The Ben and Ashley I Almost Famous Podcast - Love is in Bloom

Episode Date: October 20, 2021

New Bachelorette Michelle Young is here with Ben and Ashley To recap the first episode of her season!She tells us why she thinks her experience as a teacher prepared her for dating 30 guys as the Bachelorette. And, Becca Kufrin joins us to reveal her connection to one of Michelle’s guys!  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Hi, my name is Enya Eumanzor. And I'm Drew Phillips. And we run a podcast called Emergency Intercom. If you're a crime junkie and you love crimes, we're not the podcast for you. But if you have unmedicated ADHD... Oh my God, perfect. And want to hear people with mental illness, psychobabble.

Yes, yes. Then Emergency Intercom is the podcast for you. Open your... free iHeartRadio app search emergency intercom and listen now let's start with a quick puzzle the answer is ken jennings appearance on the puzzler 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 kenspiracy theorists that's right they give you the answers and you still blew it the puzzler listen on the eye Art Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Hi, it's Honey German, and I'm back with season two of my podcast. Grasias, come again. We got you when it comes to the latest in music and entertainment with interviews 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'll talk about all that's viral and trending, with a little bit of cheesement and a whole lot of laughs. And of course, the great Vibras you've come to expect. Listen to the new season of Dacias Come Again on the I-HeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. The Super Secret Festi 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, 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. My name is Curley. And I'm Maya. Get in here!

Listen to the Super Secret Bestie Club on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. I just normally do straight stand-up, but this is a bit different. What do you get when a true crime producer walks into a comedy club? Answer, a new podcast called Wisecrack, where a comedian finds himself at the center of a chilling true crime story. Does anyone know what show they've come to see? It's a story. It's about the scariest night of my life. This is Wisecrack, available now.

Listen to Wisecrack on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is the Ben and Ashley I, almost famous podcast with IHeart Radio. Oh my goodness, Ashley Ikenetti. This is a huge day for us. We have The Bachelorette on the podcast. Yes. We love kicking off a season with that. Yes, it's such a big deal for us and for everybody out there listening. So Michelle Young will be coming on in just a second after her first episode as The Bachelor.

You know, from watching like Instagram, it feels like the Bachelor team is really pushing, you know, social media and these events and getting, you know, the name out there. and kind of treating more than ever these Bachelorette and Bachelors as a star. And it feels like Michelle's like kind of just walked into it and done it well so far, at least from what I see. Yeah, I feel like she just has this natural instinct to be so good with media.

She's just naturally a very likable girl. And like, how great does she look? She's so pretty. She was like my eye candy last night watching the episode. She's beautiful. She is. And I think these guys are going to be just really struck by Michelle the whole time. But yeah, it's just interesting because she, I mean, even her preview, Ash, like when she's walking through like, I don't know, like the woods and the dress.

Like it's just like this is, I mean, it's kind of funny. I remember Katie Thurston making a joke about it. It's like Katie had like a rubber skirt on and kind of just like sat in a studio. And then Michelle's out there walking through it first. Forrest, it's beautiful. It reminds me a lot of the Hannah Brown. promos back in the day I totally agree

yes it's very whimsical fairy tale like and she does just carry herself with a lot of grace and confidence we're excited that we're going to dig into the episode with her we're going to talk to her about like you know the normal bachelor at life

and then we're going to go into recapping the episode with her so but before we get on the phone with her we have a new bachelor bracket rule because we're continuing with the bachelorette bachelor at bracket this season it's a big deal obviously we just had alexis the winner of paradise on the podcast congratulations once again to Alexis but we are also now promoting this new season of the bachelorette it's the bachelor bracket is back play along with us the almost famous team the rule of the week for week two is you get 10 more points every time a contestant is seeing hugging michelle on a group date You can visit

Bachelorette.batchbacket.com. Again, that's bachelorette. Dot batchbracket.com to set up an account. Pick your favorites. All right, Ash, it's time. Let's bring Michelle on and break down the episode. Hi, my name is Enya Emanzor. And I'm Drew Phillips.

And we run a podcast called Emergency Intercom. If you're a crime junkie and you love crimes, we're not the podcast for you. But if you have unmedicated ADHD... Oh my God, perfect. And want to hear people with mental illness, psychobabble. Yes, yes. Then Emergency Intercom is the podcast for you. Open your free IHeartRadio app.

Search Emergency Intercom and listen now. Hi, I'm Janica Lopez and in the new season of the Overcomber podcast, I'm taking you on an exciting journey of self-referful. 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 Overcomber podcast as part of the My Cultura podcast network on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. My name is Ed. Everyone

say hello, Ed. I'm from a very rural background myself. My dad is a farmer and my mom is a cousin. So like, it's not like... What do you get when a true crime producer walks into a comedy club. I know it sounds like the start of a bad joke, but that really was my reality nine years ago. I just normally do straight stand-up, but this is a bit different. On stage stood a comedian

with a story that no one expected to hear. The 22nd of July 2015, a 23-year-old man had killed his family. And then he came to my house. So what do you get? when a true crime producer walks into a comedy club. A new podcast called Wisecrack, where stand-up comedy and murder takes center stage.

Available now. Listen to Wisecrack on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. 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. Shock incarceration, also known as boot camps, are short-term, highly regimented correctional programs that mimic military basic training. These programs aim to provide a shock of prison life, emphasizing strict discipline, physical training, hard labor, and rehabilitation programs. Mark had one chance to complete this program and has to be a shock of prison life, and emphasizing. had no idea of the hell awaiting him the next six months. The first night was so overwhelming, and you don't know who's next to you.

And we didn't know what to expect in the morning. Nobody tells you anything. Listen to shock incarceration on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A foot washed up a shoe with some bones in it. They had no idea who it was. Most everything was burned up pretty good from the fire that not a whole lot was salvageable. These are the coldest of cold cases, but everything is about to change. Every case that is a cold case that has DNA right now in a backlog will be identified in our lifetime.

A small lab in Texas is cracking the code on DNA. Using new scientific tools, they're finding clues in evidence so tiny you might just miss it. He never thought he was going to get caught, and I just looked at my computer screen. I was just like, ah, gotcha. On America's Crime Lab, we'll learn about victims and survivors, and you'll meet the team behind the scenes at Othrum, the Houston Lab that takes on the most hopeless cases to finally solve the unsolvable. Listen to America's Crime Lab on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

All right, as promised everybody, we have just the, absolute star of this season, Michelle Young, on the Almost Famous podcast, to talk everything Bachelorette. She's super busy right now. We just saw her interviews this morning. She's talking all the time. I hope you're enjoying it. Michelle, welcome to Almost Famous. Talking all the time, huh? Yes. Thank you for having me. Are you not talking all the time? Do you not feel like right now, like some people are asking you questions? I do enjoy my peace and quiet, but no, I definitely it's been a lot. It's been crazy. It's been busy, but I'm enjoying it for sure. Michelle, as a fifth grade teacher, was there any comparisons or like anything you took from

that life to handle 30 men? Oh, yes. I knew that I would like you. Ashley. It was. There was, honestly. Well, one being a first or being a fifth grade teacher, remembering names is something that helps me out big time. And like, being able to keep different situations separate, but then remember details about them because when you're dating 30 guys, I mean, it's really hard to remember all those stories sometimes, but also picking out the BS. You know when somebody's lying, for sure. The, I imagine, I mean, for many reasons, like, you know, we both think that you're going to thrive in this role and we've heard from Caitlin and Tasia that you just do a tremendous job through the

whole season. But I'm wondering for you, what's it like at your school? Because teachers typically are pretty big fans of The Bachelorette and Bachelor. When they found out you're going to be the Bachelorette, what happened? I am very lucky to have this school environment where I'm incredibly supported. It's overwhelming support. But also, what's so nice is that my teacher, is my co-workers, they know and my students know that when I step through those doors, I miss young. I'm able to focus on my job. I'm able to kind of take time away from being in that bachelor role model, which is it's sometimes overwhelming being in this world where you're always in the spotlight and you're always talking about bachelor, bachelorette. And it's, it is, it's this amazing

thing. It's this amazing experience. But it's nice to have that balance. And so when I'm working, when I'm at my school and in my classroom, my focus truly is on my students. And it's really been nice that my co-workers, my administrators, everybody's really respected that. On Matt's season, we loved seeing your family. Your family like just radiates this warmth. And I loved seeing that again in this first episode and how your parents are such relationship role models for you. How difficult was it to like go through this process without getting their feedback on the guys until I'm assuming the very last minute? Yeah. I talk to my mom every day.

You normally do, but you weren't able to this time. Yes, no, not in this situation, but I normally do. I mean, after work, like, she's my phone call. She's the person that I talk to and we talk about our days. And we just, we're so, so close. And so my parents have been there for everything. They've helped me through some really difficult times and navigate certain situations. And so to be through, going through this incredibly important process where you are selecting

or trying to select somebody, where you're going to spend the rest of your life with to not have their input was incredibly hard, but I was very grateful that I had Caitlin and Tisha there who had also, you know, there's that advantage as well because they've been through it before. That first scene, well, one of the first scenes with you and your family is always one of my favorites because I remember, you know, my parents so excited for me, but had no clue how to help me. So nervous, so emotional. knowing I'm going to leave and possibly come back with somebody. And if not, at least I would have a huge life experience.

What was it like for you sitting down with them with the cameras around? And having that kind of be your first moment as, you know, did it hit you in that moment that this, your life is going to be changing, hopefully for the better? That was definitely an emotional moment because like before, they've been with me through the heartbreak. through when relationships didn't work and they kind of saw all that behind the scenes pain that, you know, not everybody sees. And so to sit down with them and just be vulnerable,

we'll be open and talk to them about it. We all definitely have a moment where we get emotional together because, you know, my mom and dad are still so madly in love. And I think the world has seen that. They're going to still continue to see that. And that's definitely kind of my driving force behind what I'm looking for, somebody who is going to stick in it with me for that. And my brother has found that in his relationship with his wife. My sister has found that and her relationship with her husband. And now it's like, it's my turn.

Yeah. So my family has just been incredibly supportive. And we definitely were emotional. You know, I was just thinking of this. You are one of the very few bachelorette. I think Claire was the only other one who got announced as the Bachelorette. and then had months to kind of not mull it over but to prepare you know because you were announced in march and then you didn't start filming until i feel like july so do you feel like you at all over

thought um did you ever get cold feet oh gosh that downtime was the best thing that could have happened because coming off of math season as you know like that was a very heavy season with all of the racial controversies, conversations, everything that was kind of just unfolding and taking place. And on top of that, I was dealing with heartbreak. And so by the time everything kind of came to a head and I was announced, I was so happy that I was going to get this period of time where I could just recharge. And I was back in the classroom. I could hit that reset button. I spent time with friends, family, got a little taste of that Minnesota summer before I took off for filming. But it was just,

just it was so nice that I could get my head and my heart in the right spot to make sure that I was putting my best foot forward and that I was you know ready to fall in love the um we're going to talk about through this first episode with you uh here in just a second um and michel we actually uh have pre-recorded a little segment with beka coofrin um who we discuss uh one of your contestants, Ryan. So let's take a break here. We're going to air this segment and then all of us are going to chat about it with you. Okay. Becca Kufrin, we know Ryan, don't we? We do indeed. I would hate to say unfortunately no Ryan, but we do. We hosted Bachelor Live on stage and I thought I was getting this right. Becca, it was San Jose. He was our bachelor, right?

Yeah, right before COVID hit. Right before COVID hit. So when we were hosting the tour, Ryan was our bachelor in San Jose. And I remember we walked off that and we said, I remember you and I, I specifically remember us getting on the tour bus and having a conversation about, hey, there's people coming on Bachelor I on stage, which is a fun experience. You know, it's pretty lighthearted. It's, it was, you know, it's a great thing to watch and enjoy.

But we're like, there's definitely people here that just want to go on the show now. I didn't have a problem with it. But it was just like, you can definitely see that the Ryans of the world really just, want to go on The Bachelorette or Bachelor at this point. Do you remember that? Yes. Oh, yes. Vividly, especially after that one. And so we get to watch him. What was your thoughts after watching the episode and seeing how Ryan's very quick time on The Bachelorette turned out? Oh, I thought he was such a little BSer. Mm-hmm.

He said on his short-lived time on Michelle's season contradicted, I mean, really everything else. Um, I think he said he had only, he only had watched the show for two hours in total, but I mean, it's not true. And when, when we met him, because we obviously spend time and get to meet and chat with the leads that were on Bachelor Live on stage and the contestants, I mean, he knew a lot more than he was letting out on Michelle's season for sure. And he also was very, most people, I would say that were on the stage with us, were very go with the flow. You know, they just, everyone kind of wings it. You don't exactly know what's going to happen because every night is vastly different.

And he was very calculated, wanted to know everything too. Mm-hmm. We're like, just go with the flow. You're getting to know these girls. You're going to do it all in real time with them. Um, so to see the calculation, you know, in those documents, I wasn't surprised. But also, like, I'm thinking, dude, you're lying to this girl right now in national television that millions of people are not going to see.

But, like, if we Google your name, you're already affiliated with the franchise in some way, shape, or form from a year and a half, two years ago. The crazy one to me was when he was sitting down with Michelle, and he's like, yeah, my friend wrote this, did all this study, and then, you know, she was brilliant. And, like, this is a skill set I did not have when I was the bachelor,

but, like, she read right through it and was like, wait, did you? Because then he goes on to say, like, when I wrote this down, And she goes, well, no, did you write this or did your friends write this? And then, you know, he does the whole, like, deep breath, like, oh, crap, I'm caught. This is over. And I would just say, like, kudos to her for saying, this isn't going to work any longer. Because she was kind of into him, I think, for a bit.

Yeah. Do we all notice that he spelled Bachelorette incorrectly? No. Is that true? I got to watch it. I'm like, if you were this calculated and starting to have all the time, at least it's all the name of the show. going on right yeah that would be especially if they're going to if they're going to do a nice close-up HD version of your notes on national television that's that's I mean hey I don't know I don't know

what to call his playbook like I don't know if there's like a a word that I want to associate to it because it's either like very strategic um very calculated it's either what really well intentioned like I don't know what his intentions were behind it but can we just say how detailed and like how much time that playbook had to take I mean there was 20 pages of like graphs and quotes and then my name got mentioned you want to we want to think it's weird I've been on the show in five years you want to watch a bachelor episode and all of a sudden to hear Ben Higgins mentioned it gets weird and I talked to Tisha about it and I think she said this on happy hour she said it wasn't just front it was front and back notes for page after page after page you were

mentioned Ben, Jason Tartick was mentioned, Zach Tase's fiancee was mentioned. There were a lot, like, the part that got me, though, was what,

it wasn't even about other people. It was like, what was written about him that Michelle right out loud where he's like, you are arrogant, you are this, you are that.

Yeah. Leave that out of there, buddy. Like, it just comes me the wrong way. I got weird serial killer vibes with that one. So,

Michelle, as you just heard, from our interview with Becca Kufrin. We actually knew Ryan. I know Ryan and Becca knows Ryan. Do you know how we know Ryan before that aired? No, enlighten me, please. So Ryan, your fabulous producer,

who is beautiful and stunning and just controls the world, Lady Kay, who is with you right now. And I know she's definitely smiling because she just loves the compliments. She is from a very similar area as Ryan. And when we were in San Jose, California, Ryan was a bachelor while Becca Kufrin and I hosted Bachelor Live on stage. Oh, okay. Okay. And you didn't feel like to stay with me before my first night. Should I feel offended? You should feel offended a little bit, but I'm a little offended too because I didn't recognize them until you guys had your moment in the hotel room.

When you're going through the papers, I go, oh, my gosh. I texted Beck, I said, is this who I think it is? Is this the guy from San Jose? And so I had to confirm it with her, but it was, Michelle, right away. And so, you know, we could dig into Ryan and all those crazy decisions, and we might in a second. But right away, you were dealt with something unseen before in the Bachelor world. I wonder for you in that moment, you handled it so well. You called him out on his BS.

I mean, I think that's something I was impressed by because that first night I was so nervous. and like I wasn't thinking clearly, but you recognized his small little lies. You called him out on the small little lies. And then you confront a situation and you send a guy home before he even makes the group picture, which is just absolutely so sad.

Like, what was going through your head not only in the moment, but also knowing like, hey, for the next, you know, three months of your life, these are the kind of things that you're going to have to navigate through. Yeah. I think in that situation,

it was definitely, I was caught off guard for sure. and what I got out of that situation and how I felt with those documents being presented and you know that feeling if you've ever just a relationship where someone goes through someone else's phone and it's just like ugh like that not good feeling right like I don't ever want to feel that I don't want to feel the need to do this I don't want to feel the need if I feel the need, then that's, that's a red flag for me personally. And so I think that's where I went off of that, of that gut into a feeling. And it was also setting the tone because coming into it, it's like, I'm actually looking for my person. And I need my person to be authentic. And, you know,

I'm not necessarily here to measure and grade everybody on their authenticity, but I'm here to find my person. And I have to go with what I think is invest in this situation. And, you know, that's kind of where I's coming from. Now, normally, we would go in chronological order with how the episode goes. But I think, like, let's do it a little bit differently because we have Michelle here and she's on a time frame. Let's talk about, like, the biggest dramas, the biggest standout moments of the night. Now, I think Ryan probably was that. What else was in that pack of documents that was on the level of incriminating as, say, how to get the most TV time.

Was there anything else that, like, wasn't aired that was super red flag? I think what was shown is just truly what made me the most uncomfortable is, you know, I myself have journaled before and have set goals about, you know, what I want to do and what I want to achieve. But when it comes down to it, I'm never writing notes on how to ask. act and how to pre-ident myself and how to come off as something that I feel I'm not. And so that's kind of where I was juggling that. And that's kind of where my decisions were coming from.

I get that. Jared is like loves to play devil's advocate. And he had so much to say about this scene yesterday when we were watching. He's like, my friend Crystal, the one who signed him up for the show, would totally have typed up pages for me and put it in my suitcase. and I would have gotten caught. We're all terrified of becoming the villain and this guy was just trying not to be the villain

and I could kind of see both sides of the situation. I thought there was like maybe something. I feel like there was like something about his personality and then when you combine it with the papers that made me feel a little bit untrusted, untrustworthy. It was, yes. Like what was in, I mean, what Tash and Caitlin had brought to me was what, you know,

triggered that whole scenario. And then looking through and feeling that in my intuition was another thing. But I'm a big person on having a conversation. And I wanted him to speak his peace. But in conversations, if in conversations, they start to go back on what they said in that same conversation. Yeah. Then I'm like, okay, now what are we doing?

Yeah. So I totally understand playing devil's advocate. And I definitely do that in situations as well. It was more the conversation that was self-incriminating in that own conversation as a whole, take documents, take what people said outside of it that made me uncomfortable. And yeah, that's where I started. Totally get it. And to be honest, I have a couple feelings. One is going to be, this is going to be such a small storyline in like four weeks. Like you, like, I bet in three years, Michelle, you'll even forget that this happened. Like there's going to be so much that you forget. You'll remember like the really meaningful parts. And my honest opinion is you did them a huge favor because can you imagine, I mean, this show does a few things to you, as we all know here. And it always brings out your true character at some point. You might be able to hold on to it. You might be able to fake it.

You might be able to act for weeks. But at some point, you break. And it is guaranteed that you will break. And can you imagine how exhausting it would have been to have a pamphlet of how to act and behave and what to say and what not to say? and then like do that for a couple weeks and if say he's around like that would be so tiring for him so you did him a favor you're very kind in that moment michel nice job yeah it's just more i mean i don't think any of the people who came on my season are bad people you know i'm just trying to find my person and there's that good for you good for you well okay what other big moments stood

out uh during this episode i mean i would really like to know uh michel if we can kind of backtrack to the very beginning of it. You are the Bachelorette. Now you pull up to this resort. This is a big deal for you. And now the guy saw getting out of the car. Were you after their entrances, did you feel more at peace, more excited, more comfortable with the situation? Or were you nervous still walking into the house? I was nervous to give like, you know, walking in that initial toast. But I was excited, nervous. And I think once like the first, few guys got out of the limo, I was definitely nervous, but I started to calm down more because I'm like, okay, like, I'm just going to be myself. That's what I know how to do. I don't know how to be

somebody else, no how to act a certain way. I know how to be myself. That's what I'm the best at, and that's what I'm going to do. And if that's what I want them to see, like, if you fall in love with me, I want you to fall in love with me. And so that was kind of my, what centered me through through that whole first night i got to know about the guy who you were dming with was his name joe joe i go by just descriptions on night one okay so you okay how did you go how did you meet with how you slid in to joe's dms when we need a time frame on this and how you came across him on instagram oh my goodness um minnesota's a small community you know especially athletics is a small community and pre everything you know i had we chatted back and forth and you will see how the rest of that

story unfolds it's quite a story and i did call myself out with sliding into somebody's dms i mean i told you i was going to be genuine i told you i was going to be authentic whether that's throwing myself under the bus by admitting that on national television hey but oh i loved it at least you know you're getting an honest person you know yes i love i sit in the my fiance's DMs so you're good like no shame in that game at all no shame I don't know about him though I I don't know I don't trust him she she shrugs guys she shrugs Ashley we've made this mistake before we've said things like that and then they end up with the person and we got to eat crud and be all embarrassed oh my God who did I do that to

I was so embarrassed. I was afraid. I was afraid that somebody was going to pick and they ended up being like their runner up. Yeah. Yeah. It was embarrassing. Okay.

All right. Night one, he made me go, hmm, that's all I'll say. That's what we'll say. That's what we'll say here. It's great. Michelle, talk us through some of these entrances because they were pretty elaborate.

this season, including the poor guy who had his head stuck in a plate. We talked to the box man. What's his name? Rick. Rick. He, how, so right now I'm just recovering from a knee surgery from playing basketball. How in the world did that poor man's knees hold up inside of that table? I asked him the same question. That's why I said you're going to need a chiropractor. The moment he got out of that table, knowing how long he had been in there. I mean, that was well into the night. It's not like I spoke to Rick right away. Like, he was in there for a minute. He was in there during my toast. And, um, but that also shows commitment. I mean, he was dead to make an impression. He showed me his goofy side. He made me laugh. I mean, he really kind of won if you

think about it. Yeah. I mean, he stood out. I will say that. It was memorable. It was. I like the fact that he, like, played on food. I would have been eating everything off of his plate there, just for fun. Okay, well, we only have, like, a minute left with you. I do want to bring up Nate, though, since he got your first impression rose. And he also got my first impression rose as a viewer. I wasn't sure you were, like, ready to be given out the first impression rose.

I felt like we had, like, another few, like, one-on-one times. And all of a sudden, I was seeing Nate, and I was like, oh, that's the best conversation so far. And then you go and grab the rose. I was like, oh, wow, because she feels the stain. Yeah, we're all on the same page. We really like him. Yeah, it was just, it was a good conversation. And we talked a lot about vulnerability.

And I asked for vulnerability. And in that first conversation, you do, you see him talk about how he doesn't want to talk about, you know, some of the more things that are close to his heart. And then right after that, he pulls down his walls and he does just that. And so that's what I really connected with. And yeah, that's why the rose was given out. All right, Michelle, last question for you. You have a lot. I mean, I mean this, we wish you the best here.

And we've heard great things about you. We haven't got to meet in person. I hope to be able to do that one day. Best of luck through this whole experience. It's a wild ride, but it's awesome. And if I can do it, you can do it. If Ashley can do it, you can do it. you can do it.

But you have a lot of really good looking dudes. They're really good talkers. You're obviously very strong. You could read through that. We've seen it. What do viewers have to look forward to through the rest of the season? If you give them a little shout-up before we say goodbye. Just we had some tough conversations.

We had conversations about race. We had conversations about culture. We had so many different, just in-depth, solid conversations that I don't think are normally had on this and those conversations are important to me and they're also important to the men who are on my season. And so to be able to tap into that little a little bit and how the world see that is something that I think is going to be really special. Thanks, Michelle. Hey, we wish you the best. Thank you so much. Hope to have you on soon. Again. Bye.

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. The Super Secret Festi 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 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 It was hot. Go and touch it. Go and figure it out for yourself. That's us. That's us. My name is Curley. And I'm Maya. In each episode, we'll talk about love, friendship, heartbrates, men, and, of course, our favorite secrets. Listen to the Super Secret Bestie Club as a part of the Mycultura podcast network available on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. My name is Ed. Everyone say hello, Ed. from a very rural background myself my dad is a farmer and my mom is a cousin

so like it's not what do you get when a true crime producer walks into a comedy club I know it sounds like the start of a bad joke but that really was my reality nine years ago I just normally do straight stand-up but this is a bit different on stage stood a comedian

with a story that no one expected to hear 22nd of July 2015 a 23 year old man had killed his family. And then he came to my house. So what do you get when a true crime producer walks into a comedy club? A new podcast called Wisecrack,

where stand-up comedy and murder takes center stage. Available now. Listen to Wisecrack on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A foot washed up. A shoe with some bones in it. They had no idea who it was. Most everything was burned up pretty good from the fire that not a whole lot was salvageable. These are the coldest of cold cases, but everything is about to change.

Every case that is a cold case that has DNA. Right now in a backlog will be identified in our lifetime. A small lab in Texas is cracking the code on DNA. Using new scientific tools, they're finding clues in evidence so tiny you might just miss it. He never thought he was going to get caught, and I just looked at my computer screen. I was just like, ah, gotcha.

On America's Crime Lab, we'll learn about victims and survivors, and you'll meet the team behind the scenes at Othrum, the Houston Lab that takes on the most hopeless cases to finally solve the unsolvable. Listen to America's Crime Lab on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hi, I'm Jenna Calle. 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 happened 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 Overcumper podcast as part of the MyCultura podcast network on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Well, it's always good. having the lead on the podcast as the season starts we'll get it back on later on obviously hopefully to celebrate a love story but if not then we'll still want to break down everything with her at some point but michelle young is off and running with her season of the bachelorette so ashley it begs us the question um episode one was fine in my opinion uh nothing against michel just

Ryan took up most of the episode and it felt like um that dragged out it probably should have because it was such a kind of like important night one storyline. But like not a lot happened that like to grab onto from episode one. Do you agree? Yeah, totally. I mean, but then again, we say it every year. We don't always love episode one. Episode one's our least favorite.

Yeah, it's our least favorite. It just gets us started. The preview happened. We're excited to see what happens throughout the season is, as Michelle said, you know, some of these conversations that she's going to lead throughout the season are important for all of us to hear. but also really hopefully important for the relationships that she's building on the show. And so that's going to be something that we watch and kind of get into and see just how these men respond.

I have a feeling, Ashley, that Michelle is very comfortable asking the tough questions. Like she won't stand back from that. You know, we've seen it in past leads when they aren't good at asking questions and they're not good at digging deep and they're not good at follow up and they're not good at pushing how just hard it gets to watch. No offense to the men, but it's usually the bachelors. Oh, 100%. We'll say it. It's most of the, like, I can, I'm not going to name them right now, but like, it comes in mind like three of these guys who's like, these seasons fell way short because you just

sucked at dating. Like, you were terrible at this thing. But Michelle, I believe is going to be really good at it. And I believe it's going to really progress some relationships forward. And we're going to hopefully be able to get into it because they're going to get deep. And, well, anyways. Hey, listeners, I encourage you to do this along with us. But as always, we're going to start episode one with this question for a resident expert, Ashley Akenetti.

Ashley, who were your top three men that stood out to you? You don't have to give him an order yet. But what three men stood out to you from episode one? Well, like I just said with Michelle, definitely Nate. There's just a good vibe about him. Like how he was uncomfortable, but then just went in. and leaned into the uncomfortable and then I

and I feel like they're they have physical chemistry and all that too I liked Clayton you know like as I think we're all supposed to like Clayton he's of course the new bachelor and I did get warm vibes from him

liked the family dynamic there liked the way he carried himself seems confident but not cocky and then I liked Jamie. Jamie just seemed to be that guy that's really easy to talk to. And he was very attentive to her. So those are my three. Yeah. What about you? Yeah, I was going to say, I was going to say Jamie, Nate and Brandon. Um, actually. The only thing about Brandon. Yeah, Brandon, uh, they, the name on here is listed. We'll get better at names as we go. But it was listed as Brandon J. I don't know if there was a second Brandon. Um, but I like Brandon. I thought he, he, He was just kind and sat down. He just gave good vibes.

However, and maybe it's a look. And I need you to tell me this. Our listeners, you need to tell me this because I have to put a tie on fairly soon in my life. His tie was so long. Like, his tie was, it was outrageously long. It stood out to me. But I liked him.

So Jamie, Nate, and Brandon are my top three after episode one. And what was like the standout moment for Brandon? Like, what would I know him by? I mean, mostly their time on the couch. And so we didn't get a lot of one-on-one conversations with Michelle in episode one because, you know, Ryan took up a lot of the night. And there's a lot of guys to go through. But really, they were sitting just on a couch together having a conversation.

And it felt like, you know, when you just initially, when a guy makes eye contact or when somebody makes eye contact with you and they feel like they're in the moment, like they're where their feet are. It felt like Brandon was where his feet were, to me. It felt like he was very much invested in the. moment and and I'm excited to see where this goes because episode one he he definitely made an impression on me and I was like hey this guy this guy seems like a good dude nice all right yeah there I feel like uh I don't know if it's Brandon J or Brandon K people will know him to you were

like a silver tie um black suit you know one of those dudes you'll know we'll know give give us two weeks I feel like this first episode more than recent first episodes I didn't connect with a lot. And I'm not remembering as many names. So I hope that changes. I'm sure it will. Obviously, Clayton stands out and we connect with his name, but it's because of the anticipation of what's to come to him or what we assume, you know, it's not been official yet, but we assume he is an ex-batchelor based on Jesse Palmer's, you know, picture being posted with him. But he is, he did stand out to me, but I was very focused on him the whole time. And yeah, he was great. I mean, he was nice, he was kind.

You know, a great moment with his, with his mom. And he was kind to Michelle. I mean, yeah, he seems awesome. But I think that was just a given to me. Like, oh, of course, Clayton's going to stand out. He's going to stand out the whole season. He's going to be like star number two on this show because he's got a big future in front of him. Yeah.

First time this has happened in a long time or ever that we get to literally just to know based on episode one who the bachelor is and follow him along with that in mind. Yeah? Yeah. And I don't know if I like it. I wish I was not really fair I think it's going to well and I think it's going to keep me from investing too deeply into his story with Michelle like if he does get his heartbroken or if there is a relationship there I think in the back of my mind I'm like dude you we all know you're fine like we all know you're good and I don't like that like I want to feel things with each person I want to feel things in each relationship and I I do say for the viewer it's a little sad because like if Clayton does um you know stay on for a while I feel like most people will watch and be like yeah but Clayton you're the next bachelor like come on can't be that upset also that's like when we get down to top four like say he's in the top four like I would imagine him to be like we already can eliminate him we're like oh okay well he's gone so it's really between these three guys yeah all right yeah

that's gonna be weird I don't know anyways hey episode one is done that's big for us now we start to dig deep team listeners we start to get involved episode one is always Ashley and I mean it might be our slogan for the Almost Famous Podcast. We're never fans of Night 1. It's always hard. The only thing I was a fan of a night one in recent memory was the backdrop to Matt James' season because it was so beautiful. I was like, yeah, I'll watch this forever.

I was thinking about that last night. I was like, I miss Nemecullen. Yeah, that was a cool place. All right. Hey, that's it for the Almost Famous podcast today. We will be back next week, breaking down Michelle Young's season of The Bachelorette. Really exciting time for the Almost Famous podcast because we do have the Bachelor Bracket, Bachelor.

at bracket going on. So make sure you go out and fill out your brackets. We will be picking a winner at the end of the season. Again, the rule for next week is any contestant, you get 10 more points if they hug a Michelle Young on a group date. That's a lot of points being given out, I bet, next week. Anyways, hey, with that, I've been Ben. I've been Ashley. Bye guys. Follow the Ben and Ashley I, almost famous podcast on Iheart radio or subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts. Anya Emanzor. 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 now.

Let's start with a quick puzzle. The answer is Ken Jennings' appearance on The Puzzler 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. To give you the answers and you still blew it. The Puzzler.

Listen on the IHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get. your podcasts. Our I Heart Radio Music Festival presented by Capital One is coming back to Las Vegas. Vegas. September 19th and 20th streaming live only on Hulu. Ladies and gentlemen. Brian Adams.

Ed Sheeran. Fade. Glorilla. Jellyroll. John Fogarty. Lil Wayne. L.L. Cool J. Mariah Carey. Maroon 5. Sammy Hagar. Tate McCray. The offspring. Tim McGraw. Tickets are on sale now at AXS.com. Get your tickets today.

AXS.com. 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, got you. This technology is already solving so many cases. Listen to America's Crime Lab on the Eye Heart 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 IHeart podcast.