The Ben and Ashley I Almost Famous Podcast - S21, #12: The Engagement, The Break-Up and the Rumors

Episode Date: August 8, 2017

Rachel chose Bryan, but was it the right call? Ben and Ashley reveal her chances at happily-ever-after. Plus after what's been dubbed 'the worst break-up ever' fans are left with a Peter hangover. Will he get his shot at redemption as the next Bachelor...Or will Ben be back dishing out roses again?!! We go straight to the source.  Eric Bigger joins Ben and Ashley for more behind the scenes...and the latest from America's sweetheart, Dean! Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is the Ben and Ashley I Almost Famous Podcast with IHart Radio. Hey, everybody. I am back. I am excited to be back, ready to be back. I've missed you all. I've missed Ashley a lot. But on a reunion, which is this moment, she's late to the podcast. So I'm waiting for her in my car, but we have a really special guest. And so I can't get in the studio yet, but I had to call in because I had to call in because, Because we have Eric Bigger in studio with us right now. Eric, welcome to the Almost Famous Podcast. Yes, yes, yes. I'm happy to be here.

How are you feeling today, Ben? I'm feeling good. There we go. There we go. I love it. I'm probably not feeling as good as you are after a big night last night. Tell us about how you're doing. Man, I'm phenomenal, man.

I've been doing interviews all day, but I feel great. The closure last night was phenomenal, and I'm happy. Yeah, man, I want to tell you right now. Now, I watched last night, and I always respect somebody who can leave an experience like this or a situation like this with their held, held high, complimenting and reassuring someone or something that may have hurt them. And I love the way you treated Rachel last night. It shows your character and who you are as a person. So thank you from all the fans out there. Man, I appreciate it.

Thank you. So we got to get into it, Eric. I want to ask you some big questions. I was a fan of yours all season. I think you carried yourself well, like I said. But here's a big question, all right? I'm going to put you in the hot seat for a second. Let's go.

Did Rachel pick the right man? Ah, man, that's a great question, Ben. Open it up. There we go. Let's go for the juggler. Honestly, from watching the show last night for the first time, I don't think she picked the right man in that moment. Really?

Yeah, prior to seeing the show, I always thought Brian was the guy for her once I left so but and Brian you know we great relationship he's my guy I love him he's cool but I felt bad for him you know it's it seemed like he was a rebound you know I could be wrong but that's what it looked like in my eyes and maybe the feelings they have for each other is different from what I see but oh man it was it was tough I was like wow yeah well you know I'll be honest I'll be honest with you, I kind of felt the same way. And I'll go into it here in just a second on the podcast, on my feelings for a situation. But you're not alone in that.

I actually feel like a lot of Bachelor Nation kind of felt the same way. From the reactions and the emails that we got on the almost famous podcast, I think people were a little bit confused and a little bit at the end of it felt kind of like Rachel was saying. There was a lot of unanswered questions, especially when it came to Peter. Yes, absolutely. that was emotional but let's focus on you for a second because honestly

you had an incredible a season one that I and I think I want to ask you about this before I get in any other questions you call it a miracle season what does that mean so you know AFR March 13th when I first came on live audience when I met Rachel

I told Rachel I said it's a miracle season what's meant to be will be in that moment I didn't know exactly what I was saying but once my journey began I got my miracle the miracle was fall in love but in between me

falling love you know I was emotional I was I was I was all over the place I was stressed out it was hard it was uncomfortable but it was worth it

so in between that and I always correlated to you know a female having a baby you know when you go through nine months of labor is very uncomfortable your hormones up and down it's just all over the place

but when the baby comes out that's the miracle. So I think anything you get in life, which is a miracle, it doesn't come easy. But if you're willing to work through that in between, that process, you can get your miracle. And I had to go through it. I mean, I got banged up. I almost dislocated my shoulder. I fell off the golf cart. I mean, Rachel got into it. I mean, the guys in the house, I got into it with them. So my whirlwind was crazy. But at the end of the day, I got my miracle. I fell in love. And it felt great and it changed my life. And winning a boy and became a man. So, that's out to ABC and everybody on that's fine.

I feel like you, out of anybody that I watch, really took this experience to heart, and you made it a reality for you, right? You did. Like you just said, your whole season was a roller coaster. You fought, you argued, you got hurt, you bounced back, you fell in love. So you're ending this experience in love. Are you heartbroken? Like, how are you doing the day?

Man, I'm great. My heart is full. I think prior to going into the show, my heart was broken, meaning that I didn't have love in my heart at all, if I can remember. I wasn't complete as a person. I think that's the one thing I was lacking. On the back end of the show, I allow Rachel to give me love and I received it. Now, now I'm full, now my life can really begin, and I can do the things I love and want to do. So I'm complete.

She completed me, you know, and I got what I was, I served my purpose in that moment on the show. I didn't end up with the girl. but I got love, which I was missing, so it was great. Did you think last night she came across a little bit harsh to Peter? Absolutely. Very harsh to Peter last night. Very, I was shot. I was like, whoa.

She took it to heart. She took it very personal. And I think it was no one wanted to compromise. And what happened, this would happen, just because I'm very analytical. Rachel put herself in a buying. from saying, I want a proposal. So she held herself a cannibal in a place where it was, I think it was pride.

Her pride wouldn't let her not do what she wanted to do. And that was she wanted a proposal, and Peter didn't want that. So if it wasn't proposal, then she's like, you're out, which I get, but I don't know. I mean, sometimes, you know, but I get it. It's hard. It's really hard. She made her decision and, you know, and now she's off the races. But I just think if she never would have said.

I want a proposal, and she made that the priority, she would have been okay. And Ben can say how he feels. I felt she wanted a ring more than she wanted the right guy. Right. She would have taken that ring from a dead body if it said Neil Lane. Right. And that's how I felt on the show. When I was in Spain, I told Rachel, I said, what does marriage have to do with commitment?

If I'm committed to you, marriage is just the icing on a cake. I said, wherever girlfriend, fiancé, wife, I'm fully committed to you. That's a relationship. Forget the marriage. What is marriage? That's just a word that you. You give the connotation of, oh, my God, I'm married. It's like, but I believe love and marriage is two different things, you know, but everyone's different.

That's my perspective, but, you know, Eric, let me ask you, Dan, because you know better than any of us. So there was some hostility from Rachel towards Peter last night. Is there some story we haven't seen? Where is that coming from? And is it because she was in love with Peter? I mean, what do you believe was happening there? well all i know is what i what i saw last night so what i think happened was she fell in love he fell in love he didn't want to commit the way she wanted to commit so what happened was it was a control war

i want to be in control peers like no you're not going to be in control i want to be in control so nobody wanted to put their pride aside and accept that okay cool i'll let you have it let's sacrifice for this moment and then on the back end let's move forward so i think it was a control issue. Rachel was in control of the whole, you know, season and Peter didn't, you know, didn't want to move forward in that way. Man, that's a, that can happen. I can see that, right? Because you do as the Bachelor, bachelorette, you, you are, in a sense, in charge, right? You are the one in the know, and you are the one eliminating people throughout the season. So you can get yourself lost

in this feeling that you are in charge. Eric, I got to ask you, are you ready to be in charge. Would you be ready to stay to be the bachelor? You know, yes, I want to be in, I think that was my challenge on the show. Usually when I'm dating, I'm always in control. I'm always in charge. I'm a planner. I like to set things up. I didn't have that power, so that was challenging. That was stressful. I had to wait and sit and, you know, but yeah, if the opportunity presented itself and it made sense and it felt right in the moment, absolutely. I'm open to it. Because, like I said, the ritual last night, and when you open, great things happen. So, if it comes. So you're ready to fall in love again.

I mean, and you're saying, I'm ready. Well, I believe in time. I believe in timing. So if it's time for me to fall in love, the opportunity will present itself, and I'm going to take full advantage. Eric, just even talking to you right now, and listening to you last night, we've never met in person. But, you know, I've watched this season. I've seen the way you've handled yourself. You have a very positive energy to you, and you are analytical.

You do think things through, but when you do that, you often have a positive spin on it, which is, admirable and fun to listen to where does that positive energy come from it's just part of who i am you know growing up seeing a lot of backlash and negativity you know growing up in baltimore city i always found the way to find positive in all things find a good and negative in anything because at the end of the light at the end of the day what do we all want we want love we want acceptance we want happiness we want to feel good we want to feel safe so i try to find a good and the bad and vice versa you know because everything has a purpose to it.

Man, that's awesome. That's great to hear because, I mean, even seeing your hometown and seeing the place that you were raised and the place that you come from, it's just beautiful to get a better picture of who you are. It is. And I think your positivity and the way you, like I said, last night, you carried yourself. I was impressed. So thank you for that.

And, you know, before we kind of move on, I have two final questions here for you. And Ben, I'm here. She's here too. Ashley just wanted. Hey, Ashley. Hey, I have a question for Eric. So Eric and I had pretty similar experiences. We both never had a real long-term relationship.

And I think, and I don't want to speak for you, but that this show kind of was a sped-up lesson on how to have a relationship. And it really made us grow and ready for that. Yeah, absolutely. I think for me, prior before I didn't understand. love. I could give it, but I couldn't receive it. So I was all, I'm all the way in to giving, but when it came to receiving, I was running. So now that I understand it and I'm not afraid of it no more, I can embrace it and love. I agree. Like, I think to a certain degree, I was afraid of it. And then this show really helped me express my emotions in a way that I didn't feel

comfortable with before and like talking it out and telling people how I felt about them. That never seemed to be something that I felt comfortable doing. And now, well, they started me and I can't stop. So I'm just always telling people how I feel about them. You've got to let it happen, you know. That's what we love about you, Ashley. That's what we love about you. Eric, before we let you go here, do you think Rachel and Brian will make it?

That's a great question. Residents, pause. That's said it all in the pause. Sometimes you have to think about, you know, because when different people are asking the same question you can feel the vibration that is coming from so i got a different answer than i had before i feel like it will only work if they're willing to sacrifice commit and love each other unconditionally okay and if not i don't know so i don't think it's going to work okay so i think that he truly does love her lover and is ready to honestly worship her the way a woman should be worshipped however

How much do you think that him watching this season back is going to affect the state of their relationship? Ben can speak about this. I can't speak about it. I would love to hear Eric's thoughts first, though. Well, me knowing Brian personally, he's Aquarius, I'm into astrology, so he thinks a lot, right? So I know Brian subconscious is always thinking about right now. I don't know where he's at in the United States, but thinking about last night. like if i was him in his position i would feel like damn wow like am i the rebound am i like

in my second place was i the consolation prize so i just pray that you know it's not that but from what i saw i was like well because and i'll give you guys some spoilers when we're in copenhagen denmark brian and i had a conversation and he said man the thing about your journey eric is that you and rachel had tension so it's up and down but but with Rachel and myself has been consistent. So sometimes something too good might not last because there's no resistance where we need challenges in life to change. So I felt like what Rachel had happened at the end,

she didn't have a challenge with him, so Peter was a challenge. Oh, yeah. You want what you can't have. So Peter, come here, I want you. I know Brian wants me, so I'll just put him over there and then when Peter doesn't work, then I can come back. That's what I think happened. This is something that I wanted to talk about,

I think because it's bigger than just Rachel in her situation. It's really a generational thing. I think girls these days really truly like the chase as much as guys do. I know we're taught to be the prey. You know what I mean? Let him chase you. But for some reason, our generation doesn't want to do that. We like the challenge too.

And maybe it's because the whole feminist movement, maybe because we've been taught that we also need to work for things. And maybe she loved that challenge about Peter and she didn't want the easy. way with right but she wanted the ring more but did she did she want the ring so bad that she even the way the proposal went down seemed weird to me yeah with the weird sort of excite the fake excitement like yeah it felt weird to me it was the least feeling i've ever felt during a bachelor finale bachelor bachelor bachelor bachelor finally normally no matter how i feel about the couple leading up to

that moment, I find it to be very moving. Last night, I wasn't moved at all because my brain was still with Peter. And I feel like I'm speaking for the entire audience when I say that. Right. So it's very attorney, like very, you know, she's very analytical. She's logical. She's practical. So I really think she made a decision because she felt like she had to oppose to what she felt. It was more from the mind and not from the heart because in the, from the heart, I really think she was more with Peter. But in the mind, Brian made sense and she did have love for him. You put it perfectly. Thank you for taking the words out of my mouth.

But I don't know. Did you guys see the turning point in the show last night? Did you catch the turning point? Well, okay. So here's what she said during the Access Hollywood interview. She says she claims, and I don't want to sound sassy or anything, but she claims that she knew since Geneva that Brian was the one and that she had crossed out Peter in her mind back then.

But she says that because of the way the story was told and the way that we all saw it last night, we think otherwise. Is she just trying to protect Brian right now? I mean, I get it. I would if that was my spouse. So do I think, because in Geneva, I felt the same way when he got the watch.

I'm like, oh, he's the one. She's claiming territory. I was mad. Like, what? You're going to do that? And if it was Matt or Adam, I wouldn't care because they didn't have that much momentum. Absolutely.

So I was like, that's a symbol that this is the guy you want to be with. And Peter was just still on the fence. Like, I don't know. he was mad at her decision for taking all him dean and brown on a one-on-one and other two guys didn't get one i had to go into three-on-one and then i guess things changed once we got to spain you know so you think things changed of course because she went home she went home so you think that was the real turning point she got some feedback from her family peter mason's this is too fast too quick let's slow it down you mean brine was too fast too quick well well what i mean is that

Peter Sando is too quick to get engaged. And her family respected that. Right. So she had to go in her mind and think about that. Like, hold up. Let's look at this a little different now. Okay. And that's what I think really got her.

Eric, did you meet her dad? Oh, yeah. That is awesome. So the dad doesn't want to be on camera. Right. Because he's a judge. And it's like, do you think he thinks it's a little whack that she did this? I don't really know if it's the whole thing or the decision.

I just think he just wasn't for it at all. I mean, he just didn't seem like it made sense. It wasn't real, you know? He's like, how? Who are you? What's your name? Tell me about yourself. Did you have a separate sit down with him?

Oh, yeah, absolutely. So he wasn't at the kitchen table with you guys? Oh, no. Okay. It was great, though. We had a great conversation. Tell us about his personality. He's strong, he's strict.

He's to the point. And he's very open, you know? You know, he's cool. We had a, mom and dad. were my best conversations. Okay, good to know. All right, Ben, you have any more questions? Yeah, well, you know, I'm sitting here, I'm listening to all this going on,

and I'm thinking and put myself in Rachel's shoes, and Eric, you know, you are in a place where you could be the next bachelor. So I'm going to say from one bachelor to the next, maybe Rachel did know in Geneva that Brian was the one. You know, I knew fairly early on who I thought was the one, But the situation and the environment you're in doesn't allow yourself to cut off feelings for other people. Those feelings have to exist in the world that you're living in, and you want them to because you get the opportunity for the first time in your life to get to know so many people at one time

and kind of sort through your feelings. So maybe she did know early on, but she stuck with the process, and maybe that process led her to fall more deeply for Peter over time. Always knowing in the back of her mind, though, I still think, think Brian's the guy for me. We got to get we got to put ourselves in her shoes and know that yeah you can have really strong feelings for somebody and you know like it or not she told multiple people she loved them. I know somebody did the same thing. We're going to talk about this later because I feel like you may be able to relate to Rachel more than any other past bachelor

or bachelor. Bachelorette. Yeah. I mean I think so and and so we got to just allow her however she went through this process, she did it to the best of her abilities. And so the worst thing you can do is close yourself off to other people along the way. So to close this up, Eric, my advice to you is if you get yourself in the same situation, to be open to the feelings that are existing at the time, always knowing in the back of your mind who you are, keeping that into consideration. Maybe Rachel knew who she was in Geneva and who Brian was to her. And at the end of the day when she got proposed, you said, yeah, this is still the guy for me. And I've done my best to kind of sort through this, but at the end of the day, that's the guy for me.

And finally, when it comes to their conversations, you know, off camera over the last few months, hopefully she's communicated very clearly to him what it was like leading up to that moment. I know I had to, and it helped and it also hurt. It never made it easier, but at least Laura and I were on the same page on what happened during the experience. Hopefully she did the same to Brian. I hope he wasn't blindsided last night. by how really truly true feelings she had for Peter

because it's obvious to all of us. I've been on this show. I know how the editing works. She had feelings for Peter. She can't tell if she didn't. Right. Right. Another interesting tidbit that I just got from Access Hollywood

was that she claims that she didn't love Peter. I just think she's trying to protect Brian, but we're going to leave it at that for right now. Eric, let's talk about your hatline before you leave us. Talk about it. It's miracle season. It's on your hat. What does this mean?

Miracles. Miracles do not come easy. So before you came, Ben asked with the miracle season means. Oh, so sorry. Let's give over to that. But any day, so honestly, this is a miracle for me. Ben, sitting here talking to you guys. I know, you're in Ryan Seacroo Studio.

How cool is that? It's like, how did I get here? I don't know. How did I get here? I told Rachel in Spain, it's like, this is the miracle. I'm sitting in Spain telling you I love you. How is that even possible? I come from from what I've been through.

We had challenges throughout the show. So basically what a miracle is, is something. great in your life. It can be a relationship, can be intangue, can be tangible, but to get that, it doesn't come easy. It's a struggle, it's a challenge, but if you're willing to endure that challenge and struggle, it's worth it because you'll get your miracle.

That's a miracle season. Love that. And women over everything. Don't forget that. I got to tell you, I've got to give your plug here, so if you visit www. the cap, trap.com, backslash team, has Eric. Yep. Yep, that's it.

You can get it. The miracle season. emergency season, baby. Appreciate it, buddy. We hope to see you on another Bachelor franchise to us some other time so we can continue to watch your evolution. Oh, okay. I appreciate that. Thanks for all the support and love.

Love. Ben and Ashley, I almost amaz. Let's do it. That's our new intro. Yes. Let's do it. Ben, I got to meet you, brother. When you get here, let's meet up.

Let's talk. You got a lot of advice. Hey, best of luck. I would love to meet up with you, man. Good luck the rest of day. I know you're talking to everybody and anybody. Have fun. rest up and enjoy the wild ride that has yet to end for you.

Yes, sir. Thank you, brother. Be great. I'm in the studio. Hey! Yeah. This is a big deal for me. It feels so good to be back, but you know what feels better?

What? Talking to you, Ashley. I've missed you. Oh, Ben, I've missed you. How was your trip? It was absolutely amazing. And it was two weeks of something that I will never forget. Honduras has a special place in my heart like I've talked about before,

But this trip out of any, I had a group of people that went down there with me that served well, loved well, and came back to the States and are doing amazing things for the people in Honduras. So, hey, Humanian Hope did a great job on this trip. And then after the Manian Ope trip, I did a generous trip for the coffee company that my buddies and I are starting. So we went into the jungles of Honduras to find the best cup of coffee or the best coffee bean to supply people in the United States. States with the best cup of coffee and that went tremendously there are so many so many stories to share from that and uh on some other podcast or some other time i would love to tell you all about it but until then uh just be aware that generous coffee company will be launching very soon with some great coffee i'm excited to taste this stuff well um actually you know what coffee does though

it keeps you awake and we have a new sponsor uh for this podcast that we're so excited about because it will help you get put to sleep. Actually, I know you just got a Casper mattress. Can you tell the fans about it? Yes. Okay, so you guys know how you've been seeing these Instagram ads with mattresses that come in boxes that are delivered right to your door. And then somehow they look very soft and squishy. Well, they are.

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use the code almost famous all right podcast fans we are live right now just to remind you okay so we're talking live about this week's finale episode of the bachelorette ashley you were texting me throughout the whole episode what are your thoughts and feelings that are kind of all encompassing and then i'll ask some detailed questions here about last night's episode all right so i just came back from access hollywood and i spent honestly four hours analyzing this episode and i felt a little bit bad because I kind of was like crapping on Rachel's decision and it's just because as an audience we really connected with Peter last night even though the past couple weeks we've been like oh it's Brian the connection between Brian and her is the strongest somehow

they pulled us in to really root for Rachel and Peter last night and then left us just not feeling this proposal. It's the first time and I think maybe ever that I really didn't I hate saying that. I got I've gotten crap before for saying that I didn't feel a proposal but I think it's just because of how the scene before one you know how do you cry over a man and beg him and plead him to get down on his knees and propose and then 24 hours you're delighted when another man asks you to marry him. I mean that's the thing and actually you can't your feelings. If you're feeling that way, that's fine, that's fair. And I, and I think a lot of Bachelor Nation was kind of feeling that way. It doesn't take away from, from the engagement

that Rachel and Brian, or the love that they have. We don't know that. We can't be critical of that. It just didn't feel as, um, we just didn't feel the emotion of it like we, we do in previous seasons. So that leads me this question. Did Rachel pick the wrong guy? I don't know. I'm only speaking from my own, like, personal type, you know, of course, I can go in this and having not met Brian or Peter at this point. I'd be like, I would have picked Peter. She made a mistake. But no, she like made a mistake in my own point of view.

But obviously there is something with Brian that she's felt the entire time. And, you know, the information from the interview I just got, she said that she felt that it was Brian since Geneva. And she just, this Peter thing, I don't know. If that is really the case, then why would she? continue to harp on the fact that Peter wouldn't propose. Does that make sense? I mean, that's it. Yeah, it makes sense.

And as we just talked to Eric, you know, you had mentioned that in this interview today, Rachel says that she was feeling things or she was certain about Brian and Geneva. Eric was saying he kind of felt the same way, right? He kind of saw that Brian and Rachel maybe had something bigger and better than the rest. But it still doesn't take away from the fact, like you said, that last night you felt like Rachel was still very much into Peter and Peter showed emotion like he thought there was something for the future there he just wasn't ready to propose which brings up the question of the night is that an okay mindset to go into is saying Rachel I love you I want to be with you I know we have something

I'm just not ready yet let's take our time off the show to get to know each other better or is is the bachelor and bachelor's better and best when engagement happens every time at the end? I think you've been kind of refreshing to have not have seen an engagement at the end. It seems so protocol at this point, but is it really what people should be doing after two months? I mean, you did it. Did you feel 100% comfortable in doing that? I mean, I was thinking about this last night. I was watching the show.

And after the show, I was sitting in my couch, and I thought I took myself back to that. moment and I'm glad I did it the the feelings I had at that time the love that I had at that time warranted an engagement so I can't for from my experience I'd say I'm happy I did in that moment but my advice to Nick when he went on The Bachelor was Nick don't go into this thinking you have to get engaged at the end because I from talking to people and knowing how the process works it feels almost like you have to but don't feel like you have to just walking off the show with a partner may be the best thing. Remember when Juan Pablo did this and he got so much backlash?

I mean, Ashley, did Juan Pablo really get backlash because he didn't propose? I mean, I don't think that's the truth of it. I think I would look back on Juan Pablo's because I'm thinking, that guy got a lot of backlash for a lot of decisions he made, not just not engaging proposing to somebody. Yeah, he didn't even say I love you after all of that. Ben, can I ask you a really tough question? Oh, of course you can, Amy. It's tough. I'm warning you ahead of time.

Yeah, let's do it. Okay, so we're talking about Brian and Peter, and could Rachel's feelings for Peter ruin her relationship with Brian? And this is harsh, forgive me. Do you think the fact that you said, I love you to Jojo caused problems that went throughout your relationship with Lauren? That is a tough question. Yes, I do. I don't think it's easy. And I've said it before, and I'll say to give.

And Lauren handled herself extremely well, given the circumstances. And the circumstances was that I expressed feelings for somebody else a few days before proposing to a woman that I was asking to spend the rest of my life with. So I do think looking back, and it's kind of hard for me to even answer, but yes, I think it did have issues. The only way to really handle it is communicate openly, and that's what I try to do with Lauren, was say, hey, this happened. this is how I was feeling but my love for you is so much greater than I ever had for the other person and I guess maybe to the to the person you're proposing to maybe that just doesn't make sense right and I can see where it doesn't it's confusing it's hard so I don't know how Brian's handling it today I mean she told four women last night or four men last night that she loved them or I guess

four men over the last two weeks I would imagine Brian's probably a little confused right now And I hope they're talking openly about it. Okay. Well, it seems as if Rachel's changing her tune a little bit today. She did say, I love you to basically her top four guys. But she's saying that it was a different kind of I love you. It wasn't I'm in love with you. And Ben, I mean, did you mean it in the same way to Jojo as you did with Lauren?

My first response. And I've said it before. I'll say it again. I think Rachel has done a great job this season. is you have to own up to what you say. And, you know, playing those, those games, like I meant it this way, but I said it this way. It just doesn't work that way. And you've, yes, you've put yourself out there, but she said what she said, and you have

to own up to that. And so in my situation, you know, how I explained it was I loved both people, but when I looked at Lauren, it was a love like, I don't know how I'm going to live my life without you. With Jojo, it was an appreciation. It was still love. I mean, I still to this day, hope the best for Jojo and Lauren, those feelings of just, hey, I want the best for you. I want to protect you. I don't want life to bring you harm. Those feelings don't fade. And that's what I meant, you know, just kind of like Eric was saying earlier, he really loved Rachel. And he wants the best for her, and he doesn't know if those feelings would ever go away. And that's okay.

But I hope she owns up to it. And she just says, yes, I said it. But at the end of the day, Brian was a guy for me, and we'll leave it at that. Okay. So that actually brings me something. You say, I don't know how to live my life without you. That's how you felt about Lauren. And we hope that that's how Rachel feels about Brian. But it also seems like Rachel really, really doesn't want Peter to be the next bachelor.

She said many times after the final rose last night that she doesn't think he's fit for this process. And sure, maybe a guy who isn't ready to propose after two months. months maybe this is not the path of love for him but i also have to say that i think this is coming from a place of jealousy and i think that she may have she really should have probably thought this through when she was breaking up with peter should she have thought you know what this guy is probably going to be the next bachelor if i don't pick him so i have to be sure that i am so set on brying being the love of my life that it's okay and i want peter to go on and be happy yeah You're, I mean, Ashley, you're right.

I mean, I guess I'm kind of asking you question and kind of not asking question. I feel like she's going to be very bitter and jealous watching Peter become the next bachelor if he is. But I am, but like, I, my question to you, Ben, is if you are truly, truly in love with your person, do you really even care? I mean, that would be my response. If that's truly how she feels, if there is a level of jealousy there, none of us know that but if there is she's going to have to get over it and get over it quickly

because there's a good chance that Peter will be the bachelor and if it's not Peter then it's going to be another guy you know that she probably has feelings for as well for me it was easy like that was I guess that was a confusing season in my life because when Jojo became the bachelor I was excited for but and this doesn't take

any way from Jojo I just didn't care you know like it was yeah good for her I hope she finds somebody I'm happy life's moving forward life's good and whatever happens to her i hope it's it's a good thing so that was my feelings i think when you you bring up a good point actually one that i want to throw out there to the listeners why why is she um so angry or towards peter is there something not something still there because that's a that's a terrible um assumption but why why can't she just get Peter and say, hey, yeah, we didn't work out. I don't love the way you treated me,

but go off, be The Bachelor, have a blast. I'm happy. I'm moving on with Brian. It just didn't seem, it didn't feel like that last night. Did it feel like that to you? No, no, no, not at all, which is why I was really curious to see how you felt when Jojo was announced as the Bachelorette, and you just answered that. I mean, I was sitting next to her. You know, you remember that. She was announced as the Bachelorette with me sitting next to her. Um, and, or I think it was, right? Or at least. You were in the audience. Oh, no, you were in the audience of after her final Well, however it was, I was, I was very close to, to the situation when she was announced as the Bachelorette. And you know what?

Maybe it was just like, I just maybe think Jojo's really cool, really great. Like, I thought she was going to do a good job. I was happy to hear she was getting announced. Like, I couldn't think of anybody better. Even if you didn't think she was suited for the role of Bachelorette, you still would have been supportive of it in public, correct? Yeah. I mean, I would hope that even if I wasn't supportive of it in private, I wouldn't support it in public. but yeah i mean if i wasn't supportive of it i just want to probably said anything because you

don't want to lie to everybody you don't want but you also don't want to be the debby downer to to the to the franchise so um i was supportive of jojo i i guess that's where maybe rachel and i was supportive of of the next bachelorette and she doesn't seem like she's as supportive of the bachelor that if it was peter but there is somebody that she seems to be very very very supportive of, which is shocking me today because, and I'll tell him this, we have him on the line. I honestly didn't know him when she said his name. And so Rachel today has been saying that Alex is who she hopes is the bachelor. So we have Alex on the line and we're going to talk to him in a minute. But before we do that, Ashley has something to talk to you about. Yeah, we want to talk

a wedding planning because Brian and Rachel will hopefully be planning a wedding soon. So I'm going to suggest that they head over to zola.com. Zola is a wedding registry that will do anything for love much like us. Couples can register for brands that they see on an easy-to-use platform with the ability to personalize everything from notes to photos. It's a registry that is completely personalized. So it's not like, it's not boring. It's creative. You can like get them dishes if you want, but you can also get them wine tasting and sonomas. So it's anything that you think is perfect for this particular couple. It's available everywhere.

Couples can have gifts that are shipped now, shipped later. They can exchange them. Zola offers matching prices to make gift giving easier for the guests of the wedding because I always have difficulty coming up with wedding gifts. What about you, Ben? I don't get invited to weddings. I'm pretty sure you do. Maybe not Bachelor wedding.

No, you have one bachelor wedding. But it's hard. It's like, especially couples in their 30s. You're like, what do you get them? They seem to have everything. So it's just nice that you have this creative registry. And couples will receive 10% off the entire site for a year to complete their registry. But they're going to have to go to zola.com slash almost famous for all the details.

Again, Zola is a wedding registry that will do anything for love. We're talking gifts, experiences, funds, all you want in one. place. And don't forget, $50 off if you go to zola.com slash Almost Famous. Wow. You really like Zola. You carried that whole promo by yourself. Nice job, Ashley. Jeez. Yeah, I mean, that's it. Thank you to Zola, Casper, and the rest of our sponsors that we'll talk about in the show because you keep this podcast moving and grooving. That's how we sit here today. So we appreciate you. And who we also appreciate is the man that Rachel says should be the next Bachelor. Alex, are you out there? I'm here. Hey, Alex, was this big surprising news to you to hear today

that Rachel wants you as the next bachelor? Seems a bit random to us. Yeah, I'm pretty sure I was like a safe step, like, you know, just politically correct answer to put it out there. It's politically correct. Why is that? Because you're from Russia? It doesn't cause any drama with anyone. You know, So, I, I mean, it was flattering. You know, I do appreciate it. But I think she knows I wouldn't do it, even if offered, the opportunity to do it. We hear that Rachel is quite possessive of her top four guys. It seems like she doesn't want any of those four to be The Bachelor.

Do you also think she doesn't want to step on the toes of any girls that may have gotten involved with Dean in Paradise? I think she's mentioned before, actually, that she, what, didn't want anyone from her season, really, being the Bachelor. And I don't know because she's possessive, or maybe I think it's honestly, like, coming off the show, I think it takes a little bit of time to, like, adjust to, you know, like the new life or someone like Dean or Peter who's got tons of exposure. their lives are completely different. So, like, to jump in right into the next bachelor, I think that would be kind of difficult. I mean, Alex, I just think I heard you correctly, but please reiterate this.

You just said, if you were asked to be the bachelor, you wouldn't do it. Why is that? I was already hesitant about, like, the exposure, like the show puts onto your dating life, you know, which is something to me very, very private, very internet. You know, and so I was actually one of the people really happy with not getting overexposed out there.

And, you know, because not I can go on a normal date and, you know, I can tell the girl like what my backstory is and, you know, she doesn't know where I'm from or who I am. So I think that's like an important part of dating, you know, it's like getting to know each other instead of like going on a date and like, oh, I know what you're all about. That's true. I haven't gotten a date in the past year without really having to bring it up, you know, whether or not I want to or just the fact that it's been such a big part of my life.

It's like something's missing if I don't bring it up. You didn't do Paradise. Is that why? Because you like to keep your dating life private? That and that, I mean, Paradise is, you know, it's like Bachelor on steroids. I mean, that's way out of my comfort.

If the Bachelor rest was something I was hesitant about, I mean, Paradise was really out there. So I thought about it. I definitely, you know, considered it because, you know, they just decided to go out there and have fun with your friends and all that. But now that, especially after the whole fiasco with, you know, the shutdown and all that, it was just a little too much drama for me. Alex, I mentioned right before you came on, and please take offense to it if you feel like you need to.

But I'm, this should not be offensive to you. You just said you like the fact that you're kind of under the radar. I actually didn't know who you were when Ashley's. or when Rachel said, hey, I think Alex should be the next bachelor. But when I looked you up, I was like, oh, yeah, that guy. And so I was talking to these girls that are a part of the podcast. And I was like, what do you think of Alex? And they explained to you as hunky, which is the same thing that Nancy wrote to us in an email to the almost famous podcast.

She says, Dear Ben and Ashley, why don't you ever talk about Alex from this season? I think he is so hunky. Yeah, well, I just want to be. I want to tell you, Alex, that I definitely have people I'd like to set you up with. You have always been on my radar because you are very cute and very sweet. I was excited to see you in hopefully Paradise, and it's unfortunate that we won't be able to get to know you more. But how does it feel to be a hard throb of the Bachelor franchise? Before you answer that real quick, and Ashley has an eye for an attractive male.

She, I mean, she has her radar set at all time. I have the best taste. I mean, that's flattering to hear, obviously. I'll be honest, my life does not change much since the background. Because, you know, because of going, like, kind of under the radar. I mean, yeah, you have your, you know, sort of like the hardcore fans reaching out kind of thing. You have a joint Instagram. Oh, yeah, which I think is hilarious.

Because I didn't have, so I didn't have an Instagram coming into this. And we did have this kind of a joke Instagram with my best friend. And once people started following, you know, like looking up, you know, trying to find me, that's the only thing that was out there. So they started following. So that's all I have now. Yeah, I hate to interrupt you there. I certainly did.

But it was just like on point. I was like, this guy cares so little about the attention that he has a joint Instagram. Yeah, it keeps me to track to, you know, like if, you know, someone's trying to slide into DMs, you know, my best friend can check me. hey, don't go all savage on this, you know, just because you can. So I actually, I don't reply to to anyone for that reason. I don't want to think God left with me. Trying to impress my best friend, you know?

That's cute. Alex, do you get a lot of DMs these days? I mean, that's something I've always wanted to ask a guy coming off the show. I mean, are your DMs loaded up, or do you feel like dating life is just, you know, who you meet in person? I think actually, you know, maybe like the way. I was able to portray myself on the show. Most of the DMs that I saw, they were very, very positive just saying kind of like,

thank you for being just goofy and being yourself and just being out there having a good time, being genuine. So it's nothing bad. It's like I said, it's so positive. And I thank people for many times as much as I could. Oh, yeah. In that way that I can't, you know, I can't respond to everyone.

But for the most part, it's been great. It's been very positive and I'm very humble, very thankful. for that, and, you know, the portrayal that I got, like, I honestly thought I got a better edit than I deserved. What? I was way more awkward. I was kind of watching this, you know, and I was telling my friends, I'm like, guys,

get ready for me to be super awkward, nerve-wracking, I was shaking, and then we're watching, and I was like, man, it looks like I have a game. I was like, what? I don't remember. It's the music. You know, they put the music behind us. Oh, yeah. Okay, I'm going to ask this to Dean, too.

How close were you with Peter? and why was Rachel so insistent on him proposing if she claims that she knew since Geneva that he wasn't the one? So when it gets to my friendship, you know, I see, you know, with Dean and Peter, Iggy, probably the three closest guys. I actually took my time really making friends.

I'm not someone that makes friends real quick, you know, we would just get thrown in that world and was pretend to be friends. I took my time. I wanted to know what these guys were about, you know, kind of show their colors. So,

honestly, probably Dean and Peter, I didn't get really close with them until, like, Norway and maybe Denmark. I was really towards the end of my journey. And then I stayed in contact with them since that. As far as,

the proposal, you know, I hate to be, like, I don't want to fix size. You know, I'm in great terms of both Rachel and Peter. And,

you know, I told both of them, I felt like a, a, you know, a child of a broken family, you know, trying to please both parents, you know, for me, you know, I told Rachel, I was hesitant about the process myself, kind of like Peter, where I didn't know if I would be able to propose at the end of, what was it, two months. So I understand where he's coming from. And I also understand what she's coming from because that's where she came to find out of this.

you know, to get the proposal. And I think it was kind of overblown as far as, like, that was the reason they broke up where it didn't work out. I think, I don't think that was as much as big of a part of the breakup as it seemed. So that's my view on that. So did she pick the right guy? I think so, yeah. I think she really was looking for that, someone that's assertive,

that comfortable, confident. and, you know, Brian, you know, he stayed the same throughout that whole journey. I mean, from day one, he was all that. And, you know, a lot of guys that got kicked off, they said, oh, I didn't go, I didn't jump in. At first, you know, I kind of held back. And, you know, me being one of those guys, we're all super hesitant. But Brian knew what he wanted, he had a game plan. He was already, I remember Brian and I actually talked a lot.

And, you know, I want to say that, you know, I was surprised with the edit he got. And the other thing is even, like, guys talking about him on the show, I mean, like, how was I supposed to know how smooth Brian was? Like, I never saw his interaction with Rachel. So I was surprised that other guys knew about it. I'm like, all right. But, yeah, I think Brian was more of what she was looking for. And that's why she picked him. I don't think it's because Peter didn't.

proposed that she, you know, she went with Brian. I think it was always Brian. I should mention that Rachel said today that, that she was offered a proposal by Peter. She said, you know, while they sat there on that couch during their very last minutes together, he said, if you really want me to do this, I'll do it for you because it's what you love. Right, right. Yeah, he said it was kind of like a compromise, you know. So I did, she didn't want the, you know, she didn't want him to propose just because that's, what she wanted. Exactly. I think that was, it was a way to keep her pride at least. Alex, any last comments? I mean, to kind of close up here, are you happy you did The Bachelorette?

It sounds like your life hasn't changed much. Do you look back on this experience and say you glad you did it? Oh, absolutely. I mean, I think honestly, I probably had the most fun out there. I mean, all the group days that I went through, like, that was a perfect combination of, you know, great experience without getting overexposed or like putting out there in front of any drama or anything because that was a big I mean that is their selling point hey you want to come out here for a once in a life opportunity meet a great girl and you know enjoy life you could never experience otherwise and it's it's hard to beat so I mean it really I mean you guys both down it you you know how fun it is oh yeah it's not always fun Alex it's not always fun buddy

Hey, Alex. So that's the way. That one is all harder. That was not all fun. That was a little more stressful than, uh... Yeah, then just hanging out with your buddies and dating one girl with all of them. It's also not fun to get dumbed three times. Hey, Alex, keep being hunky, buddy.

Keep, uh, keep being hunky. And I hope, uh, we can talk to you again soon on the Almost Famous podcast. Uh, appreciate it, guys. Thanks, ma'am. Bye, bye. Ashley, uh, Alex? seems, you know, pretty, pretty chilly. Seems like he has his head on straight.

Yeah. I like his perspective. You know, I think he's one of the few that hasn't taken advantage of the social media fame or the monetary options outside of the show. So you got to give a guy credit for being unique. And that's exactly what he is. And he's a pleasure to talk to. But he also kind of seems like a watch guy to me.

Alex seems like the kind of guy that wears a watch Oh, he does on that manly arm of his He wears an MVMT watch I would, you know, just picture Is it a movement? So we got... He wears a movement watch That's just what I see on his studly arm

That's right. So we have another sponsor, as we said earlier We're thankful for these sponsors And we have a sponsor here that I actually wear this watch And I mean that They sent me a watch right after the Bachelor I wore one on The Bachelor. They've been a great company to me,

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that's right, 160 countries around the country. the world. Movement watches has solidified itself as the world's fastest growing watch company. So these watches, they start at just $95. At a department store, you're looking at like $400 to 500 bucks for a watch that looks like this. Movement figured out that by selling online, they were able to cut out the middleman and the retail markup and provide the best possible price. It's a classic design, quality construction, and styled minimalism. I like it because it's just it goes with every outfit it's beautiful and they've sold over a million watches and yeah we already said that cut that out so to get 15% off your movement watch with free shipping and free

returns go to movement that is m vm t dot com slash almost famous this watch has a really beautiful clean design it's seriously been getting me so many compliments lately so step up your game and head over to movement mvmt.com slash almost famous and join the movement. You know, Ashley, to kind of close out this spot here, two of our sponsors for this podcast are also two companies that I've actually given a gift to somebody from. So I've given somebody a movement watch because I think they're great. And our final sponsor that I'll tell you about in a little bit, I've actually just given that product to somebody today. And I can't wait to tell you about it. But thank you to our sponsors.

Thank you for keeping all most famous going. We appreciate you. And now. And now we're moving on to a man who actually also wears a movement watch. No joke. All right. It's time to call Dean. Hey, guys. Dean.

Hey, I miss you. I know, I miss you too. How is everyone? It's been 12 hours. It's been a rough 12 hours. Wait, wait, well, just to be clear, what was happening 12 hours ago. We were just watching the finale together.

Okay. We watched the finale. We went to a sweet BB Rexa courtesy of Forever 21. And IHartRadio. Oh, and IHartRadio, of course. All right, so, Dean, I'm going to let Ben start out with you

because you guys haven't really had a chance to talk yet. I was going to say, I was just about to mute my mic because I was figuring Ashley was just going to go on and on and on here, flirting and talking about how beautiful his eyes were and all that. do that with him. I don't really have a place here anymore, but I'm glad I get a chance to talk to Deney babies. Hey, Ben, how are you?

Nice to talk to you, ma'am. How was Honduras? It was absolutely incredible. I tell you what, I went down there, open to whatever is going to exist, and God absolutely blew me away with everything happening. So thank you for asking. And just real quick to all the listeners out there, I was sitting on the back of a truck going through a,

a field in Honduras next to one of the people from the United States that came down with me and she looks at me and she says hey do you know Dean and this lady's name was Sarah and I said you know what I've talked to him on the phone for just a short bit but I don't know Dean she goes I was sitting with Dean on a beach just a few months ago and was able to talk to him about life and I think he is a great dude and Dean I don't know if you know him talking about but one of your friends from Los Angeles actually went down to Honduras with me this trip and she speaks so highly of you and she said

in that moment you got to get Dean down here. He has the heart for this. He loves the serve. This guy would get blown away if he could make the Honduras. So Dean, I'm challenging you to join me on a trip to Central America very soon. Hey, November right, Ben? That's right, man. Dean,

I can talk on and on about Honduras. Everybody, you know, knows that behind the scenes. but one thing I want to hear from you, you know, you were a missed this week. I'll tell you that. You're a missed by fans. You're missed by Ashley a lot. I don't miss him.

I see him all the time. Dean, can you catch us up a little bit? What has life been like, you know, since the show? Since the show has since aired, I mean, obviously you just get recognized a little bit more. I don't know. It's been kind of a while. whirlwind. I'm just trying to figure it out and take it one step at a time. That's kind of why it's great to be able to hang out with people like Ashley, and obviously

we spoke briefly. It's best people to talk to you guys who have kind of been put through the ringer already because it lends a perspective that I wouldn't have otherwise. I mean, you're getting a ton of attention, I'm sure. You arguably are the fan favorite from this season. You went on Paradise, so you have some experience now in the Bachelor franchise. I mean, are you finding it overwhelming, or are you keeping your head straight on? I mean, I'm trying to keep my head on my shoulders. Honestly, it's great. Whenever someone approaches either me or Ashley, whoever I'm with, ask for a picture.

Like, it's just great to be able to be the reason to put a smile on someone's face. So it's like, as long as they're able to embrace that and enjoy it, I think it's, I mean, I'm having an absolute blast of it. That's awesome. Yeah, like I said earlier, I've talked to multiple people that know you and knew you before the show. And one thing that I haven't heard from the people that actually know you, but I've heard through the media and through kind of the reaction from Bachelor Nation is, you know Dean's too young he's too immature for this you know and I don't know if people remember when I first did the The Bachelorette I was 25 years old and I had the same thing said about me Have you taken that personally? What would be your response to those critics?

No, I don't take it personally I mean I understand I kind of go through life with a very like jovial mentality I like to be able to be a kid at any given moment But I don't know it's really hard to say I just don't take myself or anything around me too seriously and I can and see how that kind of bites me in the butt sometimes. But I just like to, you know, have fun, and I want to make sure the people that are around me are having fun, too. That's right. Well, hey, one last question before I turn over to Ashley.

Should we just hold on with the siren to pass? Yeah, you're good there, buddy? You good, ma'am? There's a fire truck driving by herself. I'm sorry, I won't say. Hey, you might want to jump in the bushes. Hi, man. They're coming after you.

Yeah. No, those days are behind me. Those days are behind me. Dean, I have one last question for you, and I'll turn it back over to Ashley, because I know she probably has a lot more insight into who you are and what your life like now. It came out today that Rachel's saying that she told four people she loved them,

but she didn't tell four people she was in love with them. What's your response to that? Because you're one of those guys. I guess I didn't see that clip of Rachel's saying that. I mean, I don't know. I don't really know how to respond that, to be honest. I think that now she's obviously doing what's right by her. And in the moment, she was obviously living in the moment.

So, you know, she's happily engaged. She seems to be pretty happy with Brian. And I'm very happy for the two of them. I hope that, you know, obviously all the immediate attention is positive and everything. And, you know, she has to do what's right by her and Brian at this point. Man, you are learning quickly. The politically correct responses are spot-off, man. I'm a fan of that.

I tell you what. Good job there. I was like he is going to Jared and Ben route. He's just being so careful. But come on, you know you can't get away with that with me. I'm the anti-politically correct girl, the franchise. Yeah. I know.

And like sometimes when I think about things, it's like, well, do I want to be politically correct? Or do I want to speak, you know, perfectly off the cuff? But no, I mean, at the end of the day, like, we were all there for Rachel. We all were there to make her happy. So, you know, it's clear to see that she's incredibly happy with Brian. And at the end of the day, that's all we could really hope for. so. Okay, I'm going to ask you a couple hard questions once the wind

stops blowing. All right. I'm hiding. The wind's blowing just like that proposal last night. Oh my God. I wonder if that's foreshadowed. I think there's something. It seems like it could have been foreshadowing in the episode, and right now it's just ironic that you are in the midst of that. So maybe

Rachel's a little possessive over the top four. Maybe she's possessive over all of her guys. Is that why you think she has selected Alex? as the bachelor, the next bachelor of her choosing? Yeah, I saw that. I think she's just trying to throw everyone off. I mean, I don't know.

Like, you look at it objectively, and it seems like Peter's got the whole package, and I think that she was just so emotionally attached to Peter, and, you know, maybe things didn't necessarily end the way that either of them wanted it to, so she's just been ready to see him thrust back into that spotlight like that. And, you know, obviously we have no idea what's going through Rachel's head, but it makes sense from a viewer's perspective. And I argued that if you still feel a sense of jealousy

and you're not comfortable seeing your ex with some other people, dating other people, that are you really truly over them? And are you really in the mindset to be with someone and be planning a wedding? I mean, I've had my jealous moments as well. Yeah, and so have I. So, I mean, it's really hard to say. but she was so close with both Brian and Peter, and Eric, obviously, too.

So I definitely understand that she doesn't want to have to relive any of their romantic moments through an entire season. I mean, obviously, she was close with Alex as well, but I think that the emotions were not quite as strong with him as she was as the last two guys that she had. Thanks for opening up the door for me to say, I'm the last person to talk about dealing with jealousy on the show. I have dealt with it in the past very poorly on Paradise.

So I feel you, girl. I can't watch my exes dating other people either. That's when you were talking to the parrot, if I remember correctly, right? Yes. The parrot, my therapist. Oh, guys. So Ben, Ashley, Ashley's going to be out of town next week, and Dean's going to co-host with you, Ben. That's right.

I mean, I'm sitting here thinking I could be co-hosting this show with the next Bachelor, and he doesn't seem to be even promoting himself for this role. So I'm going to say, hey, Peter might have the full package. Eric might have the full package. Shoot, Alex might be the full package, but I got a co-host next week that I think's the full package. It's Deanie Baby's baby.

All I want to say is Dean, how's your package? Oh, God. Classic Amy line. So next week, it's going to be the first week of Paradise. We'll get the inside scoop from the man that I believe, I don't know this, but I would assume was the hot catch on Paradise.

That's Dean right there. Dean, next week, I look forward to talking to you, ma'am. Can I just say, like, the girls who weren't after you in Paradise, what's wrong with them? Actually, you flirted with every single one of our callers so far on this episode.

Oh, God. He did not flirt with Eric. Ben, are you going to be in studio next week? I'm not. Nope. Sorry, ma'am. So we don't get a meeting person yet. He'll be in studio in Denver.

Yeah. So, Dean, I'll be in Denver. You'll be in L.A. We'll make this thing awesome. And I appreciate you, you co-hosts with me. You'll carry the whole episode, I promise. I'm looking forward. I think we're going to have a blast. All right, man. Hey, we'll talk to you then. All right. Take care, guys. Bye. I mean, Ashley, have you picked your chin up off the table yet? What do you mean? You guys, I am not like that with Dean. Yeah, you are. I mean, I try not to be. Ashley, actually, come on.

Let's just be honest here. You are, I've said this many times before. I'll say it again, you are the best at making people feel better about themselves than they might, you know, feel before. So let's just do a quick little bit here. You got, I'm going to time you. You got 20 seconds. Okay. Can you explain Dean in 20 seconds?

Yeah. Okay. So, Dean is exactly that jovial guy that he just describes himself as. And I love that. He has maturity and he definitely has intelligence, but he's able to just have fun. And, like, just this is a description of how great he is just encapsulated how much fun you can have with Dean.

I went to Best Buy with him. And then there's a Toys R Us next door. We're like, should we go play in Toys Ress? And we're like, yeah. And then we saw Basket Robbins. We're like, should we get ice cream? Yeah. And then we get in the car.

And he started playing Backstreet Boys and New Kids on the block for me. Like, that's how thoughtful he is and how fun. Yeah. We can all agree. Ashley thinks Dean's great. We obviously think Dean's great because, like we said, next week he'll be co-hosting with me as Ashley is out of town. Ashley has a few listener emails.

She wants to run by me. But first, we have our final sponsor of this podcast for this episode. And this is a sponsor that I honestly today passed out one of their products to a coworker of my work. mind to give to their teenage son. The reason for that is because we all know that life is easier when you're confident in your skin, right?

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On like Instagram Yeah Oh I got so much to learn in life It's an extra app So so you don't have to use Use these weird apps that Ashley's talking about Why should you use bio clarity Your foot

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You got cucumber and oat kernel extracts on your skin? You know how when you're a little and you had chicken pox? Did you have chicken pox? I had chicken pox, yeah. You would take oatmeal bath. It's soothing and calming. Well, I mean, that sounds nice. Maybe we'll do that tonight.

Maybe I'll just take a bottle of bioclarity, squeeze it in my tub, and see what it does. I love that we had chicken pox, too. That dates us. That does, doesn't it? Bioclarity is unlike any traditional acne treatment. Bioclarity doesn't use benz-oil peroxide, which causes redness, dryness, and irritation. So to close this up here, three easy steps of clear skin. It cleanses, the rich foaming facial cleanser gently removes dirt, oil, and environmental pollutants.

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100% risk-free money-back guarantee, but you need to enter our promo code, which is famous. F-A-M-O-U-S. Finally get an acne treatment that actually works at bioclarity.com. All right, moving on to listener emails, the best part

of the episode. I mean, today's episode was actually full of goodness. It was really good. It was really good. I've learned a lot about myself and these great gentlemen who just participated in a season of The Bachelorette that I would say was good. Rachel did a great job. It was really good. It just wasn't a great ending, but Rachel did a tremendous job this season. She was a great bachelorette. All right. So this is from Susan. It says, hi, Ben and Ashley. Thank you guys for all the question and answer segments. They make my morning cardio more entertaining. Is it possible

that Ben will consider taking another shot at being the bachelor if it's offered to him. Also, if Dean is the next bachelor, would Ashley consider going on the show? Thank you guys. Susan. Susan, I could never possibly do that. Plus, Dean and I are too close in real life. That would be bizarre if I were just to be like, hey, I'm here. I'm going to just not be that girl, ever. Never going to be that girl, no matter who's the bachelor. Ben? Ashley, I'd love to say I believed you with that statement, but I think if Dean was a bachelor and you had an opportunity, I would see you walk out of a limo at some point. I would only do it if he told me to. Let's talk about the real question here. Ben, would you ever be the bachelor again? That's a good question. And it's interesting that I don't have that email in front of me that was kind of a surprise to be asked.

So that's, whew, I'm sweating. That's a good question. And it's one that I don't want to answer. politically correct here. So I'm going to be as honest as I can be. At this point in my life, I am not ready to be the next bachelor. I will say that. It just doesn't feel right for whatever reason. It doesn't feel like a time in my life that I would be the best man possible for the women that would come on this season.

And, you know, honestly, when you're fresh out of a relationship, you don't, I just feel like that would be almost disrespectful too, right? I mean, it would be really hard for me to imagine watching. If I were to watch my ex go and be the Bachelorette and it's all over TV, it'd be hard for me. So at this point in my life, I don't think it's the wise thing to do. So I will not be your bachelor for this next season. But you'd be open for a season or two away from now? Again, and this is going to come off a little soft, but I close myself off to a lot of opportunities in life.

I've said, I'm not going to ever do that. I'm not going to ever do this. you know if you would ask me five years ago you're going to be the next bachelor someday i would have said no way no shot i would never do that and i did it and i'm glad i did it so i'm going to say this i i'm open to discussing it and thinking it through if life kind of aligns again for that then possibly it's been a good thing for me in a lot of ways it's been hard in a lot of ways it's been sometimes actually a bad thing but it's a huge part of my life now and uh i can't say i would never do it again that is a great response and and surprising

Honestly, I thought you were really going to cut it off, but it's good to see. And at this point, it does feel cut off. I want to be sure to say that. Like, at this point in my life, it feels very cut off. And it doesn't feel, you know, I have a, with generous coffee company, with Mahogany Workplace, the blog, with this podcast, it's amazing. And my full-time job, life is, is busy and it's good. And I'm doing a lot of things that I enjoy.

Stepping, taking a step into the Bachelor just doesn't seem to be fitting. And I don't think it will ever be fitting again. Okay. all right but but if you see me if you see me one day standing in front of the mansion you know life really got screwed up for ben here all right well ben that actually leads into our next question which is from zoe hey love the podcast a lot my question for you ben do you ever think or miss jojo do you guys ever keep in touch so jeez what the heck How do I don't have any of these emails in front of me?

This is, I mean, this is Blast Bend Day? Yes. You've been gone. They've been building up. Do I ever miss Jojo? I think Jojo's great. I do. I've never not said that.

I've never, I think Jojo is a ton of fun. She's a beautiful person inside and out. I've met Jordan. I think Jordan's incredible. They seem very happy. I don't miss Jojo. No, like the feeling of longing for Jojo isn't a feeling. that I'm familiar with, it never has been.

But if I saw Jojo and Jordan or just Jojo or just Jordan, I'd be excited about it. They'd be awesome to see him again. I would love to spend time with both of them, catch up on life and celebrate life as friends. You know, I think, what was the second part of that question there? You guys keep in touch. Do we keep in touch? No, we don't keep in touch. I haven't.

I actually don't. I've seen her at one event since we got off the show, but obviously she's incredibly busy and we haven't kept in great touch but I promise if we did see each other I'm sure it would be like you know we didn't miss a beat it would just be awesome to see friends again that is wonderful to hear Ashley I got to step on you for a second because we got to remind the listeners to email us anytime with these questions okay we'll try to answer them we won't answer all of them I promise you that but we'll answer the so the good ones but please email Ben and Ashley at iHeartmedia.com And who knows?

Maybe one day you'll get your answers answered right here on the almost famous podcast. Well, we got to finally see that season-long preview for Bachelor in Paradise. It's going to be my first season watching without being a part of it, like basically ever. Season one didn't count. The thing that was weird about that promo is it was not romantic whatsoever. Didn't see a hint at romance. It just seemed kind of like girls gone wild. What do you think about it?

Oh, geez. Yeah, I would agree. There wasn't a lot of romance. I saw some, I saw a lot of things that I don't know if my eyes should see. And I saw a lot of tears, which is surprising considering the, just kind of how the show kind of had to pause and get back on. So there's obviously emotion involved. I would imagine there's romance involved. I actually, and I can't say who, I've heard through the Bachelor Grapevine that there are some couples that are still dating that came off of paradise.

So we'll have to look and see who that could be. True. So there might be some romance. And also, side note, there's like a frame where if you slow it down, you can see Adam's bare butt. Really? Yeah. How to Ashley? More on that.

Yeah, more on that later. Hey, here we go, guys. It's so good to be back. Ashley, I have missed you so much. It is good to talk to you again. You are just a light in my life. And when I'm away for too long, it feels a little darker than before. We're going to miss you next week, though.

This will be my first time doing this without you. You're going to do Tuesday, and I'll be back for Wednesday because we're going to have two episodes next week for the premiere of Bachelor in Paradise. See, you're filling me in as we go here. This is how light we are. I don't even know who I'm talking to when I'm talking to them. So we have two podcasts for the first week of Bachelor in Paradise. Dean and myself then will be hosting on Tuesday. And like I just found out, Ashley and I will be back on Wednesday.

So Ashley, I'll miss you, but not for too long. But you knew who we will miss. All the fans out there. So we'll talk to you then. I've been Ben. I've been Ashley. Talk to you soon. Bye.

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