chris, thank you for coming to the Almost Famous Podcast. Of course. Thanks for having me. Chris, I want to dive in here because our listeners are freaking out about you being on our show. They have written in with a ridiculous amount of questions. You are a man that we've seen often on the franchise, but in a sense that has drawn the intrigue to you. I'm sure most of the questions in your life revolve around getting asked how many times we've been on The Bachelor. but I want to change that and say why do you continue to come on the show so many times? You know what? It's funny because there's probably a decade's worth of question since I've been doing this for almost the full decade.

You know, honestly, I think since initially, you know, I started, I was young. I just turned 25 when I first did The Bachelorette, and it was such a great experience. You know, I felt something that I never really felt before, and I was able to kind of open up emotionally, and it was just such an awesome feeling to experience. And I think, you know, from there on, my experience is just kind of, you know, kept going down. It was a downward trajectory from there. And, you know, after taking a break from it for a while, you know, I always kind of held on hope to getting that feeling that I felt when I was on The Bachelorette. So I thought, you know, being a little bit older and going through this so many times, I thought it was a good time for me to come back and give another shot.

It's one of the interesting things that we found out that you're a little bit of. actually not the oldest person in Paradise. I think because you've been on the show for so long, we were the same age, actually, when we first did The Bachelorette together. We expect you to be, you know, you've just felt like you've been around a while. Well, you have, but you're only 32, what, 23? 33. 32, yeah. I mean, there's people in Paradise older than you, and so it makes sense that you're there. But one of our listeners wrote in and they asked, they said, Chris, if this doesn't work for you this time, what happens next? what are you going to do will you go back are you going to go back and try to find somebody outside of the show or is this going to be the last hurrah for you you know what i was so convinced that the last time i did this would be the last time uh well i guess not this most recent time but the time prior to this uh you know i never say never i mean it's um i would say 99 percent that this would this is my last time you know doing this but i never rule it out completely uh you know you know

So it's a great experience. It's fun. And, you know, it's tough to say no, too. And I would say that most likely this is definitely my last time. It's interesting because I think for the most part, and tell me if I'm wrong, I haven't been able to see some of the old bachelor pads. You have came off as a guy who's wanting love, who's searching for love, who's a good-looking guy, who's likable, who makes friends in every season that you're on.

But you quite honestly, you just fall a little short. and it doesn't end up working out for you. And that's kind of been your story. There hasn't been a moment that I think fans have really started to dislike you or to reject you. Except maybe when you showed up on Andy's season and you waited outside the gate, I've always been intrigued about that whole experiment. Why did you do it? Like, was it really you finding out when filming was going on and you just showed up to try to date Andy?

I mean, it's a little bit of everything. You know, of course, you know, I wasn't able to do that all on my own. Um, and you know, I was intrigued by Andy and I was also, you know, more intrigued of getting back into that whole, that whole scene. I was just kind of looking for something that, uh, I guess really didn't exist. And I, and honestly, that was probably, it was honestly a selfish thing for me to do on my end, you know, kind of taken away from that huge night for all those guys, for Andy, of course. Um, so it was, it was, I would say that was probably the worst moment of my, of my bachelor, uh, my bachelor life. You know, I mean, that happened, I can't take it back, and, you know, here we are today. You know, if that is the worst thing to ever, if you pursuing a person you're interested in, even, you know, when I pursued my girlfriend now, some would say it was in a very creepy way.

I messaged her on Instagram, told her, hey, don't ask too many questions, because I don't want this to get awkward, let me meet you first before I explained how I met or how I know about you, all these things. if you pursuing somebody like you did is the worst thing you're known for in this franchise and you've been on it how many times is it six seven times now six yeah yep then you're doing all right you must be a pretty solid dude huh yeah i mean there's been definitely a lot of ups and downs i think i think of you know generally i want to you know i want to do this for the right reasons as you say it uh so there's just so much that's involved with this and so you know emotionally draining so it's uh you know every time I've done this, I wanted to do it for the right reason to meet somebody and to see if, you know, there's someone I can have that happy ending with. So, you know, regardless of how you do it, you know, how you did it with your current girlfriend, you know, it's just, it doesn't matter. As long as you're finding your person, however it happens, I think, I think if it works out that way, then amen. I mean, that's amazing. We'd like to play a little game, your highlights and low lights.

It's like to do my personal life. It's always a good way to start dinner. It's what's your highlights from the day and low lights from the day. So Chris, I want to ask you, what is your highlights? What's one highlight from the Bachelor franchise that you can think of being on the show and one low light, kind of an experience that you've had or a moment that you've had and not much of, and less of a holistic idea? Yeah, I think honestly the highlight of my whole career, you know, doing this stuff was honestly on the Bachelorette when I had my first one-on-one date, and it was with Luke Brian. He had a private concert for us in downtown

Charlotte, and that was, you know, when you go into something you have no expectations, and you have Luke Brian performing for you and you're dancing in front of all these people in downtown Charlotte, I mean, it's, you know, it's unscribable, and the emotions and the feelings that you have in that

moment, I mean, that was definitely the highlight as of right now. I mean, you can't even make that stuff off. And as far as my low, That would probably be a Bachelor in Paradise, too. I showed up pretty late in the game. Everyone was pretty much, you know, matched up at the point when I showed up.

And I had a little bit too much drink and pretty much excused myself the same day that I got there. So I was literally there for 24 hours, you know, came and went. And that was probably the low of my bachelor career. and so then this season so far a bachelor in paradise and even i mean i think it doesn't hurt it's not a spoiler for us if you just kind of rank it and you're six times in the bachelor franchise how does this season stand for me this is this is the top this is the best experience i've had i think you know taking a break from all this and kind of just establishing myself more as a person and coming back and really doing this the right way and you know at the same time like

you know, I am older. I'm not, I have the experience. I've been, I was able to give a lot of these guys advice, you know, even some of the women, too. So for me, it was more about, you know, focusing on myself and seeing where I can help and seeing if there's that special person for me and kind of kind of staying out of the drama, which typically I'm used to being in the center of. So this time around, I was, you know, hit out of most of the drama and just kind of, you know, went through the process. And, you know, I'm really happy with, you know, that I came back. how everything went. That's exciting for us to hear. We're all pretty smiley over here. If this was the best experience you've had in six times on The Bachelor, we're looking forward to the rest of the season. Now, Chris, I want to take a second and dig in to your personal life a little bit more. It's been talked about that you're in a serious relationship before Bachelor in Paradise,

where you almost got engaged. How did that affect kind of your mind going into, you know, let me preface this by saying this year during the show, you know, kind of past relationships and current relationships are a huge topic coming off the Hannah-B season to then the Bachelor in Paradise season. How did that affect you coming into this show? I think it helped tremendously. You know, I dated someone for a little over two years.

We lived together out in L.A. You know, it was awesome. And, you know, it just didn't work out. And I think, you know, I learned so much in that relationship. And, you know, I was dating her literally right after, you know, pretty much after the last time I went on, I was on Paradise 2. So, you know, having that relationship, it was, you know, we were close. I mean, we were definitely close.

And it just, the, the Dawson completely aligned at the end there. But I think it just definitely matured me. And I saw a lot of pieces that I wanted in a relationship. So, you know, coming back on, you know, onto Paradise definitely, you know, with that experience helped me so much. And, you know, I'm grateful for it. And, yeah. we all love a good comeback story and it's interesting me I've been doing a little research before the podcast and we were on Twitter and we found out that Rob Mills and a couple other executives kind of behind the scenes of the franchise have really been supporting your comeback and also claiming that you have a lot to do with the extremely high ratings right now from Bachelor in Paradise how much of it is let me ask this do you feel feel like you've, in all honesty, gotten more popular as time has continued.

You know, it's weird because, first of all, like, those guys are great. Rob's awesome. Obviously, I've known him, you know, for a decade now. And, you know, it's weird. I thought it would completely fade away after all these years, but it's still, like, I still, you know, it's still, the popularity is there. You know, there's still a little bit of attention. But, you know, when I was doing all this, Instagram was barely a thing.

Like, it just started getting legs when, you know, after my season of The Bachelorette. And so it was a different era. And I feel like I don't, I don't think I'm, honestly, I don't think I'm responsible for any of the ratings currently. But I do think I do bring back a crowd, a different viewer, potentially, that is different than the modern day, you know, viewer. So, you know, I think it's a little different aspect of, you know, I know a lot of people tweeted me and somebody mentioned, on Instagram saying, you know, they're watching, you know, it's good to see, you know, someone's older, from, you know, older seasons, you know, back on here. So, you know, maybe a little bit, it brings back a little bit of, you know, the older generation of viewers that used to watch this, you know, a little further back in the day. I really do think that you are a story that we enjoy having around.

You're kind of that comfort, Chris. When you come back on the show, we say, okay, we're familiar with this and everything is definitely probably going to be not all right. And we're good with that. That's what we want at a Bachelor in Paradise. You know, Chris, currently on the show, we see you pursuing Katie. We also have seen now that Annalise have gone home kind of blindsided by you. And that's the words I think she uses is that, you know, she's blindsided by you. She's not thrilled.

Chris, can you explain a little bit? This is your moment to explain that relationship. We didn't get to see a lot of it on the show. So we need you to help us catch it up. Yeah, you know, with Annalise. it was tough. You know, we did spend a decent amount of times together, and, you know, we had a decent connection, and, you know, for me, it was just a little overwhelming for how early on

it was. And, you know, I wanted to be very open-minded and come in, you know, and just explore and get to know everybody. Honestly, I didn't do any research. I didn't know anybody coming out to this season. So everyone was brand new to me. I wanted to, you know, give myself the opportunity to get to know everybody. And, you know, early on, it was just with Annalise, it just kind of, it seemed like she was a little ahead of me getting, trying to get really serious, really early on.

And we didn't get to see a lot of that. And, you know, I, you know, I was my roast to give. And I wanted to be able to, you know, keep an open mind and get to meet more people. And at the same time, and not lead Annalise further on. And, you know, it wasn't a relationship that was going to happen past that first week. So it was tough. I mean, it was tough when it all went down. But I was hoping, you know, it almost was doing her a favor, you know, instead of kind of waiting until the next row ceremony,

the row ceremony after that, you know, not give her a rose. Annalisa's can't catch a break. She's one of almost famous as most consistent guests. And she continues to just. Yeah. Just fall short, man. Maybe she can come back. I felt bad.

I felt bad. You know, she is, she is, you know, one of the older people. And she is genuinely looking for someone. And, you know, she got her heartbroken at the, you know, reunion show on the last season. So it was tough. I'm not sure if there was anyone there, you know, that was, not I can't say that for her, honestly. But, you know, it was, it was tough. Honestly, it was.

And I struggled for a couple days after that. And, you know, so, you know, it was tough all around. and I'm sure a lot tougher for her than it was for me. Well, yeah, I definitely think so because now we see you happily pursuing Katie. You gave your rose to Christina, but you have your eye on Katie, and we're pumped, a pumped as the viewers, to see how this plays out. Okay, final questions for you, Chris. As a, just put your co-host hat on for a second.

You're helping with this. What couples in Paradise are you most excited to see their love story play out throughout the season? You know, honestly, I'm really excited to see Clay and Nicole's love story play out. Nicole's such a personality, and Clay's, you know, he's such a big teddy bear. But they're almost, I don't want to say opposites, but they don't have too much in common. So, you know, it was funny to kind of be around, and I'm really interested to see that play out. I'm really hopeful for it. And, of course, you know, you know, Dylan and Hannah, it's just like the All-American cute kind of story and to see how it plays out with that.

It was really, you know, I'm really looking forward to that as well. Yeah, man. Well, hey, last thing, what are you up to these days? Take a little second here and just promote whatever you have going on. Yeah, definitely. You know, I still have my restaurants that I opened up back in 2013. So I have three in the D.C. area. So if we're flying in D.C., there's actually.

one at Dulce Airport, one in Reagan Airport, then the flagship restaurant out in Arlington, Virginia. I also started a digital agency when I was living out in L.A. a few years back called K-CM-C-Create. We do everything, mostly focused on building apps and websites and searching the marketing and all that good stuff. Just doing a lot of traveling all over the place, and, you know, hustling, grinding, man. What's your restaurants called? They're called Bracket Room. Perfect. Well, hey, we'll check those out. Final thing for you, Chris, what are the chances that you walk away from Paradise and Love?

I would say it's a 50-50 chance that I walk away from Paradise with love. All right. We'll be watching for you, buddy. Thanks for coming on. All right, Ben. Thank you. Hey, we miss Ashley. We miss Ashley a ton, and she's going to be back here in a couple weeks. We're going to give her a break. She needs to go to our honeymoon and do what honeymooners do and see what honeymooners see and experience life. and its fullest, we're going to take a little break from Ashley, but we're going to continue to stick around and talk about Bachelor in Paradise as often as much as you all need. So make sure you rate us on the app. Please give us whatever you feel like is appropriate. One to five

stars. We prefer five. If you don't like us, give us a one. At least you care. Review us, say something positive, not negative. We don't need to read anything negative about any of us. But also, you guys were amazing last week to me when I asked you to come out and say an expressive for friends or not many of you did it I hope I saw your tweet because it meant so much to me personally it really encouraged me through the week last week and this week I want to give the directive I know we did this kind of two weeks ago but Ashley's on her honeymoon and Jared's on their honeymoon reach out to both of them via some type of social media and just tell them how much you love them how excited you are for them to start this next chapter in life and how even if

you couldn't be at the wedding, you still are proudly voicing your support of this marriage and that you will stand beside them from this moment forward as they continue to go through not an easy, not always a fun, and not always the most exciting, but the most fulfilling ride that we can find with a partner in life. And that is a commitment to say you are mine forever and ever. Hey, we saw on the teasers for this next episode. The battle for Hannah G continues. Blake admits he flew out to Alabama to see Hannah G before Paradise. Oh, this is not going to go good for Blake. And Dean is coming down Caterpillar on his face and all.

Hey, people in studio, follow my lead. I've been Ben. I've been Tori. I've been Danielle. I've been Easton. What about me? What about me? Hey, Amy.

I've been Amy. I've been Amy. And we are the Almost Famous podcast. Thank you for listening. We'll be back talking about Bachelor. in Paradise very soon. Peace. Follow the Ben and Ashley I, almost famous podcast on IHeart Radio, or

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