The Ben and Ashley I Almost Famous Podcast - S21, #9: The Downfall of Dean

Episode Date: July 18, 2017

As the sun sets on the Hometown Dates, Ben and Ashley gear up for Rachel’s upcoming trip to the Fantasy Suites...They share tales from their own experiences, as well as sort through Rachel’s remaining 3. Chase McNary fresh back from Cabo joins them live in studio. PLUS, is Dean destined for Paradise? …Ben and Ashley have the exclusive! 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. Welcome back. I'm Ben. And I'm Ashley. And as we just heard, this is the Almost Famous podcast. Ashley, huge week in Bachelorette Nation. So crazy. I honestly had, I was like at the Disney World of Bachelor Weekends this weekend because first I went to Tahoe with our producer Amy and Luke Pell. and Dean. And, you know, Dean's last name is Ugg. Uglert. Uglert. I didn't know this.

Yeah. It's really hard to say. So he's just Dean. Yeah. Wait, wait. What's Addie's last name? Ungler. Ungler. Ungler. Ungler. Interesting. Okay. Anyway, you had, you were with all four, or I guess three of these other people. I was with them. And then I also went to Jade's baby shower. And that was basically all of my girls from Chris Solseason. We had a big reunion there. So all this was back to back. I had 72 straight hours of Bachelor Family Fun. And are you a better person or a worse person because of it?

I think I'm a better person. There we go. I like that. It was really fun. And, you know, it's a group of people that I definitely like. There was no wrenches in that. It was just all my true friends. I'm an honest.

I don't know. Who was at Jade's Baby Shower? Okay. So Carly, of course, one of Jade's best friends. So Jade, Carly, Julia, Becca, and Christina from Nick's season, and Danielle L, and Jasmine from next season. We actually didn't have any of your girls besides Becca there. That's interesting. Why is that?

I'm not sure. I guess, like, Jade was just kind of home that year, and she didn't really meet any of those girls. Okay. Well, that's a good group. I mean, I don't know. I actually probably only know a quarter of those girls. but from what I hear from you and just when I hear from the grapevine

like all those women are awesome women so I imagine it was a blast It was so much fun And Jade is honestly I say it every single time Somebody brings up Jade She is so beautiful inside it out It's just

If I could be one girl I'd be Jade Like I want her Her soul is just so sweet And the baby that's growing in her Has two amazing parents To look forward to in this life I agree. I mean, I saw your Instagram, and when you said that I, you know, I just took a second thought back on my friendship with Tanner and just how great of a friend he's been to me, especially recently. I actually texted Tanner last week and just said, hey, I appreciate him. Like in this season of life for me that isn't exactly ideal, he's just been a solid foundation and just a good support system. And then it sounds like Jade is that and more. And so, yeah, this baby that's coming along is not only coming into a world that's going to be a little crazy,

it's going to get a lot of attention, but it's going to be supported so well by two great people. Totally. And, you know, you mentioned that group message, and I know you had one going on with the guys for a little while, but then you threw me in there. It was you, me, Tanner, and Jared, and I were at the New Kids on the Block concert during this, and I'm just thinking about, you know, as being in this message, and we were playing that vacation. And I'm like, I have some of, like, the three greatest guy friends ever. I am so blessed to have. I am so blessed to have you guys there for me because it's really important for a girl to have, like, good guy friends and give her, like, solid advice that girls can't always help out with.

And it comes from this crazy world that is The Bachelor, right? I mean, you know, we've talked about it before. The Bachelor is a really interesting experience. You know, it's hard, it's emotional, it's big, you know, a lot of people watch it. But then at the core of it, you meet some really incredible people that can relate with you on a different level and build a friendship. with us for hopefully a lifetime. And I know you do that well.

You have been nothing but a great support to so many in this. And I know there's a lot of people that have done the same to you. So I'm glad that you had a crazy week full of Bachelor people because I know how much you enjoy that. I do. I do. I love it. And, you know, we're going to have Luke on later in the podcast. And Luke and I, like, we've known each other since September.

I've always enjoyed him. But I really got to know him this weekend. And he is such a solid guy. He's like the guy who cleans up the condo before you leave after everybody's made it a total mess. Well, I mean, is this, so I don't want to ask you this yet, but I'm going to, and I'm sorry, Ashley, for putting you on the spot. Okay. More datable right now, Dean or Luke? Oh, that's a great question.

Okay, well, I think Dean is one of the most strikingly beautiful people I've ever met. And I think he's also one of those guys that I could hang out with forever. And I hope, and I think that he would say similar things about me. I think we both really enjoyed just, like, hanging out and goofing off and just laughing together the entire weekend. But I think Luke is probably more marriage material right now. Dean will definitely be one day. Yeah, definitely. He's got such a sweet soul and a wonderful personality.

He really, like, he's very sparkly. That's a good descriptive word for him You know, when I think about as a man What I want to be described as Sparkly is always what comes up But he's sexy, but he's also sparkly Because he's so upbeat and happy and smiley And I love that That's the kind of personality I like

But I guess right now Luke is He's like entering that I'm going to take my life more seriously Maybe think about settling down phase But he also is very focused on his work And he's really killing that, too. It sounds like, and I mean, I think later on the podcast, and this will kind of tease for the rest of podcasts,

we have a great podcast lined up for everybody. A lot to talk about. We have some really special guests. But I also'm going to be really interested because Rachel let Dean go home this week. And so we're not going to expound on it now, but later on the podcast, we're going to talk about why she let him go home. You know, is he too young? Is he not ready?

What kind of lessons does Dean need to learn? And then I think we should switch it over to is Dean the next guy. Is he going to be the Bachelor coming up? And then we also have, like I said, two special guests coming in the studio. We have two people. Ashley and I both really like. One is a former Denver native, Chase Vignary. He's moved on to different things.

I don't know if they're bigger and better. We'll have to ask him. He's moved to L.A. now, so he's no longer in Denver. And then we have Ashley's other weekend partner, Luke Pell, is going to be coming on the podcast today. So it's packed, and we're going to run through topics as quickly as we can because we want to make sure that we touch on everything important in Bachelor Nation. And one of those things that I think are important, especially for the almost famous podcast, hey, do you notice I said especially there? Yeah. Is if it sounds a little different right now, I'm actually on the phone again.

I've had a crazy week of travel. I've been gone for two and a half weeks from Denver. I just got back to Denver to take care of some business at my full-time job. I'm actually in the office right now. We need to talk about everything you've done. Well, I've done a lot. You did a golf tournament this weekend. I did, yeah.

You know, I'm pretty, I need to brag about myself for a second, Ashley. Yeah. So every year I play in a tournament for the Zach Johnson Foundation. Zach Johnson's a professional golfer, a great guy. He's became a good friend. He has been nothing but supportive of me and I want to be supportive of him. And so I went and played in his tournament, Iowa. And then from there, I went and played in.

And the Boys Hope, or Boys and Girls Club, charity outing in Iowa. And from there, I then went and played in the John Deere Classic Pro Am. Now, the John Deere Classic Pro Am, before everybody falls asleep on me here, is a professional golf tournament. Okay, and the day before the professional golf tournament, professionals and amateurs play together on the course that the pros are going to play the next day. And you might have seen from my Instagram, because I posted about it. it, that on the last hole, I needed to birdie, legitimate birdie, to tie for the lead.

And I made a 40-footer to tie for the lead. And we went on to win the tournament. Love the fact that Ben says we went on to win when it was just really him. That's how good of a guy is. Well, and I got to hang out with an amazing caddy. Her name was Corey. She actually bid on being my caddy for the day to support the boys and girls Club of Iowa. So it was awesome. The money

with the charity. I got to hang out with her all day. She stood there supporting me. When I made the putt, I gave her the biggest hug. It was such a cool experience. My parents were there. We met a ton of great people. Cole Swindell was there with us all weekend. What an amazing guy. He was. So I had a great couple weeks, but I was tired. I'm tired because now I get back to Denver. And this

week, I'm actually heading out to Honduras. I know. That's so awesome. Ten days. Can you like in a couple, 30 seconds, tell everybody what you do when you're in Honduras. And I'm coming to join you next time. I want you to. I'm excited about that. So yeah, I go down with an organization called Humaneo Hope United. And Humanian Hope United is a charity that one of my best friends started in Honduras. And the purpose of Humana Hope and United is to really serve underserved villages. So villages that are remote, they don't have a lot of opportunity. Maybe you've never even seen anybody outside of their

village before. We'll go in and we don't tell them what they should do. We ask them what they would like us to do. And so if they say, hey, we need clean water, hey, we need jobs, or, hey, we really want a roof on our house, we'll come back to the States, raise money, and then send a team out to help them get that done. And so our organization is set up to partner alongside these people, become friends, become family, with everyone in the villages, and grow a relationship that will be sustainable for years to come. And so I'm doing that this trip. And then on the back end of this trip, one thing I have to plug, I have to give a shameless plug out here. Riley, the founder of Humaniope United, another buddy, Drew Scholl and I out of Warsaw,

started a company called Generous International, and Generous International, is a company that is set up to serve people. It's a for-profit company that we currently are selling t-shirts and apparel and then coffee, and this coffee is coming from Honduras, and then all profits from the sale of coffee or T-shirts or whatever are going back to nonprofits and charities that are doing good across not only domestically in the U.S., but also across the world. And so I'm going down this time to check out some of the coffee farms that our coffee is growing in. So I'll spend three or four days hiking through the jungle to look for some coffee.

Make sure it tastes like Dunkin' Donuts coffee. You like Duncan? Yes. Okay. So with that, you know, you mentioned Becca. Wait, pardon? Becca, coffee, what? Well, earlier you mentioned you were with Becca at the party.

And so I wanted to say that next week is on Honduras. Becca is going to come in to be the co-host. Oh, yes. Huge hit when she came on last time. Everybody loves her. Yeah. So I'm really excited to have Becca come on and be my co-host. And the following week, you'll still be gone.

And I'll have a very special guest that we can't quite reveal yet. But we'll say that we talk about this person on the podcast quite a bit. Mm-hmm. Yes, we do. And we're going to talk about them more today. Hint, hint, hint. Oh, you just said him. Well, we're only talking about guys today.

There's only guys. It's The Bachelorette. There's a lot more guys than girls. So that's what's going on in our lives. I actually have a lot going on. But one thing we will never stop doing until you guys stop listening, which so far after the massive response we've had, like over 100,000 people listen to this podcast,

we're not going to stop it. So we're going to be here each week somehow, some way, at least one of us, to talk about the Bachelorette, to talk about life, to talk about relationships, and everything good going on in this world. Ashley, you in for that? You know it.

Good, good. But before we get into The Bachelorette this week, we got to give a special shout-out again to one of our favorite sponsors, one of our most loyal sponsors. Ashley, I know you know about them. Fab, Fit, Fun. Ashley, tell us about it. You know that I love Fab Fit Fun,

and you know that we've talked about the non-purple sand-tane lotion that I got last time and how much I love that and how much I love every single seasonal box that I get, I go to fabfitfund.com, and if you want to also do that, you can go to fabfitfund.com and use our code almost famous and get $10 off this box. Now, let me tell you what's actually in the box. They're all full-sized products, and you pay $49.99 each season, but each box is valued at over $200 per box. So it's like the greatest deal you could ever get. And you can get that for even less when you use our code almost famous. Ben, have you tried out the Fab Pit Fun Box yet?

Actually, you can't see me right now. But remember when the box came to the studio last week, I put on the moisturizer on my eyes to get rid of the crows feet. Oh my God, I do remember this. In my life. Yeah. I mean, I don't think that's a tough job, you know. He really needs to, you know, pamper himself every now and then. That's right. No, I don't have any crows feet. I mean, I'm not Not anymore. Yeah, my eyelids are so tight right now. It's insane. There's a lot of things in the box this summer.

There is the Cargo HD picture perfect highlighter in bronze, and I've been using this highlighter, and you guys know that I love makeup, and I approve of this product. It's totally fabulous. And there's also juice, juicy, soothing, eye concentrate, which is a Ben Higgins-approved product. I tell you what, and I mean,

I can't get enough of the gemstone bar necklace. I don't know about you, but there is a gemstone bar necklace. include in the box, and it goes with any outfit. You gave that to your mom. We know that. But okay, so head over to fatfitfund.com and get your box with $10 off code, Almost Famous.

That's right. Okay. So you know who else is almost famous? Who? Dean. We had to say goodbye to him this week. He's gone. Dean is almost famous.

But damn, is he actually famous? He might be famous, not just almost famous. You mentioned earlier. You said that there's this Instagram. post that he just did. Yeah. Tell us about it. He has 220 followers as of this recording time.

I'm sure later he'll be having like 100,000 more by the end of the week. We all love Dean. He's the cutest little thing and he's got the greatest face that God's ever created. But, God, can we cut that out? No, we're not cutting that out. We're keeping that. I just can't shut up. But he has gotten 80,000.

thousand likes on his last picture, which is insane for 220,000 followers. That means that about 40% of the people that follow Dene liked that picture. And if you were in the social media world, if you are engaged in this world, you

know that that engagement rate is astronomical. Yeah, I see dollar signs. That's what I see in his future. Dollar signs. Well, what do you think? I mean, are you sad he's gone home? He's a fan favorite. Like you said, he has the most beautiful face that God himself has ever created.

Can we please edit that out? No, no, no, no, no. I just, sorry, I've been looking at it all weekend, and it's just really fun to look at. Actually, tell us more. Oh, my God, I'm such an idiot. Okay, wait. Let's talk about his hometown, and let's talk about him going home. Please, I want to hear your perspective on it.

I thought he did a wonderful job handling his hometown. I think he was super mature, and I liked the way that he confronted his dad with such conviction without being at all an asshole. And there's just something, when I watched this, it was before I met Dean, and I really, he really won me over by the way he handled himself during the hometown. You know, I agree.

I think there's so much, you know, we watch The Bachelorette for entertainment most of the time, right? But there's moments in The Bachelor and Bachelorette that always seem to kind of hit the heart. And Dean's had a couple of those this season. And for me, there are two moments in this episode that, out of the whole episode, that really, like, touched me, I guess emotionally. One was when Dean's getting ready to walk into his house, and he looks at Rachel and he says, I'm so scared, and she turns to him as just the supportive, beautiful person she is. and she says, I'm here for you. We can do this together. And, like, at that moment, you can see him relax.

You can see him take a deep breath. You can see him look in Rachel's eyes and say, okay, this is, you know, yes, he's going home this week, but at that moment, she was his partner. And that's what we all want in relationships, right? We want to be able to look at the other person and say, you got me, right? And then to look back and say, oh, of course I've got you. I'm here for you the whole time no matter what happened. Absolutely.

That, to me, was a moment that I thought, okay, Rachel not only is an incredible person for being there for him, even if she was having her doubts at the moment, just saying, Dean, we're going to do this together, and then for Dean to be that vulnerable and say, you know, in a very mature place, say, I'm so scared for this. How, just how deep and emotional was that time? Because I watch that, you know how I am. I like the moments that are a little bit heavy. I don't like the, I don't like the group dates.

I like the moments that are real, the real, you know, the tear-jerkers, and that was one of them. And then the other one might have surprised you, and I want to hear what you think, and please tell me if you think I'm wrong. But as Dean's talking to his dad, I feel for Dean. I don't think his dad handled the situation well from what it sounds like. But you also have to feel for his dad. His dad lost the love of his life, and you can see that emotion in him. And you can see how much life change his dad has had since the death of his first wife.

I mean, he literally changed everything. And it's almost like he lost himself, and maybe he found himself again. And we don't know. I don't know how he feels about himself today. But it's almost like in my eyes he's lost himself in sorrow. And today he's no longer the man he was before because of the death of his first wife. And for me, I felt for his dad in these moments. I do. It's interesting that I was able to, I don't want to say, be on Dean's side during this,

but I was also able to feel sympathy and sensitivity toward his dad. And it was really the... the most compelling 20-something minutes of TV I've seen in a very long time. I do want to read something that Dean posted on his Instagram this weekend. And it's about his dad. And I think it really just sums up everything that you feel after watching it. And especially how Dean wants you guys to watch it. He says,

"'Hontowns are two days away, and I'm asking for a favor. When I said my father was eccentric, I wasn't referring to his Sikh faith or the turban that he wears on his head. I'm asking you to spare his feelings or mine. I'm not asking you to spare his feelings or mine, but instead be cognizant and accepting of the millions of people who belong to the Sikh community. Although he and I are not close,

I respect my father's decision to follow his heart and pursue the life he has chosen. Let us not criticize him for his appearance or his beliefs because by doing so, we are disparaging a whole entire faith culture that includes millions of people. and I know that we are better than that, and that is it for now. How cute is that? That's great. I mean, it is.

I mean, you can see that even with a relationship that's not that close to his dad. He's protecting his dad in this moment, but he's also protecting the seek faith. And he's saying, you know, hey, I've been given this platform. And I, you know, my parents didn't sign up for this. And I invited my family into it. And they allowed it, you know, the cameras and the people and myself and Rachel into their home. and because of that, just hold off your judgment. And it's really a good lesson for everybody that watches the show

and everybody that's listening to this podcast is, let's hold off our judgments because we don't know everybody's story and everybody has one. And sometimes those stories can be a little bit bigger and a little bit deeper and a little bit harder than any of us can imagine. I think in this case, we just got an up close and personal look at Dean and his dad's and his family's story that is deep and it is hard

and they're just trying to make it work I agree and I just also want to throw in there that I think Dean is so smart I know a lot of people are going to give him a lot of crap on being too immature for this and maybe he's not ready for marriage but this guy he's like got a brain I love the way he writes and I really like the way he even articulates himself in an emotional environment

I agree so that brings up my next question then he sent home then this week Do you think he was too young for Rachel? I think he's knowing Dean now, like on a friendship level, I do think he is not ready for marriage and I know that Rachel is. So I'm going to agree and say yes. So with that, he's heading to paradise. So he's still looking.

He's still searching. By the way, I'm going to take the heat for this one. I don't know where I got this information, but I know it's true. So Dean is heading to paradise. Ladies, get excited to watch him. I mean, ladies, from what Ashley says, Dean is the ultimate catch. So who's going to catch his heart in paradise? Oh, my God.

I'm honestly so stressed for the girls there because I know that if I were in Paradise this season, that Dean would be the one that all the girls want and then the one you have to fight for. And I couldn't handle that emotional state. I just couldn't do it. So I kind of feel bad for them. What do you mean? Wait, hold up. What do you mean you couldn't handle it?

I feel like me being in paradise with Jim. Jared, who was so sought after, he was, like, the most sought after guy there, other than maybe Wells. So I apparently just go for the one that all the ladies always like. And I just, I'm so tired of competing. I always feel like I'm competing for the guy. So I be, it would just be hard to see him there and then know that he'd probably pick another girl over me. I actually, I don't even know, like, really, I'm just, there's a thought that came to my mind here. I think you caught on to something.

And this is maybe a conversation we need to take on to next. week or offline because as a friend of you, we might be touch on something because if you're in paradise, you'd be going after Dean and you can't tell me you wouldn't be. So you literally go after the guy that all the girls want. Yeah, I know that there's a lot we could talk about on this topic, but also, like, doesn't that just mean I have really good tasting guys? Well, I agree with that. And honestly, you are the girl that a lot of guys want and that you're an amazing woman. And so these guys would be lucky to have you. I think. that it's just interesting

maybe you're attracted to the guy that all the other girls kind of are desiring. And, you know, with the Jared situation and with Wells, I mean, you kind of landed them. I would say that, I agree. You know what? In the long run, in the long run, I win out.

As far as it goes... In the long run, you're doing all right, Ashley. You're doing all right. You know, when you put it that way, you're right. Because even if it's not romantic, they do tend to like to be around me in the long run. Of course.

I mean, how can you not? But I like being around you. I think that's obvious. I think everybody listens to this podcast, likes, you know, being around you or they wouldn't, you know, stick you in their ears for an hour each week. But I think that's something we need to talk about later on is why does Ashley go off to the guy that all the girls want? Maybe because they are just the best guys and she's the best girl. So that would make sense. Speaking of some of the best guys.

And I don't know if Bachelor Nation agrees that Rachel's final three are the three best guys. that she had. But we're down to three now. Dean's out. We're moving on from Dean. We have Peter, Brian, and Eric. Okay? So they're entering the Fantasy Sweet Week.

Huge week. But before that, Ashley, your thoughts, are these the three best guys that Rachel had? There's a lot of dark horses. I wish we had seen more from Alex. I think that Kenny is a really, really sweet, awesome guy. And obviously, she had quite the relationship with Matt that we didn't get to see

as far as who we as an audience? Hold up. What do you mean by that? Just to be clear. I don't know what you're talking about. Matt? Yeah. Well, we all know that she left in tears

when she let go of Matt and she kept saying we're so alike and if this were a real life thing, if we had met in real life, it would think it would have lasted longer, it would have been more intense and like we wouldn't be breaking up after six weeks. Like she obviously had something

that we didn't see between the two of them. So, I don't know. I think as far as television viewers go, this top four makes the most sense. Top three,

I think most people would have thought it would have been Dean, Peter, and Brian instead of Eric and Eric was thrown in there maybe because she feels like he's more ready for marriage than Dean was.

Okay, that makes sense. I mean, I actually really liked Eric's hometown. I saw a different side to Eric that I hadn't seen yet. So moving on then, we're moving in the Fantasy Suite Week. You've been in the fantasy

of Sweet before. Was it fantastical? I think we've talked about my fantasy suite experience before. And it was a really great time to get to know Jared Moore. But, you know, obviously between he and I, it wasn't like sexy time. It was just, it was, it was just nice because we could talk about subjects and people that we couldn't talk about and didn't want to, like, broadcast our private lives to a certain degree on TV. So there was a lot of past relationships we didn't talk about on TV that we were able to talk about in the fantasy suite. Do you feel like the fantasy suite was one of the most impactful, I guess, scenarios or experiences on the show for your relationship with Jared?

Well, definitely, except for the fact he broke up with me the day after our fantasy suite. So it didn't affect our relationship that much, I guess. But I think it probably just solidified that we liked each other as human beings a lot more. Because you're just a lot more comfortable when you're on camera. And, you know, we get to that point where you're like, oh, my God, I'm so comfortable on camera. Like, I can't even tell when the camera's around, you know, it just feels so natural. But then when those doors shut and you hear silence for the first time in weeks, you're like, oh, wow. I guess I do feel different.

Yeah, I get that. I mean, the Fantasy Suites, it was by far the most impactful experience I had in the show. not only with Caitlin, but also then with Kayla, Jojo, and Lauren. And it isn't just, you know, it isn't physical or purely physical. I think we've been very clear on that before in a previous episode. The Fantasy Suite is really one of the first times that you can just let your guard down. You can get in your pajamas, first off. You can have moments of silence, which on the show you don't really have moments of silence

because you feel like you always need to be talking about something. And moments of silence are oftentimes in relationships, I think, the moments where you really either can tell if you're comfortable with the other person or, you know, if you're sitting there in silence because you just can't figure it, find anything to talk about, that's a pretty good sign also. I think the fantasy streets are incredibly important. And I think it's going to be very important for Rachel because really, I think a lot of these guys, we still don't have a clear-cut favorite. And I don't know if she does. Yes, I agree with you I think she's pretty torn right now Between at least two of them

And Which two is that I think she's torn between Peter and Brian And I think the Yeah, the fantasy is telling But for you Did you ever have a moment of like

Oh wait I'm going to change my mind After this experience Um No I really didn't So it didn't change that much it's so hard to say because in the fantasy suite you're entering into a week where it really is to explore who you have with you still and what relationships are existing and so I think for me that week was really a week just to find out as much about each individual person as possible in the time that we had now it's also a tough week because a little behind the scenes information you talk a lot and you don't get into the suite until pretty late at night and you wake up early early it was so bad

It's terrible because you usually end up, and you don't really want to go to sleep because you have these few hours to be away from everybody, away from the cameras. And so you wake up the next morning, exhausted, and you have to start dating again. You know you're into the next day, and so it's a really exhausting couple hours. But it's really, really worth it, and it's huge for these relationships. So I'm excited to watch Rachel coming out of the fantasy suites, because I know coming out of the fantasy suites for me, I might have just had a little more clarity I think that's probably Nothing changed just a little more clarity

on each woman was All right so all I can say Wait hold on Okay hold on just one thing I need to say that my fantasy suite I didn't get there until like 2 a.m. With Jared and he was like can we please go home Like I am not into this

We were in the middle of A kind of a scary place in Mexico And he was very nervous and then we finally got into the actual fantasy suite at 3.30 a.m. So we talked for like three hours and then we slept for four, and then you have to wake up and have that person see you after four hours of sleep and it doesn't look good. Well, if it's loved, then it shouldn't matter. I know. I feel pretty without makeup.

I just didn't feel pretty after four hours of sleep. Well, I think there's one way that you look pretty, and I know that you take care of yourself very well, Ashley. I've never doubted that. And one of your secret treatments, can we say it? Should we share it? Oh, bioclarity. Bioclarity, one of our favorite sponsors.

Because you know what? If you want to look like Ashley without makeup on, which I'm telling you, is a beautiful site, then bioclarity is one of those ways to get there. Yeah. Ashley, tell us how. I love bioclarity because I'm really sensitive to benzol peroxide, and they don't have benzol peroxide. side. There's no weird or harsh chemicals in this stuff. It actually has calming extracts that

include green tea and chamomile and cucumber and oatmeal. It's like everything that's soothing it has in it. And because of that, I don't get red and irritated and dry. And you guys don't even know how much I hate putting makeup on dry flaky skin. Nothing looks worse. So bio clarity keeps my skin really smooth and happy. But it doesn't make it. But it doesn't make it. it oily or shiny and I have no pimples because of it. It's really sweet and it's also 100% vegan and cruelty free for all the animal lovers out there. That's right. And it's gluten free and it's paraben free. Because you're eating it. Just kidding. You know the one thing I do like and I don't do a lot of stuff to take care of my skin and I probably should. But you

know that feeling when you wash your face, you get out of the shower and you put a lotion on or cream on or whatever you're doing and you know kind of feels like um like soothing or like a little bit like it's not stingy what's the word i'm looking for like you know i hate it when it's stingy that's the worst it's not stingy it's yeah exactly it's like soothing or cooling cooling cooling is the word i'm looking yeah that's after using bioclety for the last couple weeks that's what i'm feeling when i put it on it's like that cooling just like sensation of you know i feel better about myself because i feel like i'm clean again ah yes that deep clean there's actually there's three steps here when it comes to cleaning your skin with bioclarity first you're going to cleanse it with this rich foaming cleanser then you're going to treat it and that penetrates the pores and it you know it attacks that bacteria that leads to breakouts and then there's the restore job so you got to go to bioclarity.com and then our listeners are going to get their first month you guys you will not believe how cheap this is $9.95 plus free shipping it's a $20 savings and it comes for a 100%

risk-free money-back guarantee when you enter our code famous. So, you know, 100% money-back guarantee. They're pretty much telling you this stuff's going to work for you. So go to bioclarity.com and enter our code famous. And if you don't know how to spell famous, that's F-A-M-O-U-S. And if you didn't catch that, just look on the podcast you're listening to right now and it's almost famous or the second word. Type it into the code box on bioclarity.com and fix your acne today. That is so funny. All right. You're so funny, Ben. Are you ready to give Chase McNary some shit right now? Oh, I'm so excited.

Talk to Chase. Is Chase in the studio? Chase, your hair looks so good. You got rid of the fade. Everybody needs to get rid of the fade. I was thinking that watching Dean's hometown, his hair looks fantastic in there because you can't get your hair faded on The Bachelor. And now it's all like, he only has hair on the top. I'm like, come on, guys.

This looks amazing. Thank you. Thank you. I needed that, because I'm not really sure, but I know the hard part is getting overplayed, and I'm done with it. Yeah. I mean, there's only so much you can do to stay hip, and the fade was definitely hip for a while. I'm glad you. Chase, I got to ask you, are you shirtless right now? I am not, but it doesn't take much. He's super tan, though.

Really? Yeah, where did you just come back from? You're in Cabo? I just got back from Cabo last night. Who were you with? Josh Murray and I were down there. with the handful of other people Eaton Sassoon. Yeah, who is Sassoon? Please let me in.

Eden Sassoon was on The Real Housewives. Her dad is Vidal Sasson who started and built Sassoon hair products. Do you use Sassoon in her hair? Did she give you a gift? Did she give you a gift basket? No, not of her hair stuff. Oh, not of her hair stuff, another gift basket.

No. Well, the gift of a pretty fantastic health wellness trip down to Cabo. that was actually one of my favorite trips I've ever taken so far. Eden Sasson is just really about kind of giving back and changing anybody's world that you can and kind of bringing just good positivity and light to anyone that is following or watching our journeys. Oh.

Wow. That's deep. Yeah, it is. We spent most of the time doing, you know, we did, she owns a couple Pilates studios in town, so we did Pilates and yoga every day and then kind of, you know, did a lot of deep, deep conversations, and some conversations about God and all that stuff. So it was just a great positive trip, something a lot different than you would usually think

when you're going down to Cabo or Mexico. So she didn't try to hit on you or Josh? No, no. It's totally a business and friendship and a wellness relationship between all three of us. I mean, I think that sounds great. And welcome back to the United States then. We're happy to have you.

Thanks are coming in the studio the day after coming back from the trip. Absolutely. We're going to start out a little heavy here, okay? we're going to ask you some questions that they're going to feel a little intrusive, a little bit rough, but then we're going to move into some topics that are a little bit easier, a little bit more forgiving, okay? I wouldn't expect anything less out of Ben Higgins. Also, I have no idea of these tough questions that are coming out of you. It's probably going to be if I have any ass pictures on the Internet.

No, no, no, we're done with that. That's not even what was on my mind, Chase. I can't believe you'd think that. What's on my mind is how does a man in his late 20s have a lot of, so little body hair. You're going to have to talk to my grandpa about that. I think the hair gene comes from your mom's dad. You have great hair on your head, but very little on your body.

Yeah. Do you save your chest? You don't manscape. You don't groom? I mean, I do just a quick little trim, but it doesn't take much. On your chest or down there? I mean... Everywhere?

Ashley. I know we're PG-13, but I just think it's interesting to ask about manscaping. Manscaping is, it's an art. Not really. It's pretty simple. I'm not a hairy guy. That's really the bottom line. You're really not.

I'm not a hairy guy. Robbie Hayes is a rather hairy individual. Yeah, and he doesn't have much body hair in his pictures either, which confuses me. Moving on. Probably has less time in his day then, too. We got to move on to this topic then that I was hoping I could lead into it with, did you manscape or did you groom four? But it doesn't sound like you really need to.

So good for you. keep it up, keep, you know, being hairless. Would you have manscaped for the fantasy suite? Yeah. If you needed to. Yeah, you would have groomed up. Yeah. Got yourself clean.

But he did. He had to prepare himself for it because he got into it almost. I got into it. And then you left. I got out of it a lot quicker than everybody else. Yeah, you didn't get to the point where the cameras left. Yeah, the door never closed. How did you feel in that moment?

That was obviously the heaviest, hardest moment of the entire show for me. You know, it was the biggest confusing piece I went through because I had no idea why that would be the time Jojo would decide to send me home. I mean, this week we're entering into, the reason we're talking fantasy suites, Chase, I don't know if you're staying up to date with The Bachelor or not, but we're entering into Fantasy Suite week, which I think is a huge week, especially for the decision. as they come down to the end and getting this time away from the rest of the group and the cameras what I guess how did you feel about now looking back how do you feel about how Jojo handled the fantasy suite and especially your situation and then how do you feel like Rachel is handling everything up and like up to the fantasy suite everything you've seen so far um you know I think Jojo did I mean I guess she did it she did a good job with handling

handling the fantasy suites, I wish it was a different outcome. I would like to believe that maybe if she would have given me the fantasy suite for the rest of the night, maybe it would have been a completely different outcome, but who knows? And then from what I've seen, I mean, Rachel's been taking this entire season seriously, and she's not messing around, and I expect her to handle the fantasy suite in that exact same manner. If there was, so, if there's a girl that you've met so far in Bachelor Nation that you would want to date or you could see yourself potentially going on a date with and being interested in them. Who would be? You didn't go to Paradise this season. I know last time we were here,

we were, you know, really hinting at the fact that you would be, but it turns out you didn't. Was that because there weren't any girls that you were really interested in dating that you hadn't met yet? I think that was a heavy piece of it for sure. I mean, just right now, I'm not seeing the maturity in many of the girls in the Bachelor Nation franchise that. I'm attracted to, I guess. But you have to pick one. I don't know if I do. Do I?

Yeah, you do. It's part of the contract that we didn't have you signed. Oh, right, right. And you said girls that I've met, because there's obviously a handful that I have not. Chase, I got an easy answer for you. She's sitting right next to you. Yeah. Oh, Ashley I.

Right. Of course. I mean, you can't get much better than Ashley. We had least such a fun trip together to Miami about a month ago. You were the best trip partner. We did have a great time in Miami. Yeah. That was fun. It was fun. And I think both of us had low expectations.

Right. And then we've all had a blast. Ashley and I do make a pretty good travel duo. Yeah. That's awesome. No, it sounds like, I mean, Ashley came back just ecstatic from that trip. So, Chase, you mentioned that there's not any women then in Bachelor Nation that you might be interested in dating other than Ashley. What do you think then? And I don't know if you met any of them of the last three guys in Rachel season, Peter, Brian, and Eric. Oh, yeah. I have not met any of them.

From what I've seen, I like Peter. I think Peter's a pretty cool guy. I think Peter and you would get along very easily. You seem to have the same demeanor. Yeah. Yeah, I would like to meet Peter. And then I hate to admit it, but I haven't been following that closely to have a great opinion on Eric and Brian. But I've heard great things about Brian.

You and Dean both live in Venice. You guys need to go hang out at the frat house. Yeah, Dean actually still lives with one of my really, really good friends from college. That is such a small world. Jackson, I don't know. Yeah, I met him this weekend. Yeah, so Jackson, I think, is going to be on the hometown episode. He's not.

He flew there for it. Dean was telling me about a part of the hometown that didn't get shown, and that was when Rachel went and met a whole bunch of his friends. Right. Oh, Jackson's probably going to be upset about that. Oh, bummer. He's not going to be watching. He watched this week and was probably so sad.

It was like his moment to shine, and it just gets completely cut out. So you're kind of. I guess you're back in LA you're still running a couple companies are these companies going well for you are you in a good place in life can you give us an update on kind of where it chases at

yeah yeah companies are going great the only one that is really out there right now is you know my leisure letics it's that athletic company athletic wear company and that's going fantastic but more so than that I'm focusing a lot on

kind of the fitness side of things I'm actually gearing up to launch a full fitness site, personal training site, and then probably going to be doing an online fitness challenge here in the next couple months. So, wait time out. I'm sorry to bring this back up. Does this mean more shirtless pictures?

I mean, that's the only way, Ben. It's all for you. Chase, this is... When you do get a girlfriend, do you think she's going to get annoyed at all your shirtless pictures? Well, she won't be my girlfriend if she's annoyed with all my... I need a girlfriend with confidence. It's security.

Yeah. First off, you mentioned the word confidence. I'm starting to say here and question my own confidence, because I think of myself, you know, being out there fully exposed to the world so often. And the criticisms and the comments that come back could be so harsh that I think I'm fearful of those. So maybe all of this issue with me and your just amount of nipple picks that get posted on your Instagram.

Nipple picks. Wow. Just me being super insecure. You have nice nipples. Well, they're not intended for you to be insecure. They're intended to be motivational. Oh, wow. Let's get you working out, man.

Let's get you super jacked for summer next year, and you can have some shirtless photos rocking on your page, too. Oh, wait. I want to talk about captions and stuff. Like, how hard do you feel your inspirational captions? How hard do I feel them? Yeah, like where do you cut them from? Where is it coming from your soul?

A lot of them come from some of my favorite books that I'm reading. I don't Google them. But no, they come from mostly my books or just some of the philosophies and stuff that I've grown up believing and talking about. Actually, my mom's pretty inspirational a lot of the time. So I consult her on a daily basis. So some of those come from her. And then just whatever I'm feeling kind of that day and what might make sense. so where do you hope this goes chase i mean in all seriousness you're you've mentioned the word

here you're trying to motivate you're starting a fitness brand where you're going to help people get healthier uh you started an athletic wear company um you just got back it sounds like from a trip that was uh not only spiritual but it was good it was physical and it was good for your mind um where do you hope all this goes like what's what's next for you um so it all kind of goes back to a couple months or a couple weeks ago actually I got my first um cover of a magazine a fitness magazine actually so you know I'm really finally settling into something that I'm passionate about that I'm excited about and having that for me is it's different because you know medical device sales is what I did before the show and that was fun that was challenging that was a rewarding career

but but I never really had that full passion there but now I can kind of dive into this fitness world where I can actually give some of my knowledge back to everybody and help people achieve new goals for themselves. And that's what I'm excited about. Would you ever think about opening your own studio, like your own fitness center? Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I'm actually in conversations,

it's probably a long way out, but in conversations with a few different people about doing that. So my final question, because I don't necessarily get into this world too much, and I'm proud of you for doing it because it is crazy, and I see your pictures all the time, and yeah, you got muscles in places I don't. which is good for you and you keep that work up.

How often, I mean, for Ashley and I, we're both very interested in this, how often do you lift? Like, how often do you work out? I guess it's a good question for our listeners out there because we get a lot of emails on questions about diet and habit because a lot of people do The Bachelor and just in great shape. So, like, how often do you work out? And then to close out this segment with you, if you could give any tip to any of the listeners

we have out there, what would that tip be? Yeah. So, you know, coming off the show, you kind of get sucked into a lot of the traveling and the partying and all that stuff. So last summer and even into the winter, I started to just kind of lose myself a little bit, even, you know, my body and I started feeling weak and depleted. So then, you know, I got back into it. So to answer your question, I do, I work out every day. I try and get at least an hour in. Sometimes I'll do cardio in the morning and lift at night, but just trying to try and sweat every day is one of my main philosophies.

As long as you can do that, I think that you're going to, you know, see results and see progression and be happier and healthier. And then my one advice, I would say, for anybody listening is if you are in the gym and you are working out and you're getting that routine going, you know, one of my favorite quotes is don't stop when you're tired, stop when you're done. So make sure and have a well-planned out workout and get through that whole thing, no matter how tired you are, every set, every rep until the end. Well, Chase, I think your quote is going to be a quote we should keep for this podcast. We're not going to quit when we get tired. We're going to quit when we're done. There you go. Chase, thanks for coming in, man.

I appreciate it. Thanks for explaining the thought process behind your social media, your trips, your new businesses, and just who you are as a person. You've been awesome to us. And thank you for coming on once again. Please, don't be a stranger to the almost famous podcast. Yeah. No, I'm local, so hopefully I can be here quite often whenever you guys need me. Oh, yeah.

Oh yeah. Thank you, Ben. Ashley, great to see you as always. I thought you said thank you, babe. Thank you, Ben's a babe. Thanks, babe. Ashley, you can be my babe. Thanks. All right, guys. Bye. So, Ashley, one place that you're not a stranger to either, just like Chase is not a stranger to this podcast, is your favorite shopping spree will always exist at Forever 21.

Yes, Forever is the greatest. Basically, I have something on my body that is Forever 21 at all. times right now it's my shorts no lie so if you are in southern california forever 21 in iHeart media that is our company they're teaming up to bring you an exclusive b brexa concert all new and existing forever 21 credit card members can enter for a chance to attend i heart radio live with b bb rexa yeah and if you're not a card holder yet you can actually still do it because newly approved cardholders will receive 15% off their first regular price same day purchase and they can still enter and get a chance to win tickets to

this exclusive show. So what you're going to have to do is visit any Forever 21 store in SoCal, Southern California, for info. And then you can apply for a Forever 21 credit card today. For all the information, just go to Kiss FM. That is k-I-I-S-F-M.com. The keyword is Forever 21. Actually, I don't think you'll ever stop around forever 21 because you will always be Forever 21. I basically am. Hey, Ashley, as we talked about earlier, we have to move quick and we have to move fast as podcast.

We have a ton to talk about. And something that I'm very, somebody I'm very excited to talk to is somebody you've just spent a lot of time with. And that's Luke Pell. Luke Pell is on the line right now. He's about getting dumped before the Fantasy Suite, the week before. So he would have been let go exactly where Dean was. Luke, are you out there?

What's going on, Ben? How you doing? I'm good, man. Ashley's on the line as well. Thank you for joining us. Luke, I missed your voice. It's only been 24 hours. I know.

It seems like forever. Luke, before Ashley chimes in here, because I've got to hear all about it, and you haven't yet. Tell us a rundown of the magic that existed between you and Ashley this weekend. I didn't say anything about this, Luke. Did we have some magic this weekend in Tahoe?

It was. It was so much fun. That's awesome, man. It sounds like it was great. We had a great weekend Tahoe is amazing That's my first summer Experience in Tahoe

And that place is like heaven on art It's unbelievable The water just crystal clear I could spend every summer there It would be awesome Hey look you You met your runner up basically Like the guy who followed you Dean

He was fourth place this season And your fourth place Your season So you guys probably be You're able to bond over that position And it is a position So very close to Fantasy Suites But it doesn't really make it there

How much frustration frustration do you feel that you didn't make it there to get that a little opportunity? And how much did you and Dean bond over it? Yeah, you know, I think that it's interesting meeting Dean and knowing that he's going through the same thing that I did last season. And, you know, it's a weird spot to be in

because, you know, it was even more weird, I think, for Chase having gone to the Fantasy Sweet Day and like really not having the actual fantasy suite and sit home. But, you know, for us, it was, I think, probably a lot of shock. And I think, you know, it was for me at least and probably for Dean. It's just that you kind of, you know, when you get to the top four, I think that that's where things really get weird because the top four people, I feel like the lead really has very, very similar feelings for.

And so, you know, up into that point, you kind of know where you said, you kind of feel comfortable, you know that your connection is strong. And even when you have the hometown day, at least I think, you know, for some people, maybe they know the hometowns don't go well or whatever. And maybe they know what's coming. For me, my hometown went really well or seemingly really well. It went the best. It was a shock. Yeah. So, Luke, you had the greatest hometown ever. That was when your real Nicholas Sparks shining star moment came through for me. I was like, this guy is why. I don't remember this. He's unreal.

Yeah. Wait, you tell. You tell about what you did for your hometown with Jojo. There was a Grey's Anatomy episode, which, I mean, every girl likes Gray's Anatomy, right? Oh, my God. He keeps getting better and better with every sentence he spoke. Where they, like, outlined their future home where they wanted to raise their family and, like, outlined it in candles or whatever. They're like, this is what the kids are going to play, this can be the kitchen.

So, anyway, so we simplified that, and I did this whole, like, laid out a heart and rose petals. and candles, and it was out on my parents' ranch in Texas. And looking back, people, you know, I invited more people to the, like, family barbecue because that's something that we traditionally did. And that I think people are like, well, that probably scared of, like, too many people to invite over to the hometown date or whatever, and that's fine. But anyway, like, it was just, it felt really comfortable. It felt like, you know, my family connected with Jojo, and I saw it vice versa,

at least from that day and what we talked about in our conversations. Anyway, needless to say, you know, I guess she didn't fill it at the end of the day. And that was something that, you know, back to that shock scenario is that I didn't realize that, you know, because I knew that, you know, she had, you know, strong feelings for me, but she also had it for the other three guys as well. So that's like going into that, you know, a row ceremony when I went home, it was just such a shock. I didn't see it coming. So I'm probably a very similar feeling to what Dean felt. No one saw you leaving.

No one saw it. crushing moment in Bachelorette history. One of the surprise things that ever happened. Do you remember, I mean, that going down? I know, I remember going back to Caitlin's season when I was on The Bachelorette, and I tried to think back to the night that I was let go. And I don't really remember it because it was such a culture shock or emotional shock, because all of a sudden you're in this world that you've been in for months,

and then you're just gone, and it's over. Yeah, yeah, it definitely is that. I think, you know, it takes a little bit to get accustomed to the whole thing, day-to-day rhythm, how things are going, and then all of a sudden, now the day you're sent home, everything is completely new, and you're trying to adapt to it. I don't even know how to feel right now. I know now that I'm out of it. What's happening next? You don't know, like, hour by hour, what's going to be the next, you know, undoing of your presence on the show. And so, anyway, yeah, it's a weird situation. So, Ben, you were, how did you go home?

I was actually, I went home at third, so it was after Fantasy Suites. I had been there through fantasy suites, and then I was let go at the Rose Ceremony in Ireland. And so when I was let go, it was a shock to me because I didn't know, you know, for weeks, I hadn't seen any of the other people, Nick or Sean at the time. Sure. And so all of a sudden, you walk into a room, you see them for the first time in weeks, then you're sent home, and within, you know, a couple hours, I was in a hotel room without any cameras, any producers, I was done. And I think for me, it was, I remember I face-timed a couple days later, one of my best friends, and he still to this day, we'll talk about how weird I was.

Like, I was just emotionally drained, physically drained, and confused, because this world that you start living in, you get used to it, and you don't know how to exit out of it easily. Yeah, absolutely. It was very similar for me. I didn't realize until, you know, those first few days after getting sent home, how, how how deeply, you know, I was in that emotional channel. Like, I mean, I was like, oh, my gosh. Like, I'm having, like, anxiety attacks and stuff.

I didn't, I didn't mentally feel like that, but I was emotionally in that space. I didn't even realize it until I had a lot of closure. I don't know if you felt like this, but there is a lot of closure because, for me, I say goodbye to Caitlin, and I never, I mean, after the 15 minutes that we talked, then I didn't see her again for months. And I know for you and Jojo, you probably didn't see her again until the men tell all. yeah yeah exactly i have a question for you guys i'm dragged by what's up you were both so invested emotionally in these two respective women

were you ready to propose because we see peter right now and he's at the stage that you guys were at and he's really doesn't seem like he is yeah i you know i've from what i've watched this season um it seems like the guys are showing or at least voicing a lot of reservation here You know, I feel like Dean and Peter both are like, oh, this is my fear, this is my fear. And, you know, for me, like, that wasn't even really a conversation that, that was a shocker for me. It wasn't a conversation that I even had with Jojo. Like, I didn't talk about, like, my concerns or didn't feel like I could even get there. And now that was huge.

I was like, wow, I was going there. I was like, well, I introduced her to my family. If I feel like she felt confident in that, and I both felt confident in that, then we can keep moving forward, you know, I was just taking it day by day at that point. But, yeah, I never showed any concerns. She never really, like, voiced any concern. It just all happened, you know, and at one-rose ceremony. Luke might be answering that perfectly.

I don't blame these guys, and I don't think any viewers should, for having reservations or concerns. They're not saying, hey, I don't like Rachel, and, hey, I don't see a future with Rachel, or I don't want to explore a future with Rachel. What they're saying is, I just, we haven't even gotten there yet. Like, we haven't had the opportunity to talk about it yet, And how am I supposed to enter into an engagement with somebody when I haven't asked the question, what do they want out of a marriage?

And we don't have those opportunities. So I think for me, when I was with Caitlin, I don't know if I'd even thought about it yet. And that doesn't mean that I wasn't ready. It just means that, like, I was trying to survive by even figuring out what world I was living in. Yeah, that's completely true. One day at a time. One day at a time. And one moment at time, one interaction at a time.

I know how I would answer this, and I know how I felt as to that. Yeah, you guys are beating the bush. What would you have done? I don't, I would have completely proposed. Oh, you would have? Yeah, I don't even think that would have been. Like, I don't know if that time, if I would have, I don't think I would have not proposed. Like, I would have been, I can't say that.

I think with Caitlin, I had a lot of questions just on, you know, who she wanted. And I also knew it's different. Because I knew with Caitlin, she was so into Sean that it felt weird for me to even still be there. And you were good friends with Sean. Yeah, exactly. So I knew how much they cared for each other. And so for me, I don't think I could have just proposed because it would have felt like something would have had to happen to make it clear to me that she almost would have felt like it was a joke on me. Like, yeah, hey, Ben, I chose you, but I'm really in love with the guy that I just sent home.

Like, that would have made sense to me. I knew she really cared about him. And I was just trying to figure out if he was even still around. Because, like we mentioned, for weeks, you don't see the other contests. You don't even know if they're there still or not. Right. But Luke, you seem pretty firm on your answer. You would have proposed to Jojo?

Yeah, absolutely. Like, that was like, I mean, I was planning, like, the next day, like I was thinking about what I was going to say. The conversation was going to go. Like, I was so, like, you know, moving forward and emotionally and in my head. And so that's why, you know, that all was a shock. And, I mean, they edited it like that. It looked like shock and it was. Maybe that was the whole thing.

It was just teed up to be, you know, the biggest dramatic Monday night. And that's kind of what I walked right into. But I don't know. Wow. Do you wish, I mean, Luke, are you glad that Jojo handled the way she did? Like, I mean, if she knew that she was going to pick Jordan, are you glad she sent you home, or do you just wish you could have been around a little bit longer? You know, I think that I wish it would have been with her first instinct and, like, gone.

Like, whoever she feels, I mean, I think that's a strategy you have to have as a lead, and you probably have had to deal with that. Like, are you going to have kind of a quote-unquote burn card where the decision is easier for you at the very end? Of course, but for you, you know, it was between Jojo and Lauren. So you were like, I don't know what I'm going to do. I'm not going to do. Like that whole conversation was going on. So I think some people are like, oh, well, if I make this hard decision earlier,

then the last decision won't be as hard on me. You know, and I guess that's what she did. And, you know, for me, if I was in her shoes, I think I would have liked to have given every, you know, everyone an equal chance all the way to the end and make that decision to be sure that I made the right one, you know, because those last few dates are the most meaningful in the connection of the greatest, and you know the most about those people. So, I don't know. No, you're right.

I mean, I know how hard it is in those moments to make those decisions. And so however Jojo handled it, we got to say she handled it correctly because she's happy now, and she's, you know, things worked out for her. Absolutely. But I know, you know, somebody that kind of stands out to me would have been, and she's a great friend of mine and a great guest in the show, is Becca Tilly. I had, I said goodbye to her, you know, when we're still in Worse, Indiana. So she was going home a couple weeks even before Fantasy Suites.

Right. Because I knew that my feelings for the other women were stronger than my feelings for her, even though there was, you know, she was still up there. Like, she could have still been around for a long time, but I knew that I didn't want put somebody like Becca through any more turmoil or any more any more any confusion I would just rather make that decision then because I knew how hard it would be to make later yeah what are you doing that actually do you like you have your two closest people at the very end and try to make that decision a hard decision for yourself or you try to make that decision easier for yourself

by sending someone else home earlier I think I would have to keep them both to the end I don't think I'd be being easy on anyone for just like their sake because I do feel like Rachel's pointed it out in the past she's like this is kind of the time that I have to be selfish so if I really actually thought I needed more time with one of these guys just to further give clarity to myself then I'd really need to keep them around for that right that's a tough decision yeah I don't know if I was set in the way that I think that Caitlin was so set I feel like I would have let Ben go at a time before, like the final get down on one knee. But then I wouldn't have seen Ireland.

Actually, I want to see Ireland a little bit. I'm glad. No, no, no, no. But I would have let you go on when I guess I'm thinking like, personally, I would have kept like Ben, Jared, and Sean as my top three. I love you, Nick. But like, those would have been my top three from that season. And I would have been like, okay, I don't know, you guys, there's so many feelings involved. many feelings involved.

So you're living, Ashley, you understand that it's hard to be the bachelor or bachelor. We've got to give these people some grace and some credit because they're trying really hard to make correct decisions. That brings into my

next question, okay? I know you're a busy man, and I want to talk about your tour in a second because I have some exciting announcement to make about your tour that you know I'm really pumped about. But if you're asked to be, okay, so this is a two-part question.

First off, do you have a girlfriend or not? And if you don't, if you ask to be The Bachelor again, would you do it? Yeah, so, you know, I, first of all, after the way things kind of fell out last year, you know, the relationship between me and, you know, the production companies, it kind of went awry at the very end, and everybody knows that. And so I kind of just at that point, started trying to mentally move on and then emotionally just move on from that process. as in being in that role, and I didn't want to hang on to it and try to wait another year and see what happens or anything. So, you know, so with that being said, that was kind of phase one. And then, too, you know, I've made myself available to start dating again, and I have started

dating again. And, yeah, and so I am dating someone. And, yeah, so that's just not... Whoa, whoa, you are dating somebody. Yeah, I am. Good for you. Good for you, man. That's awesome.

It's just very good thing that, you know, for me is in the cards, you know? so um but you know i think that you know somebody's going to be in that right place in that right season where it's open for them and i don't know if it's going to be you know somebody from a past season which they're showing now that you know from pulling nick from a past season last year that they're open to that and it doesn't have to be somebody from the you know current season that's a runner up but um but i don't know that'll be interesting to see how that unfold this year for sure it will um well i have to add uh we already started training for the winter games. So you would be open to that if they asked you back for that,

right? I'm still trying to understand the whole concept of what's going to happen with this winter games, but it is intriguing. Like, it sounds like a lot of fun. Because, like, I don't know, I think you guys probably feel the same way. I love hanging out with my Bachelor family. So, like, just like hanging out and doing stuff. So this Bachelor games, winter games thing, I'm intrigued to see what the details are on it because it kind of sounds fun. It was funny. I put on my Insta story, you know, you having to try to get on the trampoline without a ladder. And I got so many people that were messaging me throughout the day. And it was like, wait, you lift us on a cliffhanger.

Did he get on the trampoline or not? So I think, you know, we are all set for the winter games. Oh, man, it's going to be fun. Luke, something else you're set for. And I got to ask, do you bring in the girl with you or not? You are going to play, to rock out, to dominate my hometown of Warsaw, Indiana. on your tour very soon. Will you be bringing the lucky lady

and tell us about your tour, promote it, talk about it, because I bet it's going to be awesome, and I hope everybody from Warsaw, who has supported me so well, comes out and supports you. Yeah, we were excited. Warsaw reached out, and they're like, hey, you know, obviously,

from Ben being from here, we're a huge bachelor, a bachelor fan, we love to have you bring your band and come play. So we're going to play in Chicago, at a place called Joe's. I think it's the night before. And then I think it's August 11th and August 12th.

We're going to be in Warsaw, Indiana, home of the Ben Higgins. Wait, Ben, are you going to be there? I'm not. I wish I was. We need to fly out. We can do a remote podcast. There's posters all over my hometown about it. Honestly, people are so stoked.

I was just in Warsaw last week. It was super fun. Like, I was sitting at my house, and my parents both go, hey, Ben, did you hear the big news? And I was like, what's the big news? And they said, Luke Pell is coming to our town. And I was like, that's awesome. I texted Luke. And I was like, man, this is so cool.

I wish I could be there. I can't. I know my parents will. They'll be out there head banging to the country music. Are you bringing your girl? No, probably not. It's logistically. It's a little tough on the weekend.

But, yeah. It's going to be fun. I'm excited to be in Indiana, Warsaw, Indiana. I've never been there. So that'll be a first. Well, Luke, I just want to tell you that one of these days, we're definitely bringing the podcast to one of your shows, even if it's not the one in Warsaw.

I can't wait. I think it'd be a blast. It would be so much fun. Have you got it? You're so talented. We really thank you for this. Like, you've been great to us, and we want to promote your tour. So anytime you can come on and talk about it and give us updates,

I know Ashley always loves hearing. and your voice and so do I. Also, you guys, download his music on iTunes. It's so good. I listen to those two singles he has up there all the time. Awesome. I appreciate you guys. Y'all have a great rest of your day and we'll talk

to you soon. Bye, Luke. Thank you. All right, guys. We're getting to the end of this podcast and one of our favorite segments on our podcast, which is listener emails. Ben, I have one here from Kate, and I'm just skimming through it, but it seems really interesting. And I

I think it's directed toward maybe both of us. All right. So it's from Kate and says, Hey, y'all. I love the care that Ben puts into saying things as kindly as possible. And the way that he shows Jesus without even saying it. I love how Ashley is so vulnerable and relatable. It makes people feel like they're not alone and have a friend.

This is so sweet. In one of the podcasts, you asked for any ideas on what y'all should talk about. So I have a topic for you. Me, sort of. It's been a common theme on both podcasts that. Ashley has never had a boyfriend and is still a virgin. Well, I take it one step further. I'm 25 and haven't kissed anyone.

Even typing it makes me want to die, LOL. Now that I'm 25, I feel like I put a ton of pressure on the idea of my first kiss, my first relationship, and I feel like it's never going to happen. I'm trying to trust God's timing, but it's getting annoying. Should I just forget it and go kiss some guy in a bar, or should I wait for it to be meaningful? my Instagram is well we won't share it and maybe there are some clues on there as to why I'm permanently single any advice would be awesome Kate wow what a what a great email what a great question um asha I think you should start this because I think you can probably relate with Kate

fairly well I think that I have mentioned on the podcast before that there are some times where I'm just like getting advice from friends are like just sleep with someone random and then you won't be emotionally attached to them and then it'll be over with and then other guys won't be threatened or weirded out by it and then you could live a normal 29 year old life just get rid of it and sometimes that sounds tempting not with a stranger at a bar but with like a good looking guy friend or something like that um but as far as your first kiss I kind of feel like you can just throw it away and I'm saying this because I think it's different than sex it's going to be a lot less emotionally

you're going to get less emotionally attached with your first kiss than your first time or at least that's what I believe and I think I've told you guys about my first kiss on this podcast once before. It was really stupid. I was in a bar at 19 and this guy just like put his tongue to my throat

and it was messy and sloppy and at first I was really sad about it but then I was like well at least that's ever with and I think you probably feel the same but Ben do you have any other advice for her? Um, you know, I do. I think there's a few things that we got to break down here. One is her reasoning for not having a kiss to this point. If it's an ethical or moral decision, then we got to respect it. I think it's not ethical or moral. I think she's definitely religious, but I think she just wants to kiss a boy. Yeah. And I mean, even coming, you know, it's not a secret that I have faith and I try my best to, to live my life according to what I believe my faith asked of me and what Jesus asked of me. And obviously she points that out in there. So I think she's kind of, leaning back on, okay, what, she's asking, like, what's my perspective on this? And my perspective is this. Purity is always something to be admired and also sought after. I believe that in all

things in life. I think having a pure heart, having a pure soul, having pure intentions, towards friendships and relationships are always something that we should strive for. And so Kate has something on me and you and the fact that she is pure in her physical interaction with others. So her life, the opportunity she has to kind of explore that later on is going to be beautiful. And I cannot imagine the gift she's going to be able to give her husband, just in the sense of one day meeting a man saying, hey, you might be it. I have never kissed anybody else. And as weird as that sounds and as hard as that's been for me, I haven't exactly saved myself for this moment, but you are the only man I will ever kiss and the only man

I ever want to kiss. I think that's a cool thing that she's going to be able to bring a partner in life. My advice to her, though, that's my thoughts. You can disagree or agree. I get that. Please write in to the podcast with your thoughts on that. My advice to her would be a little different than yours, Ashley, in the sense of I don't think she should throw it away. I think she should make it as meaningful as she believes she wants to.

I don't think she is at any level hurting herself by kissing somebody. I don't think that held that physical emotion, or I guess the emotion to it when you kiss somebody I don't think is very strong. But I want her to keep it special. She's kept it special at this point. Make sure it's the right person. Make sure it's the right scenario. And if it is her husband one day, I've met people who have done this and I haven't. But if it is her husband one day, how beautiful a story is that to one day tell your kids.

And so, Kate, stay strong. You're not weird for it. You're not alone in this. You're not the only one that hasn't kissed anybody. Your story is just maybe different than others. And so don't get sucked in to this world that you feel like you need to do something to stay relevant or you need to say cool. Just take your time and do you, Kate. Do what you feels right.

It is interesting to hear your feedback on this because I'm giving advice right now that is the advice that I've been getting. And I don't listen to it, though. You know what I mean? I guess I do think of kiss and sex as totally different but like I can't stand it when people are like oh just get rid of it like it's so unattractive and it's like well

I don't think so I'm not going to yeah so I mean actually this is maybe I don't know if this helps or hurts and I'm going to say it like if and you and I've talked about this off offline before and this is this is I'm getting a little more vulnerable than I probably enjoy doing on this podcast but if I were to kiss somebody right now

in my life. Right. I wanted to talk about this. It means you and I both. It would hold a lot of weight. Yeah. It would be really hard for me. I'm,

you know, it would hold a lot of weight. So I guess from the place in my life that I'm at. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Kissing is a big deal. More than it did when I was in college. And it just didn't really sit with me ever.

It didn't really matter to me. But right now, for me to kiss anybody holds a lot of weight. And it, and it almost like, as I even say, my chest kind of gets tight. Like, I know that that's really difficult for me.

So I don't know where Kate's at. We don't know where Kate's at. We don't know where anybody's at that's listening to this podcast. I think it matters the season of life. And are you prepared for it or not? Season of life. I love that because we are both into, well, I love that. And I think we need to take that into consideration, Kate.

But also, I am losing my train of thought, like crazy right now. Ashley's telling you to go out. somebody. No, no, I'm not. No, not. Okay, so here's the thing. Ben and I are both very in line in this department together. Like, we are so emotional and we'd like to emotionally attach ourselves to people. So we're not the kind of people who are going to go out and be like, oh, no, go out and like, you won't feel anything. And it's fine to not feel anything. Like, we think that being physical with someone, no matter how intense it is, is something that should come along with emotion for the most part. Or it always does come along with motion. Okay. Ashley, great advice. That was fun to talk about. I think it's interesting to hear your perspective on this topic because it is one that you know, you know a lot about.

I want to hear a next email. What else do we got? All right. This is from Brianna. I've been a fan of The Bachelor since the very beginning. I have memories of watching it with my mom at five years old. Imagine my excitement when I found out that not only one but two of my favorite bachelor stars were starting a podcast together. You both compliment each other beautifully.

and Ashley's got a bubbly personality and Ben's the logical, thoughtful one that comes with a good banter. I especially, or especially, in Ben's case, love hearing about Ashley's dating life stories and Ben giving her advice. Maybe sometime soon we'll start hearing stories about Ben jumping into the dating pool and Ashley giving her input. Keep up the great work and please keep sharing some behind-the-scenes stories for us fans. Well, I guess what Breanna is asking us is when would Ben find himself? interested in dating again, Ben. Oh, geez. How many months are we away from that?

You know, I think here recently, Ashley, I've tried to stay away from talking about those situations because I know they hurt people and they're hard to talk about still. Does that make sense? Like, that kind of stuff, dating or relationships are things that are very sensitive than me right now. And it's just not something I'm wanting to talk about, honestly. I guess the insight I'll have into that is I don't know. I don't know when I'm ready.

And I think I listened to a sermon this week by one of my favorite pastors. And he talked about heartbreak and breakups and how you move forward and move on. And he recommended you take a considerable amount of time in this part of life where you're exiting out of a breakup and you're broken to find yourself, to fill yourself with things that are good, to fill yourself with friendships and to fill yourself with healthy habits and your faith and prayer and meditation. So honestly, as tempted it as much as I do desire a relationship. I do, and you know this, I desire commitment. I desire to emotionally attach myself to somebody and have somebody look at me the way Rachel

with the Dean on this episode and say, hey, I got your back. I'm here for you. I am forcing myself, if this makes sense, to get to know myself better. I don't know, to find myself a little bit, to figure out who I am now. And once I do that, I don't know when that is, hopefully I'll have somebody then in my life that will say, well, tell me they love me, and I'll know it. So, who knows? I don't know. They always come around when you are concentrating on yourselves and you're trying to be happy alone, and that's when you'll find that person, or at least that's what they tell me.

That's right. So that's it. Sorry, I can't answer that better. I hope one day, too. We can be laughing and sharing stories about my dating life. I don't want this to always be about Ashley and her vulnerable moments. But right now, for at least this season of the Almost Famous podcast, she is the only one dating. And I'm the one listening.

So with that, we got to give a special thanks once again to Fabbit Fun. they have been an awesome sponsor, Forever 21, and BioClarity. I also want to use this time, and they don't get enough thanks. We have a huge team of people behind the scenes for the almost famous podcast that are editing, that are producing, that are gathering information, that are recording for us. We've got to give them a thank you. They make this good. Ashley and I get to sit here and talk, and they do all the work. So thank you to them.

Ashley, thank you for allowing me a couple weeks off here coming up to go. go to Honduras and another way that you're bettering yourself and you're doing something for yourself exactly and serving others you know that's maybe the one of the best things to do is when you really want to serve yourself you serve others first and so i'm going to be doing that um so ashley good luck lead the team well keep this going um thank you to luke and chase for coming on and and for all of you who may want their email read on the next episode of the almost podcast. Please write to Ben and Ashley at iHeartmedia.com. And then maybe I'll address it with Becca and our other special guests in the coming weeks. That's right. And with that, thank you to

everybody that listens. We have, I mean, honestly, and this isn't, I don't, I don't know how to say this without sounding kind of like we're bragging about our podcast, but we have so many listeners. And that is making it so much fun for Ashley and I to continue to do this. It shows us support. Thank you for listening. I hope you continue. Like Ashley said, please send in your comments, thoughts, questions to Ben and Ashley at iHeartMedia, what is it, dot com.

And, hey, everybody, thanks for joining us. This has been the Almost Famous Podcast. I've been Ben. And I've been Ashley. We love you all. Thank you. Bye. Follow the Ben and Ashley I, Almost Famous Podcasts on IHartRadio or subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts.

Thank you.