The Ben and Ashley I Almost Famous Podcast - Mattitude

Episode Date: January 12, 2021

Harvard Bennett from Clare/Tayshia’s season shows a different side than we saw on the show and he reveals what he could have done differently that would have completely changed everything!Ben and Ashley talk to the “Bachelor Analyst” who uses stats and data to predict what will happen on the show! Find out a clue to your next Bachelorette! A special performance from country star Chris Bandi and the star of his new music video, Luke Pell! 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.

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Brought to you by Novartis, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports Network. This is the Ben and Ashley I, Almost Famous Podcast with IHartRadio. Welcome to another episode of The Almost Famous Podcast. Ashley and I could not be more excited to be talking to you on week two of Matt James' season of The Bachelor. Ashley, what's up? Hi, Ben. Not much. I mean, I have a lot to say about this episode.

episode. Mostly about Victoria. I feel like 75% of all I have to talk about today is Victoria. It's a lot, isn't it? Well, hey, we're going to break down this week's episode in just a bit. Before we do, we do have some incredible guests today. Chris Bandy and Luke Pell are coming on here in just a second. Chris Bandy is a country singer. Luke Pell was in his music video. We got to figure out what in the heck. How did Luke Pell get in a country music video when Luke Pell is a country singer? And also later on in the podcast, We're going to have Bennett Jordan on, as well as somebody I'm super pumped to talk to. And I know Bachelor Nation is falling in love with this person via social media. Susanna, the Bachelor analyst. Now, you might have seen her recently with her Bachelor Instagram kind of breaking down all the data from the seasons

and talking about who gets more followers, who's spending more time on air, who's not, whatever. It's super interesting. And actually, I know you and I are both fans of her. yeah it's going to be really cool to get her insights from this season like she has real data guys like i'm looking at a chart right now it's like 42.4% of the screen time is given to white contestants 38% is given to non-contestants so like the lead and chris harrison so very interesting stuff like that it's uh it's a super interesting concept she came up with I didn't know about it until Tasha's season, so maybe it existed beforehand.

But we're going to talk to her. We're also going to break down the episode. It's an action-packed, Almost Famous Podcast. Ashley, before we get into our very first interview, as we mentioned last week, and we're going to mention again, if you go to MyFanthreads.com slash Almost Famous. Now, MyFam Threads is a company I started with a buddy a little over a year ago, and we do on-demand printing for Paril. Well, Almost Famous has teamed up with My Fan Threads to start an apparel line. This stuff's great. It just says, like, Almost Famous, which who doesn't want to wear something that says

Almost Famous? You go to MyFanthreads.com slash Almost Famous to pick up our podcast merchandise. It would be a huge help to us and just, I think it's good stuff. It is. Thank you guys for supporting the show. You can do so by buying some merch. Hey, our very first guest of this podcast is somebody that we have been intrigued by, confused by. we've been a huge fan of

and at times questioned which is why it's so great to have them on this podcast because now we get to ask them these questions in person and hear his answers and like we always say once you hear somebody's story

it's really hard not to like him well Bennett welcome to The Almost Famous podcast Thank you. Thank you guys for having me pleasure to be here. How's your day going? Good. Really good Look what I'm wearing on your behalf. Oh that's a girl

I got my Robert sweatshirt on I love it. I love it. Staying cozy. Good, good. So, um, Bennett, the way that Ben introduced you was so perfect. We like, we loved you. We were confused by you. We were like, what's he thinking sometimes? We were always entertained by you. How did, how did you come home from filming The Bachelorette and think you were going to look versus how you did come across? You know, I knew they, excuse me, I knew that I was kind of put through the ringer there at the end, you know, and I had some ups and downs. I knew it was going to be a bit compromising. I didn't know, you know, to the extent, on the beginning of the journey, how things would kind of shake out with the, you know, seen with Damar doing the Chateau, you know, Benet tour or the roast or anything like that.

So I didn't have many expectations, but I knew that, I knew what I put out. there I was very confident in it and I knew that the ending was going to be highly dramatic and I was hoping that you know after we went sort of full circle at the very end I'd be left in a good light and hopefully people would be a little bit maybe confused or you know thinking into me a bit more and hopefully understanding that I was coming from a good place well I think one of my favorite parts of this last season I love the season was the tour with the mark I think that was hilarious. I think it was, you know, it really was the time where it was like, okay, but here's my question for you. I was on the side of this whole thing being, hey, he isn't putting on a

character. This is who Bennett is. And then that scene aired, I'm like, okay, he's playing this up a little bit. Like, he knows what he's, he knows what he's walking into. He's a Harvard guy. You know, he's, he's fine dressed. He's going to, is he playing into this character or not? And then I never quite figured out if it was a character or if this is who you are. And so if we were sitting down across with each other, I would ask you this question. Like, who are you Bennett? Like, are you that guy or was this just you following along with what the show wanted? You know, it's a great question, Ben.

I think it's probably a little bit of a combination, but for the most part, you know, it's me. I think when I was given a massive, you know, room compared to the other day, guys, I started scratching my head a little. That seemed a little bit off. Um, you know, a number of the guys thought I was a producer, uh, for a few weeks and thought I was kind of on the other side. So that was, that was a strange one. Um, what's, yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly. Um, so, um, that was, uh, that was a funny one to me when they, you know, a couple guys told me that, But basically, you know, I took it in stride. I kind of realized what I put out there, the first, you know, perceptions of me being a well-dressed guy, New York guy, Harvard guy.

And, you know, as I said, I think those are all kind of pretty hateable characters for America, characteristics for America right off the bat. You know, you kind of want to poke holes in that guy and figure out, you know, what's wrong with them. So I thought that, you know, given that I had the kind of big room in the chateau out of the gates, I knew I was going to be fighting against that to try to let my, you know, true colors and personality and, you know, heart really, above all else, shine through at the end. So that was the challenge that was kind of set forth with me, knowing that, you know, who wouldn't be jealous of a guy that's given a massive room?

And, and, you know, so that was really the biggest, I guess, hurdle. But, you know, Ben, honestly, the majority of it is me. I think, you know, I'm very well aware and assure of myself and know how I carry myself. I know how that can come across. And sometimes you have to play that down a little bit and hopefully, you know, joke along with everyone and get, you know, on their good side. But I know what first impressions are like, you know, it's nothing new. I'm very used to it. Yeah.

Okay. So how big was your room? Like, how was the living's agenda? like in this in this place because normally we are used to like having to bunk in a room with like 12 people you had your own room and it was bigger than everybody else's yeah yeah i had my own room um i had a living area with a couple of couches and a fireplace sounds nice i had a kitchen um i had a half bath i had a full bath i had a fireplace in the in the bathroom that was also in my bedroom at a king size bed and then I had a hot tub and a pool all to myself.

So, yeah, my mornings, you know, were pretty great. I'd wake up super early, you know, try to get out and, you know, it's obviously very hot in the desert, get a little yoga and get a little dip in the pool, make a green juice and go get breakfast before, you know, most of the other guys were already up, you know, even up. So, you know, what was their living situations like? I mean, if yours was like that, give the comparison to what they, I mean, no wonder they're a little jealous. Yeah, exactly.

No, the other guy's rooms were generally a typical hotel room, and most of them had roommates. So it was like a double bed where you could reach across and hold your roommate's hand while sleeping if you really wanted to. So, you know, needless to say, there's plenty of reasons for people to be jealous or like, you know, why is this guy getting special treatment and stuff like that? Interesting, interesting. Okay, so one of the most mind-boggling moments for us as viewers was that you came back after you were eliminated. and Tasia was not ready to let you go, and she had you come to the rose ceremony.

But based on the way that you left her initially, I think a lot of us were like, okay, yeah, he's gone, right? She doesn't care, but she apparently cared. You guys had something that was stronger than what we saw. Do you think that there were a lot of moments of significance that were not shown? Yeah, I mean, I don't want to, you know, talk too much about behind the scenes, things I can't, right? But there were definitely some really, really heartfelt moments there. I think we had a really special moment.

We saw snippets of it where we were talking about her prior relationships, you know, my engagement, her marriage. You know, and I think some of the guys that, you know, went even further than me down to the very end there, didn't even know that she had been, you know, engaged. And I'm talking like, you know, final four guys going into. to the final four, didn't realize that. So, you know, certainly had some very, you know, impactful, heartfelt moments. I think I had speckled a lot of things alluding to, you know, my background, my childhood, my upbringing and all of those things, you know, like in that art scene, I said, you know, the furthest thing I've come from is, you know, a privileged background

and just trying to speckle things along the way as much as you can so you can hopefully be awarded that one-on-one time that's really required to, you know, get your full story out there. unfortunately was cut a little bit short and so it didn't get to get you know that full spectrum you know and our hometowns or anything like that um but you know there was definitely a lot of heartfelt moments there and you know i had very very very real feelings uh you know for tasha so uh two follow-up questions and i'll start with this one um what was your upbringing like so i don't think we got into it uh when you when you sprinkle that in and you're hoping to tell more of it what what would you have told Tisha.

I mean, obviously, you know, getting to, you know, introduce your family is one thing. But I think what, you know, meets the eye, like those first impressions that we were talking about earlier here in the interview, right, you know, successful, Harvard, New York, you know, privileged, you know, rich guy. And that's certainly, you know, not me. I came from a very, very modest background growing up in suburbia of Atlanta. You know, my family did very much value education. and I'm lucky that, you know, my mom and my dad were big on that and put me through private

school and such, but I was always on extreme, extreme financial aid, you know, and it was a situation where, you know, times were tough. Money was tight, you know, growing up. You know, I remember times when, you know, as a kid, I went to public school through fifth grade and, you know, I remember counting pennies to try to roll up, you know, a dollar because that's what it cost for public school lunch, you know, back in the day it was a buck. And, you know, There was some mornings where I had to do that. You know, my dad was actually homeless during the time that I was at Harvard. Not a lot of kids that I went to school with, you know, had homeless fathers, you know, as you might imagine.

So, you know, there's what meets the eye. And then there's kind of, you know, what's deep down here. And there's a whole heck of a lot that makes me who I am today. And that makes me as confident as I am and who I am and what I'm putting out there because I know my heart. And was, you know, a little bit unfortunate that it was cut short. And Tisha didn't get to get that full spectrum. but you know it is what it is so one of the the moments that i think most confused us or maybe made you into a character we couldn't understand so you have this story and i appreciate thank you

for sharing your background sure um but it was the noah gifting side of things right this is a moment that i think it was the lead up we're watching it we're going okay this is going to be something nice this is going to kind of calm the waters they're going to be able to move through this and it obviously did not do that uh it became a story that it lasted longer what was your intention uh with doing that because i'll be honest if i was sitting in noa seat i would have been offended um i would have been thrown off i would have been confused it wouldn't have felt like a good gift so what were you hoping to get out of it yeah um so you know twofold um Noah as we were kind of leading up to that moment um you know Noah was the one that was the one that

told, well, actually Tisha, let me take that back. Tisha was the one that said, you know, I'm going to get to the bottom of this tension with you guys. I was kind of confused at that point because aside from a few, you know, comments here and there, I never really felt tension. I had plenty of tension, you know, growing up in a sort of household with an abusive, you know, father. I know tension. And any comments back and forth between Noah and I certainly didn't really amount to tension in my mind. And so that, you know, going into it, I was kind of curious as to what, you know, his beef was because he had also said repeatedly the same night that said, the teacher said she's going to get to the bottom of this. No, it said, you know, I think you're cool. I think you're smart. I think you're a good guy. And I think you're funny. And so, you know, you kind of add those things up and it left me questioning what actually is going on here? What is, you know, this, you know, tension? You don't say that you think. someone's funny and cool and smart if you have, you know, beef and tension with them, generally speaking. So when I made the gift, you know, it was certainly a parting gift. I thought the parting was probably going to go a different way than it did. But the idea was to give him, you know, three things. One, something that, you know, showed that I was funny

because he said that I was funny, too, something that showed that I was a good guy and that I had no actual beef or, you know, tension with him and wanted to be, you know, friends when we get out of here. And then three, this is something that, you know, means a lot to me, the emotional intelligence piece. And obviously the one that came off as being, you know, condescending. I think probably all of them ended up coming off as condescending. But the one that was more impactful was the book. And that was coming from a place where, you know, I've got a younger brother who's 12 years my junior. And, you know, Noah's 11 years my junior. So it's a pretty easy, you know, comparison there and I don't think you know honestly to me I think age is a bit more than a number

I think age is you know the sum of your experience and your life experience and as you know you mature as a person you gain emotional intelligence hopefully knock on wood you know over time but um it was a book that I had read you know a number of times and had sort of thought about it going into the journey and then was reflecting on it as I was coming into this you know two on one with Noah and I had all of these different instances and how, you know, he had acted in various stages of the journey and how I had acted. And I simply, you know, wanted to kind of give him that comparison and leave it as a bit of a teaching, you know, learning moment. And hopefully it would dissolve the tension, you know, at the same time. And, you know, from a tertiary benefit from my standpoint, make it very

glaringly obvious to Tatia who, you know, the person is that she should keep her out. But unfortunate it went the other way now in hindsight do you regret the gift do you think it would have changed things you know i don't because i know that it was me being true it was coming from a genuine place um you know i did think it would be you know some good entertainment i also thought it would be a genuine way genuine way to deliver something i care a lot about um i guess you know the the kind of regret and thinking back on it i maybe i should have just gone up to Tasha and said, hey, Tisha, if you really want to be with Noah, then you definitely don't want to be with a man like me. I totally understand that I'm happy to walk out here right now and

just left the onus totally on her because I think that could have been another mic drop moment where it's just like, that would have left the audience thinking, why did Tasia pick Noah over Bennett? And then I wouldn't have had this whole sort of spiel leading people to be able to point their finger at me and say that I'm condescending. But, you know, it really doesn't bother me. I know how I put things out there and I know where it's coming from. So is what it is. You came back after being eliminated in that moment and told Tasha that you were in love with her. Once you left the Bachelor bubble, did you reassess that statement?

So you're referring to when I left for the second time, right? When I was fully gone. when you just when you said I love you yes yes did you reassess it like I mean when you exited the bachelor bubble and you're like we're on the plane home and you're like now that I'm removed a little bit I don't know if I true no you know in that moment in that moment I absolutely you know felt that way I think um any of us who have used the L word throughout our lives at different stages at different times and different places you know it means different things and you have various levels of emotions at this point in my life i have a sense and a feeling

for that i was completely all in i could really envision tasha and i ending up together and you know there was a the moment there um after we had talked about you know our prior relationships where i felt like i was getting to fall in love with her didn't get the chance to really you know deliver that i think i had it you know said it in an interview but um kind of you know fast forwarding a little bit and going through the things that i went through and the first kind of go away and then the coming back i'd really had time to reflect and dig into my thoughts and my feelings and emotions and i wanted to you know put that out there um that is how i felt you know at that time been it obviously uh your ride on this whole show has been crazy uh you're a character that we're going to talk about for a long

time to come uh you've made a name for yourself so as we look into the future will you still continue to have involvement with the franchise and if we ask if somebody asks you go to paradise would you say yes? Oh, man. You know, Paradise is, you know, one thing I'm not certain on that. I love the franchise. I love the experience. I would, you know, do it all over again, you know, tomorrow.

I think it's really going to come down to both a personal and business, you know, sort of decision for me if it's the time that Paradise is coming around, where I'm at, you know, in the year, where I'm at, you know, emotionally, relationship-wise, all. of those things. You know, right now, I don't think that I would do it. I'm not saying that for any reason other than I just, I have a lot of work to do this year and a lot of things that I'm looking to accomplish. But, you know, I'll never say never. And, you know, I also just kind of want to reflect on whether or not Paradise is the best place for me to go and find love. Well, I can tell you one thing. If you do go and you get a fancier room there,

It's going to go down because that is some, that's an upgrade that people will just not be okay. Well, it's not going to be funny. You don't think that's going to work in paradise? No. Maybe he'll get his own chateau to himself. Yeah. I was thinking maybe a yacht that just parked out in the ocean and then like you could have people take dingies over to me or something like that. Maybe that would work out.

That might be a good way to do the chateau. I mean, that would be freaking hilarious. Now you're already putting creative ideas into the producer's minds. There you go. Hopefully they already got some things churning. But, you know, I just really, you know, paradise-wise, it's a flattering, you know, consideration. And, you know, I'll continue to think about it.

And I'm totally open to it. I'm not saying no. But, you know, just something that's kind of going through my mind with everything else, you know, in the world. Well, before we let you go, I just got to ask, Have you been on a date since appearing on the show? And was it with Andy Dorfman? No, no, Andy Dorfman.

You know, I've been on a couple of dates and, you know, they've been all right. Nothing exceptional. Nothing repeated. You know, I've had a couple of one-offs and that's about it. Okay. At least you're out there, buddy. Hey, Bennett, thanks for coming on again. you were a great content for our podcast. We talked about you a ton. Thank you for joining us today.

We wish you the best. And I think Ashley and I've said it for weeks now, even in the midst of the most confusion about you, is we hope to see on Paradise. We hope to see you there. And you know what? If you do pull up in a yacht, I'm not going to blame you. I cannot think I would not be mad at you at all. I would say that guy is doing it right. Thank you, man. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I appreciate it, guys. Thank you for having me on. Hey, we'll talk to you soon. Have a great one. My name is Ed.

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

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Every episode gets real about the why behind these changes and gives you the inspiration and maybe the push to make your next pivot. Listen to these women and more on She Pivots, now on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The U.S. Open is here. And on my podcast, Good Game with Sarah Spain, I'm breaking down the place. players, from rising stars to legends chasing history, the predictions, well, we see a first-time winner, and the pressure. Billy Jean King says pressure is a privilege, you know. Plus, the stories and events off the court, and of course the honey deuses, the signature cocktail of the U.S. Open.

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an IHeart Women's Sports production in partnership with deep blue sports and entertainment on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports. I don't write songs. God write songs. take dictation. I didn't even know you've been a pastor for over 10 years. I think culture is any space that you live in that develops you. On a recent episode of Culture Raises Us podcast, I sat down with Warren Campbell, Grammy winning producer, pastor, and music executive to talk about

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Well, as we mentioned, we're going to break down this week's episode as we do every week. during a season. This is the second episode of Matt James' season. We're really starting to get to know the contestants a little more. However, nothing this episode to me was shocking. Ashley, I want to hear if you have the same opinion. And I say that because I think what we saw on night one felt like a good sense of what we got on week two. Ashley, I know you have some strong feelings about this episode. Take it away. But yes, agree with you. I think that we saw a lot of the same faces get screen time this episode as we did last week. Like the girls that we expected to see growth with, we got. When I say that, I specifically mean Bree and Sarah. They both had great

one-on-ones this week, really meaningful conversations. But as far as things that are shocking goes, I have to disagree because I think that Victoria, her whole being is shocking to me. But it wasn't, but it was expected, right? You watch, yeah, I'm not shocked. It was expected. Okay, it was expected, you're right. But her as a human being to me is beyond. Like, I was watching this thinking, like, is she an actress?

Because normally you see the villains. And you know, you guys, when we use the term villain, like the, Controversial character. Controversial character, because oftentimes villains are very kind. hearted and they they're different than what we see on TV. But with controversial characters, we see them like give a sly smile, laugh at themselves, be cracking jokes, to have a sense of self-awareness. We see them like almost enjoy egging people on. I think that with Victoria, this is her natural constant state of being in every grade of school she ever went through

and every friend group she's ever maybe had. She has the kind of personality that I don't know how she can keep a friend, as horrible as that is to say. She's just the old, she's just a nuisance and she is so reactive to everything. Everything's offensive. Everything is rude. Everything sets her off and everything is the hugest deal ever. How do you feel?

Yeah, well, here's my take. and it's the very first time I've ever watched a season and you know this and people who've listened to the podcast know this I'm never one to say that this thing is scripted like ever like I've been in it for too long I would have known by now like it's never been scripted and after the first episode I think I told you Ashley well this seems weird this is the very first time I'm watching this character on television I'm going was it placed like because this feels like a lot and typically like you might not be there be there to make friends but you're there to at least try to like get along and not start stuff out of nowhere and it takes a few

weeks for people to kind of understand each other and get annoyed by each other this is fiery right away but here's where i want to switch a conversation to this season has so many great characters so many great stories so many important people that like are just really incredible humans and i don't want this to fall into what we've seen for the last few seasons where all of a sudden the controversial characters take up the first four weeks of the show. It's going to happen. But it's not fun for me to watch. Maybe it's fun for the viewer.

Maybe that it is entertaining. Maybe that's what you want to see. But I feel like this out of any season has so many great storylines to it that we don't need it. Like we don't need the controversial characters right now. And I don't want to be, I don't want to sit at my TV and feel judgey the whole time because I'm like, why are you getting mad? This is ridiculous. This is annoying. Like I don't want to have that like reaction.

I want to sit there and enjoy. what's going on in Nimakolin. At least, usually when we get the four weeks of controversial characters, they're entertaining to some degree. We kind of love to hate watch them. I know I said this last week, but like there is nothing I love about watching her. It's getting hard. Week two was at times confusing.

It's definitely going to be a storyline at least for a few weeks, I would imagine. Like, I don't know if Matt's caught on yet. I think he's confused. I think he's confused. Let's just like skip up. Let's just concentrate on Victoria and that whole Victoria Maryland storyline for a second. And then we'll go on to the good parts of the episode. I think that that could be his only downfall as far as not having experience in the franchise.

Like he's not seeing the situation clearly. I have no idea why he seems to be taking Victoria's. word more than the very sane-seeming Marilyn. Well, I think at least the first couple weeks, you're right. I do think his experience plays into it. He's not used to the drama in the house. He doesn't know how these things usually go, right? If you're in the house, you see people start to disagree and argue and you're usually like a little more attuned to that. He doesn't have that. And so if he doesn't have that, then you have this sit down. It's the very first time that he's been really confronted

with anything controversial yet which week two is really early to be kind of you know confronted with anything controversial and so now I bet his mind I'm assuming here but I bet his mind goes to a place of intrigue of curiosity of what's going on and how do I do this well because as we've said it every season the mark of a good bachelor bachelor bachelor is not if they're likable or not right they're going to be likable it's how do they handle controversial and difficult situations so he's now because he and I talked about before the season like I'm sure in the back of his head and he's probably not listening to me at this point he's just doing what he does best but it's like I've been the back of his head he's going how do I handle this well I don't want to mess up right away this feels like

a big issue how do I do this and make sure that this doesn't ruin the show I guess my experience my natural instinct if I even had not been part of the show before would be let me talk to some other people about how they view these two characters. But that gets dangerous, Ashley, and we've seen leads do that in the past. And when you bring in the mob and you bring in the group, then all of a sudden there becomes like somebody that is vilified, maybe for the wrong reasons, maybe people don't have something out to get her. And like, you want to keep this as closed as you can so it doesn't spread out amongst

the whole group, that it doesn't become a controversy amongst the whole group because you want to keep your drama isolated if you can as a lead and handle it there confront it there now if you later on need to move to the group you can but i would recommend going out and being like hey i you know these two girls said like and you don't want to talk about other girls with other girls i mean i get it but also matt just like based on just sitting down with the two of them which one do you think is being is more dramatic like it's just very obvious to me that the drama queen who's maybe a little off putting maybe a little bit too much in certain circumstances like just like kissing you and grabbing you all the time and having a bra strap show at a formal event you're just like which

one is maybe a little bit more off in this situation and i'm sure he's starting to become attuned to it right he's starting to ask around to producers hey what's going on here give me some like give me some insight and they're going to start like they're not going to tell him but they're going to start like helping him He's going to start asking the right questions, I think, now. Like, you see it week two. He's going to start asking the right questions now. But here's always the thing to remember. We can't forget this, is you and I and every other viewer gets to watch the show and see everything go down.

Like, we see the issues in the house. We see the conversations in the house. We see the arguments of the drama in the house. Matt doesn't see that. He hasn't experienced it yet. He's getting small snippets of that. And as he starts to become more attuned to her, more than, knowledgeable. We're going to see him, I think, start to go, wait, this isn't okay. Like,

this needs to stop. Or maybe he's into it. We don't know yet. Maybe he's into Victoria's nuttiness. Maybe we don't know yet. Like, what if this, I mean, hey, we, we, we never know how this thing can play out. I've been more shocked in my life, uh, watching this show. But like, we don't know yet what Matt's into. We're just getting to know him as well. I just have to say, like my heart goes out to to maryland for having to have to room with her and if she gets eliminated because of her like man does that girl deserve a spot in paradise like give it to her now i'm sure she's going to get it's similar to uh what's his face i forget his name at this point but the guy uh from it was on clear season night one when he confronted joseph and then he was sent home oh yeah um you know that same guy has a very similar storyline. He's going, hey, something's wrong here. This isn't okay. This guy isn't who he said he is. I want to bring this to your attention on night one so that like this can be stopped. And then he's the one that goes home. Yosef stays and we forgot about him. And he got

the wrong of the deal. So maybe the two of them can go up to paradise. Ashley, let's skip now to the one on one day. Okay. The very first one on one in the season, it's a big deal. We're going to talk to our bachelor data analysis analyst here in a little bit about how important the one-on-one is. But Ashley, you know, Bree was one of your favorites after last week. So I'm sure you're pumped to see her here going this day. Definitely put her in my top four. She's definitely staying in my top four. They go on ATV rides.

It was very cute, very authentic feeling because he, well, turned the car over. And that was really scary. and I audibly gasped, but at least they had something to kind of laugh about and break the tension, like no awkward moments after you experience something like that together. Maybe they joked about a little bit too much. I was going to say, you could tell, I was going to say that's like the first thing. And I mean, you expect it. I think people are going to like find it endearing.

But it's like the very first time that you see, oh, Matt hasn't done this before. Like he's not, he doesn't understand yet that he's going to have to have a bigillion conversations. He really, I mean, here's the secret, you just got to ask a lot of questions. Like, you're not going to have something to say about everything because you have, you know, 20 conversations a day. So ask a lot of like questions to your, to your date. And at this point, we saw, I think, for the first time, I was watching it. Jessica was watching it.

We're like, okay, they've brought this up a lot. Like, this feels like the space filler we don't need. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I couldn't believe that they kept showing it. I was like, wow, they keep showing it. This must really be all that they're talking about right now. but they finally get over that hump when they sit down to dinner

and they talk about their relationships with their dads and how in the family that they wish to develop in their futures they want very present dads they want to have a close family unit to crawl their own

it was definitely something that they bonded over last week and continue to do this week I like it they're on the same page she's really pretty very sweet he's very sweet i i did i feel it she gets the rose i mean you know brie and matt once they got over the whole like hey we fell off and um sorry for like talk you know that ended we did get to see them both open up and the cool thing is like you know brie really shares her story

and it's one where her mom was pregnant at 13 13 and brie is a fantastic human like how incredible is this story to really like think about i thought about it a lot, to be honest. It was like I had to press pause and just let that soak in. The mom was like, well, she was 13 and she had a baby. And she grew up, it looks like she just turned out a beautiful human. And it's something awesome. It's crazy to think that her mom now is 37.

And her mom is starting another cycle of her life again. You know, she's, I think she's engaged. Here's something crazy. Yeah. Here's something that I thought about. Her mom could have been the Bachelorette, could still be the Bachelorette. And she, like, I mean, think about it. Claire was older than her mom.

Her mom is younger than Claire. I mean, and that's, like, super impressive. Like, this whole thing is something to be, like, what an incredible mother she has. What an incredible, like, story that is. And Bree's awesome. But, like, that puts things into perspective where, like, her mom is, like, kind of at the age where you could go on the show. I don't know if her mom's single. or what but like she's engaged in having a new baby oh well that's huge yeah that's massive

celebrate that she's not going to come on the show she's doing her own thing now well actually as we see this date kind of play out we obviously you know love brie and we think she's going to be around a long time she's incredible she gets the rose uh we've already spoken about the victoria drama that just kind of keeps popping up um throughout this date throughout the first part of this episode and really throughout the whole episode But we then move into Matt's very first group date with Victoria being on it. Now, Ashley, I think you know what I'm going to say. But I'm not a fan.

I'm a fan of the show. I like a lot of the show. I'm never a fan of the whole wedding stuff. And I think they've overplayed it. And I just don't love the idea of these wedding picture things. I think the photographer is great. I think he's fun. But like, we got to stop it.

Come on. every season now i know it's so weird i was like we saw this four weeks ago yeah crazy it's like you guys you're creative you come up with a lot of good stuff i know that it's limiting now that you're shooting in one spot but the wedding dress thing has got to go stop like it's a special time to put a wedding dress on don't you don't just make it like it's nothing it's and it's just a little awkward right especially on the first group day like matt standing there um and and one other thing that i'm and i feel like a critic uh right now and i don't i do mean to be i guess um is it's never great to set the bachelor or the lead up to have to kiss other

contestants in front of the other contestants it's not it's just not right it's awkward it's it's not good for the heart like it you know once you see it you're never going to get like really it out of your mind kind of um and i know it's playful and it's fun and whatever but like the whole concept of that was like just not fun for me to watch it wasn't i didn't get anything out of it for me particularly it's the first kiss i'm like why would you waste your first kiss girls because he wasn't going in for any of these kisses in front of people like when you're basically throwing yourself at him like wait for a moment that builds it's so this wasn't my favorite day but it kind of turned into something fun it felt though like this day and and i love it um it became

chaos and I think like the show did a good job at showing us it but I'm sure like if you were on that date that whole like obstacle course like thing that they were doing in the wedding dresses it became just kind of a mess like I don't think it made any sense and so you just have a bunch of people running around trying to get this heart finally somebody wins and it like closed the deal but I think watching it was just probably confusing to be there no there's no rules and and Polly was asleep at the couch. Polly is a stage manager who's been playing a bigger as seasons go on. He was the ref here.

Very, very sweet man. He also makes me very nervous because you oftentimes, as part of the cast, only see him during roast ceremonies. But he's so, so sweet. Anyway, yeah, I just kind of want to reiterate

what you just said. I think that these types of battle dates never do anything for me. They don't tell you much about somebody's personality and nine days out. But then, of course, whose team?

goes on to get the nighttime portion of the date, it's Victoria's. And Victoria was devastated that she didn't get the group date rose. But for all of us watching, it was obvious that it was going to go to Lauren. Lauren and Matt had a great conversation. She said that the reason that her parents have been together in such a happy, long marriage is because the church, God has always been first and foremost in their relationship. And Matt's basically like, that is the kind of relationship that I want, but I never talk about it with other women. So I thought it was a really big deal. I also thought they had pretty cute, flirty banter when they were talking about Wake Force versus North Carolina. Yeah, it was a cool moment because, you know, you're week two.

You don't know these women very well. Matt's probably super stoked because they're beautiful. But you're still like unconvinced a little bit that there's somebody there. actually for you. So he has somebody sit down across him and say the things that he's always dreamed of hearing and a partner. And he's taken back. Like he's like almost speechless in his response if there was one because I think he's just like, holy cow, like I've got an amazing group of beautiful, incredible, kind women. And you see that kind of play out with Lauren throughout this group day. She does get the group day rose. Not surprising. Which leads us into the next one-on-one. Sarah gets the one-on-one.

I'm a big fan of Sarah. I think she has, she's going to go a long ways. I don't know if she's one for Matt, but I think she has a big personality. I think she's, like, really into Matt. I think she's a great choice for an early one-on-one. But Victoria, you know, again, we bring her up, but she's upset that she doesn't get this one-on-one.

She's upset that she's not getting more time with him, which, hey, it's week two. Like, we've all got to pause a bit. but Sarah does go on the 101 and they go on a biplane which as I'm watching it Ashley my palms are sweaty so scared because so scared yeah I mean what an incredible way to capture like the video footage is amazing but it makes it so like I just get so nervous yeah the foliage is beautiful but no I plan on never getting in a plane that small forever Not my, not my jam. I would be very nervous up there. I understand that that adrenaline boosting

type of date really bonds you quickly, but it's a hard no for me. Not that. Of course, though, if I was on The Bachelor, I'd be like, fine, let's go up there. Did you ever do anything that you felt very, very uncomfortable, physically in danger of when you were at the Bachelor? No. No, I got pretty lucky. There was never any like massive heights, which I, I, just don't love we ate a lot of weird food and that's great with me i kind of enjoyed that but yeah i i got lucky yeah so sarah and matt sit down like a little campfire environment after their plane ride he could tell that she wasn't really opening up about her family yeah and it was quite obvious to anyone i think that there was something that she was missing out on uh so she he

encourages her to do so again over dinner and that's when she talks about her dad living with a l which is just the most honestly like fear-inducing disease to me like it's just it's just so awful and I my heart goes out to her and her family and her dad and she is so strong and she's so amazing being a caregiver for her father you can just like feel the strength of their relationship

but you know what was like the most such a great bachelor moment to me in all this was was when he you know mad is like overwhelmed by the fact that she's choosing to be there dating him and then he's sad is there anything that i can do to prove that i am like worthy of being a partner to you what a cool question right i mean it it it's hard to like equal the playing field you know when you're the bachelor and you have contestants with the bachelor and you have contestants because it kind of typically feels like the contestants are trying to prove themselves to The Bachelor.

Like auditioning for him. Yeah. And one of the coolest things I think any Lee can do is kind of level the playing field and saying, no, this is about us. Like this is our experience. This is our journey. This is not about me having any type of power here. It's about us figuring out if there's love that can exist in this environment between us.

And obviously, you know, we sit here as the audience. We got to meet Sarah's dad during, you know, the very first episode. we kind of saw her family so we all knew like what was going on it couldn't be easy for her to talk about um but like this was a great moment when matt responds with this because i think for her right now she probably does have her family on her mind right like there's a lot going on at home and she obviously helps out a ton at home and for her for matt to say like hey i just want you to be comforted that like you're going to be here as long as i'm interested in you and as long as you're interested in me I'm not going to drag you along in this, but I also along the way wants you to know that

I feel, I'm privileged to be like with you here in this environment. It's just really awesome. And this date was like, I was a little bit nervous for it when she wasn't saying anything because I felt like Matt knew she was holding back and he's not really interested in somebody 's going to hold back. Like he wants their stories. So I was like, don't let this go. like don't let like don't not open up don't pull a bin smith and like have to come back on the show

and say hey there's actually something that i meant to say and she says it and i feel like you know she because of that in mass response like she rose to one of my favorites um and we'll talk about here later on after the episode but what an incredible one-on-one date we had some great one-on-one dates this episode but that brings us into kind of the final part of this episode which is the cocktail party uh a big storyline there is we get to see abigail again who we've obviously missed this whole episode pretty much. She's great. And I mean, their connection's awesome.

There's a comfort there. You know, obviously Matt's into her. But we already talked about the Victoria Maryland drama. That becomes toxic at some level, just like Victoria was saying Marilyn was toxic. Ashley, do you think this is going to be a big deal? Like, do you see Marilyn going home from this? Yeah, that's what I'm freaked out. Because if you look at the scenes for the next episode,

It looks like the girls are really starting to be like Victoria, like needs to be gone. And I think that that's the kind of reaction you get when somebody undeservingly goes home. So worried about that. Very interesting that during the rose ceremony, the person that gets faint starts blacking out is Sarah, who has a rose. Those are incredibly intense moments. I know you guys watch at home and it probably seems like horrorline silly, you know? You're probably like, this is a show, blah, blah, blah. No, those are like, your heart is pounding during those moments.

So I'm surprised we don't get more people who faint more often. And let's not forget, this is not a secret anymore with the show. We're not giving anything away that hasn't been given away before. These rose ceremonies are not 10 minutes like we watch on TV. They're hours long. Like, there's cameras that drop. There's people that take breaks. There's new cameramen that come in.

They pick up the whole time the cast is standing there. still and like i don't know about anybody else i once passed out at my uncle's wedding like i think it was i mean it's had to be over 20 years ago because i was standing up on stage for too long with my knees locked and all of a sudden down goes ben it can happen like it's not shocking to me because you're standing up there for so long and that's it that's a goofy little guy but yeah your heart is pounding your nerves are raging for that long but it was interesting that it was sarah which makes me like a little concern she even says in the voiceover that you know Matt's contemplation like it could be you know this who knows where this soundbite came from

but she says something about Matt possibly keeping Victoria makes her worried about whether she even should be staking around I mean yeah we don't know where that plays out right it's going to be interesting but a couple of few final notes notes here before we end this segment is really cool of MJ to stand up for Maryland I thought it was a really cool thing for her to do is Victoria sits down and starts saying Maryland's toxic and MJ very patiently, very calmly just because I've never seen her be like that. I can't support that because my opinion is that she's never been that way. And I think that's how you handle those well. And we see it with MJ. Ashley, if we rated this episode

and then give us her top three contestants to this point. Oh, my rate for the episode is I paused just because I was thoroughly entertained but a lot of it was because I was just in awe of Victoria's behavior I'm going to go with another eight like we had some mind-blowing 10 out of 10 episodes during Tasha's season so I'm going to use that as like the height the bar the bar top three contestants right now yeah so definitely Bree I'm still going to put Rachel in there

It's the same as last week. So it's Rachel Brie and Abigail. And I would say, like I said last week, Sarah's definitely up there. But I would put her in my top four. I'm going to say a seven because I just don't think we got enough out of it. I think it's week two. Again, this is always a lull episode. We're going to get better here.

I thought there were some kind of awkward moments. I think Matt's getting the swing of things. I think he's going to be great. There was some drama that I just don't love watching. It just makes me feel uncomfortable. and it kind of like hurts others in the process. Someone gave it a seven wasn't my favorite episode, but my top three, it's going to be Abigail Brie.

And I'm going to put Sarah up there as well now over Rachel at this point. I think Abigail, Bree, Sarah. Hey, Ashley, let's take a break and we'll come back with the Almost Famous Podcast. 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 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 IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. 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

Well 22nd of July 2015 A 23 year old man had killed his family. And then he came to my house. So what do you get when a true crime producer walks into a comedy club? A new podcast called Wisecrack, where stand-up comedy and murder takes center stage.

Available now. Listen to Wisecrack on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Have you ever wished for a chance? change but weren't sure how to make it. Maybe you felt stuck in a job, a place, or even a relationship. I'm Emily Tish Sussman, and on she pivots, I dive into the inspiring pivots of women who have taken big leaps in their lives and careers. I'm Gretchen Whitmer, Jody Sweeten, Monica Patton, Elaine Welteroff. I'm Jessica Voss. And that's when I was like, I got to go.

I don't know how, but that kicked off the pivot of how to make the transition. Learn how to get comfortable pivoting because your life is going to be full of them. Every episode gets real about the why behind these changes and gives you the inspiration and maybe the push to make your next pivot. Listen to these women and more on She Pivotts, now on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The U.S. Open is here, and on my podcast, Good Game with Sarah Spain, I'm breaking down the players from rising stars to legends chasing history.

The predictions will we see a first-time winner and the pressure. Billy Jean King says pressure is a privilege, you know. Plus, the stories and events off the court and, of course, the honey deuses, the signature cocktail of the U.S. Open. The U.S. Open has gotten to be a very fancy, wonderfully experiential sporting event. I mean, listen, the whole aim is to be accessible and inclusive for all tennis fans, whether you play tennis or not. Tennis is full of compelling stories of late. Have you heard about Icon Venus Williams' recent wildcard bids or the young Canadian Victoria Mboko making a name for herself.

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

I think culture is any space that you live in, that develops you. On a recent episode of Culture Raises Us podcast, I sat down with Warren Campbell, Grammy-winning producer, pastor, and music executive to talk about the beats, the business, and the legacy behind some of the biggest names in gospel, R&B, and hip-hop. This is like watching Michael Jackson talk about Thurley before it happened. Was there a particular moment where you realized just how instrumental music culture was to shaping all of our global ecosystem? I was eight years old, and the Motown-25 special came on.

And all the great Motown artists, Marvin, Stevie Wonder, Temptations, Diana, of all. From Mary Mary to Jennifer Hudson, we get into the soul of the music and the purpose that drives it. Listen to Culture raises us on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Well, one of our favorite parts of the podcast is breaking down Bachelor headlines. We've got a few to break down for you today. Ashley, our resident expert on all things pop culture and Bachelor headlines, we're going to start with you on the very first one bachelor's peter weber moves to new york city after split from kelly he's ready to go he says this according to us magazine actually this is

confusing okay well to make this a bigger i don't get it kelly's actually also moving to new york too they're both moving to new york and they're just not going to live together she says that she's not moving until march she'll be she'll be in florida until then but that is freaking weird okay so obviously it has nothing to do with the move They broke up for way other, way bigger reasons than the move. I don't know. I think that was probably obvious. But I just really didn't expect them both to end up in the same city.

It's just all weird. We know so little about this relationship, right? Like, it felt like it was good to the end. It felt like it was good till it wasn't. That's all we see publicly. But, hey, next headline is this is super interesting. Ashley, I need you to explain this to me because I tried to do it on my own. but I just couldn't figure it out.

Twitter thread about Bachelor contestant Kristen Hopkins helping a former classmate goes viral. This according to people. Okay, this is crazy and very cool. Kristen Hopkins, she's one of the attorneys on Matt's season. She hasn't had a lot of screen time yet, but hopefully she gets some because she's a hero. She went to school with this girl and on their way back from an alumni event. the girl's on the train with her and like they weren't together

like they were going over each other's houses or like gonna go grab dinner or anything but she was watching out for this girl because there was this guy who was being super creepy talking about like babysitting for his daughter just really hitting on the girl

but like not in a cute way he apparently was married and he was kind of trying to cheat on his wife with this with this girl. But she said that she was being too dull, just not picking up on his creepy vibes, but Kristen did. And she went up to her and she said, girl, this man is creepy. He's hitting on you. And she just said basically that she saved her because she could have been getting off the train

and getting into trouble with this guy. But she prevented it. So cool. Such a cool story to see. and really awesome that the girl remembered Kristen and then highlighted this story. It went viral, so a lot of people heard it this last week. Next story is one. Obviously, we have a couple of headlines here about Heather Martin come back on the show. We'll wait and talk about those once she does. Well, the final headline today is one about the most recent bachelor couple, Tasha and Zach. Ashley, they were spotted out and about in New York City.

What was going on? Well, she ran a charity 5K. with him this week and gosh, I hope that she's a runner because that would not be like an easy thing. I get in a couple and then all of a sudden I'm expected to run things. It doesn't really feel like your thing, Ashley. It doesn't really feel like you and you and Jared met and you're like let's go for a run. Like you work out. You love to work out. You stay in shape. But like running is not your like favorite, right? Yeah. It's not. That's not my ideal workout. But I think that Tasia fits the role and it was very sweet to see them doing something for charity together.

it's awesome well hey Ashley let's take a break here when we come back more of the almost of his podcast my name is Ed everyone say hello Ed from a very rural background myself my dad is a farmer and the 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. On 22nd of July 2015, a 23-year-old man had killed his family.

And then he came to my house. So what do you get when a true crime producer walks into a comedy club? A new podcast called Wisecrack, where Stan up comedy and murder take 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 shock incarceration, also known as boot camps, are short-term, highly regimented correctional

programs that mimic military basic training. These programs aimed 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 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. Have you ever wished for a change but weren't sure how to make it? Maybe you felt stuck in a job, a place, or even a relationship.

I'm Emily Tish Sussman, and on she pivots, I dive into the inspiring pivots of women who have taken big leaps in their lives and careers. I'm Gretchen Whitmer, Jody Sweeten. Monica Penn. Elaine Welteroff. I'm Jessica Voss. And that's when I was like, I got to go. I don't know how, but that kicked off the pivot of how to make the transition.

Learn how to get comfortable pivoting because your life is going to be full of them. Every episode gets real about the why behind these changes and gives you the inspiration and maybe the push to make your next pivot. Listen to these women and more on She Pivots, now on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. The U.S. Open is here, and on my podcast, Good Game with Sarah Spain, I'm breaking down the players from rising stars to legends chasing history. The predictions will we see a first time winner and the pressure. Billy Jean King says pressure is a privilege, you know. Plus, the stories and events off the court and, of course, the honey deuses, the signature cocktail of the U.S. Open. The U.S. Open has gotten to be a very fancy, wonderfully experiential sporting event.

I mean, listen, the whole aim is to be accessible and inclusive for all tennis fans, whether you play tennis or not. Tennis is full of compelling stories of late. Have you heard about Icon Venus Williams' recent wildcard bids? Or the young Canadian, Victoria Mboko, making a name for herself. How about Naomi Osaka getting back to form? To hear this and more, listen to Good Game with Sarah Spain, an Iheart women's sports production in partnership with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment

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

This is like watching Michael Jackson talk about thoroughly before it happened. Was there a particular moment where you realized just how instrumental music culture was to shaping all of our global ecosystem? I was eight years old, and the Motown 25 special came on. And all the great Motown artists, Marvin, Stevie Wonder, Temptations, Diana Raw. From Mary Mary to Jennifer Hudson, we get into the soul of the music and the purpose that drives it. Listen to Culture Raises us on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. all right guys we got chris and luke on the phone you guys just did a new music video i think i think

the first question about getting a music video done right now is how did you do it so luckily we shot that one before everything uh shut down for a while i think we shot that one probably last well not last the last um november i guess in 2019 um um um Wow. So we didn't, it was easy to do it then. No social distancing or anything. Well, this obviously is a great song. We have you on.

Chris Bandy is on and Luke Pelt is in his music video. Chris, we've seen it done before where a bachelor, a bachelor contestant is in a music video. Country seems to be our realm. Why did you choose Luke? We had a few running scenes and Luke looked much better running of Nashville than I did. So he was our

first call. Is there any romance in this video? You know, it's kind of a funny story. So there is no romance. I think the only time that they were in a shot

together was a big fight outside of a bar. And then the whole premise of the song is saying, You know, you've learned from your mistakes. You've grown up a little bit.

You've taken all of your wrongdoings and become a better person from them. And then we kind of left it as a cliffhanger at the end. So kind of like the movie The Breakup, you don't know whether or not they get back together or whether they don't. So it's kind of up to the viewer's perception. We got Chris Bandy on. Again, Luke Powell was in his music video, Man Enough Now, Luke, you're a country. singer yourself. Is it common in the country world to be in somebody else's video? How did you decide was even a tough decision at all? I wasn't a tough decision at all. I love Chris and the whole

team that works with him. And so when they asked me, I was like, heck yeah, dude, I'm down. I'm excited to do it. I'd known the song for a couple of years prior to since I met Chris and we became friends. And his song before his record deal came out and happened and was signed and everything, he had already put that song out independently, and it had just killed it on Spotify. It was viral. And so I was a big fan of the song and of Chris and knew about it well before they asked me. And then when he got the record deal, that's when they went ahead and decided to do a big budget video and all those things. And so I was just, you know, glad and honored to be a part of it. Well, that begs the question. Chris, are you

a bachelor fan? Is that how you thought, uh, Luke Pell, perfect to be a manly man in this role? So I've watched a few seasons of The Bachelor. Um, I would say not to my accord. My girlfriend is, is a fan and I started following along because of her. Um, but Luke and I actually met in the, the country music world. And we've played quite a few shows together and just hung out, um, in, Nashville so we've been friends for a long time and having him in the video was was an awesome experience kind of a full circle thing and yeah it was it was awesome to have him and he killed it as you can see in the video well something big and i mean my fiance's from franklin and so i've gotten to be around nash a little bit got to meet a couple country singers i know this is a huge deal

now i always enjoyed watching these on youtube and stuff but you made your grand old opera debut February 25th. That's a massive deal in country music, isn't it? Thank you so much. Yeah, it was just, I mean, moving to Nashville, you kind of know that the Granal Opry is the pinnacle of venues to play. And it was on top of my bucket list. And I remember when we got the call, my manager said, hey, you're playing the Opry, you know, in three weeks. And my heart just kind of sunk into my stomach because I was already so nervous. but the the people that have played that stage and have gone on to be members of the granite robbery i mean it's it is so ingrained in Nashville history that getting to do that

was i mean something that i will never ever forget i hope we get to play it many many more times but that first time was just incredible well before we let you guys go we want to hear a little if you will a little verse of your new single would have loved her which if you do do a music video for it we would suggest you use Luke again absolutely

it's a three part series or Ashley yeah awesome well you'll be the love interest I wrote this so I wrote this so I wrote this song thinking about my grandpa who passed away about six months before I met my girlfriend.

And I just had this idea that, you know, if he were still around and gotten the chance to meet her, he would have loved her. And I brought this idea in with a good friend of mine who I write with all the time, Zach Kale. And we were kind of throwing ideas out and stuff. And he told me that his dad actually passed away before he met his wife.

And we kind of, you know, knew that we were going to write this song that day. And yeah, this is my brand new single to country radio. And it's called Woulda Loved Her. She's from a small town. like you just got a smile like a lot of the room she's pretty as a hallelujah but don't let it fool you she dance when she drinks she says what she thinks miss me a better man like you did I miss you and wish you could just meet your sweet girl because I bet you would love her

love it look I just added to my Apple music well thank you so much much so good so good so awesome well hey again that's chris bandy everybody luke pell is in his music video man enough now debut self-tider d p released may 29th of 2020 and you had a hand in writing four of the seven tracks chris bandy everybody luke thanks for coming on we appreciate y'all thanks for having me y'all bye love you guys thank you guys so much love the way that ben adds to y'all when we're talking country i know it's just come on Got to put it in, Ashley. All right, guys.

Up next, very interesting technology director and data analysts. Her name is Susanna. And in December 2018, she began analyzing the impact of The Bachelor on social media and analyzing data surrounding the franchise. You can find her data analysis on Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, at Bachelor Data. So welcome her to the podcast, guys. Hey, Susanna. Hey, thanks for having. me so what made you start analyzing the bachelor data so it's a funny story i had just become a

technology director and i didn't know how to use spreadsheets so nothing at the time sounded worse to me than taking an excel class so i decided to start following instagram followers of people who were on the show to try to figure out if there was any correlation between what happened on the show that could lead to more instagram followers it's such an interesting pursuit and i honestly i came across your page kind of randomly, I think, during Tatia's season, was really the first time it came to light. And I mean, I've kind of been watching, and I think you might tell me different, but I feel like it has grown since Tatia's season. Like, I think it really has caught fire. But the thing that I'm always so impressed with, there's so much data that goes into the show, right?

Like, what color dresses people wear, what color clothes people wear, how much screen time there are? Like, how does it look like when you're watching the show and you're plugging in these numbers? Like, how do you do it all? and how do you conceptualize it into something that makes sense? Yeah, so the night of the episode, I actually try to sit down and enjoy it. I sit down and I just watch and I just capture general screen time. So some segments during the show, like is it a 101 date? Is it a group date?

Then after the episode's done airing, I'll go back and rewatch it and I'll analyze for things like screen time. So I'll break down how long people are on the screen and who's featured. And then I'll also try to find some novelty things to collect data on. So this last week, I analyzed dress colors, were they sparkly, were they not, and different things like that to try to see if there's any correlation between what we see on the show to tell us what might happen in the future. So you've been doing this since 2018. So you've had a couple seasons. Are there any trends or themes that just seem to stay constant? Yeah. So the big thing that whenever it comes to the show and data is screen time is golden. So if you are on the screen, you have a really big chance of increasing your Instagram followers. And I always find that interesting because you can't say that that generally always works.

Because when you look at different people and different types of screen time, there's a ton of variables that take place there. So not all screen time is equal. So if we look at last season with Tasha, the Bennett and Noah drama, they got tons of followers out of that. So you can see that people are interested in following these people on Instagram after the show. But then if you look at some other people like Yosef, it doesn't really translate as well to followers. So it's interesting to look at what the screen time looks like and then how people look at it. But then looking at some other data, I think my favorite that I found is that the first one-on-one date, which is on tonight's episode, is one of the biggest indicators for the Bachelor, at least, on who's going to become the next. Bachelorette. Who in the past has had the first date and then become Bachelor of Bachelorette?

Yeah. So the last 12 seasons of The Bachelor, six of them became the Bachelorette eventually. So if we look at Hannah Brown had the first one-on-one date, Becca Coofran, we had Claire Crawley, we had Ashley A-Bair, we had Allie Fedatowski, we had Jillian Harris. They all became Bachelorette, and they also had the first one-on-one date. Very interesting. That's so interesting. Now, what about when it comes to villains? Because I don't want to call Bennett a villain, but he was controversial, right?

But he was in no way the kind of villain that Yosef was. So when it comes to villains, is there a kind of villain who gets more followers than others? Yeah, I mean, it's one of those. things, it's how likable they come across, right? So, like, Demi is a great example that she got played up as having drama in the house, but people love her. They follow her on Instagram. She went on Paradise. You know, she had a really, you know, likable personality at seams as, because people are following her. So it's one of those things that not all villains are created equal. But the key thing there is that they're getting screen time. They're not disappearing in big

group dates. They're getting screen time, even if they're not on a one-on-one. well you know the interesting thing about data and why i find you're so interesting is you know you are just a few years in so your data is still at a micro level now over time when you continue to do this and i hope you do it will become big data at some level like you're going to have a lot of information a lot a lot of patterns that you can see do you feel and no spoilers here but are you starting to get a sense of what's going to happen in the show based on the data that you've already received the last two years. Can you almost predict spoilers now for the show before the episodes even air?

Not really. So something that's important when it comes to this data is that you have to remember that this is all focused around a show about somebody who's trying to fall in love with somebody. So you can't have data predict, you know, who is this person going to fall in love with? But there are certain things that can kind of give you early indicators on who's going to last long. And that's around screen time, right? They're not going to spend a lot of time, at least what I've seen so far in watching this show, gosh, since Jake Bevelka's season, is that they're not going to spend a ton of time building up somebody's character for them to only go home week three. So keep you an eye out on who's getting a lot of screen time.

But you can really see around episode four and five. At that point, who has a lot of followers, who's getting a lot of screen time will generally indicate who's going to make it to the final six. or so. So screen time, anything weird, like anything totally unexpected, like the color that they wear, the tone of their voice, you know, weird entrances. You know, one thing that is a really good indicator that I just started tracking during Clarentia's season, that's been my first, you know, shot at trying to take featured screen time data.

And I'm not talking like, Ivan has a one-on-one date, so all that time goes to him. I'm talking, okay, it breaks from Ivan goes to Tasha, so let's stop the time for Ivan. When I take that, I'm also documenting if that's a positive, a neutral, or negative screen time. So it's kind of how the person's being portrayed. If it's a positive or if it's a neutral, a neutral is like, you know, they're in an ITM and they're just kind of narrating what's happening on the show. A negative would be, you know, the interaction between Bennett and Noah. those with more positive screen time

tend to make it further in the season. Very interesting. So let's make it about Matt James in here for a second, right? We've seen the first two episodes at this point, but on the first episode, we can see the limo entrances. There are some really, like, I mean, this year out of any, I think they were super entertaining.

They were very talked about. The ones, the two that stand out to me are like, goat shoes and the vibrator. Those two, I just thought, were super intriguing. Could you tell from your data if one of them was better than the other based on following or response? Sort of. So, you know, Katie, the one with the vibrator, she didn't gain a ton of followers. This last episode, it was really Abigail was the star of the episode.

And that's normally true with every season, whoever gets that first impression rose, they get tons of followers that week. and I'm talking, surpassing 100,000 followers. But with the gimmick versus traditional limo entrances, the thing is, is that if you do a gimmick, you're going to be on TV longer. And normally that segment, there's a structure to it where some of the women will come in.

They'll have more of a traditional entrance. Like, hi, it's nice to meet you. I'm so nervous. I can't wait to talk to you inside. And then you have the gimmicks. You know, you have the vibrators. We also have the people who are showing up with a car or something like that. And they just generally get more screen time.

So with that, you can build some more early on favorites because they're more memorable. But what's really interesting is if you look at the trend of gimmicks, actually your season, Ben, had the highest number of gimmicks overall. Looking at the past six seasons, but a lot of the people who actually make it towards the end all had gimmicks. So it's something that helps them be memorable, but it also helps with. their story too to kind of get them started you do some data on race representation and we've seen over the past couple seasons that there's been a more diverse cast more diverse leads is there anything interesting as far as that growth that's been demonstrated to the numbers yeah so I think this was one of my favorite things that came out of my data analysis the first season I did was

colton and tasha was actually on it and that season I was really just trying to find tiny trends in the little amounts of data that I had at the time. And Tasha was the first trend that stood out to me because screen time didn't translate to followers for her. And the only variable that I could find there, and there was somebody else in her season two, was that they were non-white contestants. And something that's been really great that I've seen since then, that I've been watching it with this, you know, more of a data-centered attention is that, you know, casting is one thing, but also seeing them in the storylines and having more screen time for them. It's been improving, especially

Tasha's season. If you look at the breakdown, and this way I try to do most weeks, especially once we can get past the first few weeks where I can actually recognize people, is trying to see equitably what's the breakdown of people who are white versus non-white and then seeing, you know, are they shown equitably on the show? Because that's also important in being able to see people on our screens that have different backgrounds like we saw on Tasha's season. I'm telling you what, this is a great follow. You got to follow it, Bachelor Data. It's just interesting.

I mean, even if you're not a massive fan of the show, this stuff has been intriguing to me every time you post about it, every time you share it. I'm into it. I watch it. it is I think it's going to kind of like I really believe this as much as this is a fun project probably for you I think it's going to revolutionize a lot of like how people watch the show I think it's going to like bring a different kind of interest and intrigue into each episode we actually and I both specifically on our I heart text thread said we got to get you on the podcast and I got we got to get you on again like I think this is such a fascinating thing you're doing again it's bachelor data now You're our last guest of this episode. And so here at the Almost Famous Podcast, we have something that is an honor to us, and I don't know if it's an honor to anybody else

that ever does it or listens. But we're going to ask you to close out this episode with us. So if you can stick around for one second, this has been another episode of the Almost Famous podcast. We'll be back next week, breaking down Matt James' third episode of his Bachelor season. It's fantastic. Such a fan of this season, such a fan of Matt James.

With that, I've been Ben. I've been Ashley. And I've been Susanna. Hey! We'll be back next week. Bye. Follow the Ben and Ashley I, almost famous podcast on IHartRadio or subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts.

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

Then Emergency Intercom is the podcast for you. Open your free I-HeartRadio app. Search Emergency Intercom and listen now. I just normally do straight stand-up, but this is a bit different. What do you get when a true crime producer walks into a comedy club? Answer, a new podcast called Wisecrack, where a comedian finds 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. When your car is making a strange noise, no matter what it is, you can't just pretend it's not happening. That's an interesting sound. It's like your mental health. If you're struggling and feeling overwhelmed, it's important. important to do something about it. It can be as simple as talking to someone or just taking a deep, calming breath to ground yourself. Because once you start to address the problem, you can go so much further. The Huntsman Mental Health Institute and the Ad Council have resources available for you at love your mind today.org. The U.S. Open is here and on my podcast, good game with Sarah Spain. I'm breaking down the players, the predictions, the pressure. And of course, the honey deuses, the signature cocktail of the U.S. Open. The U.S. Open has gotten to be a very, wonderfully experiential sporting event. To hear this and more, listened to Good Game with Sarah Spain

and IHeart Women's Sports Production in partnership with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Brought to you by Novartis, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports Network. I was diagnosed with cancer on Friday and cancer free the next Friday.

No chemo, no radiation, none of that. On a recent episode of Culture Raises Us podcast, I sat down with Warren Campbell, Grammy-winning producer, pastor, and music executive to talk about the beats, the business, and the legacy behind some of the biggest names in gospel, R&B, and hip-hop. Professionally, I started at Deadwell Records. From Mary Mary to Jennifer Hudson, we get into the soul of the music and the purpose that drives it. Listen to Culture raises us on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

This is an IHeart podcast.