The Ben and Ashley I Almost Famous Podcast - S6 E4 A One on One, a Twitter Feud, an an Engagement

Episode Date: June 19, 2018

Ben gives a behind the scenes look at Ashley and Jared's engagement, and shares some details about how this could be one of the biggest events in Bachelor history. Plus, he offers his take on the insane Twitter feud between Bekah and Raven. Then, Clay the football player calls in to talk about his heart wrenching decision to leave the show after suffering an injury. And then Granger Smith joins Ben in studio, to share his thoughts on front runner Garrett, and what it was like performing during Colton and Becca's one on one date. 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 IHartRadio. Hey, everybody, this is Ben and Ashley. We have no Ashley today in studio. This is just me talking to myself, talking all alone, but that doesn't mean we don't have incredible guests. We have absolutely incredible guests on this podcast. Later on the podcast, we're going to hear from Clay himself after being sit home on this week's episode. Clay will be with us in studio. Then we're of Granger Smith, who we saw on this

week's episode. I mean, Granger Smith is one of my all-time favorite artist. He crushes it. His lyrics are incredible. His voice radiates. A big fan of Granger Smith. He's going to come on and give us the inside look into what it's like to be an artist on The Bachelorette. Then something I'm very excited about. Something I learned not any more than, I don't know, two hours ago. My co-host, Ashley Iconetti and Jared Haybond are engaged. This was not something I knew. It's not something anybody from the almost famous team knew.

This was kept a secret. I guess Ashley couldn't have told us because I don't think she knew either until it happened. But on Instagram today, I saw a picture of Jared down on one knee with my beautiful co-host, Ashley Ikenetti, standing above him, laughing and smiling. and I bet their heart is full right now. Next week, we're going to get the inside look into what exactly went down in this engagement. We're going to hear all about it from Ashley herself.

I am so pumped for her. And let me just take a second. Really, Ashley I Kennedy is engaged and engaged to the love of her life, the man of her dreams. I think all of us out there who listen to this podcast or for myself that speaks on this podcast, we can relate with having that, you know, dream person.

And for Ashley, Jared was it. And I think it took him a while to realize that Ashley was his dream person. But I know he knows that now. Ashley, if you've ever been around her, she just radiates this, this love. She radiates this passion. She radiates this desire to be known and to know other people. But there was always this one person that kind of, she always wanted to know a little bit above anybody else. And that was Jared.

And for years, as I got to know Ashley, I knew. I was always confused at their relationship. They would hang out as friends, yet they had a romantic history. They wouldn't kiss, but yet they could cuddle on a couch and watch a movie. I never got it, and they would just be friends, right? Jared would stay in L.A., and he would sleep on her pull-out bed in the living room. I've been over, and I haven't seen it. It's literally, it was called Jared's bed.

They would have no kind of physical interaction for years, but yet they got along so well. And yet, Ashley was always very open with the fact that she had a huge crush on him. It was always super confusing to me. And I think it was confusing to all of us out there. I've been reading through comments today after people posted the engagement announcement. And everybody out there is super excited for this. And I think everybody was saying it's about time. We've waited so long to see this couple come together.

And sometimes in life, we don't get the fairy tale ending. But in this scenario we did, my co-host is one happy person right now. and her fiance is in for a really great ride in life with Ashley. And I'm excited for both. I love Jared a ton. And this is something that makes my heart very, very happy. So if you're out there, send them a kind word.

Send them a well-wish. And also, I really hope the same love story that they have is something that we all can relate with at some point in our lives. I hope we can all be down on one knee or standing up or however that works and looks for everybody. And just be so confident and so excited about what the future withholds with that person sitting in front of you. So from the almost famous podcast and the team here, and from myself personally, congratulations, Ashley and Jared.

Celebrate, relax, take a deep breath. You have found your person and you have found love. And we cannot be more excited for you. We support you. We're here with you through it. And we are pumped. I mean, I'm anxiously excited to get the instant. side scoop into what went down during this engagement.

Because like I said, I had zero idea. I found out like everybody else on Instagram today, which at first made me very upset. It's like, how in the world did you keep this from me? But I guess when it comes to engagements, they are secrets. So I don't know what I was expecting. I just feel like I want the inside scoop. I want to be involved. So with that, Ashley will be back next week in studio.

I will be with her in Los Angeles. We'll be sitting down and chatting. I mean, it wasn't more than a month ago. She was crying over Jared. And I'm sure she'll be crying again on next Monday, but this is going to be tears of complete joy and happiness. Later on the podcast, we're going to talk this week's episode. We're going to break it down.

I mean, this week's episode had a lot. We're going to talk Colton, what we think of Colton. We're going to talk Garrett's 101. The breakdown on the group day, we're going to talk Wells and his 101. David is back from the hospital. Jordan is wearing gold underwear. But first, we got to throw this back to real life and talk my opinion on the beck versus Raven situation.

I'm just going to hop in here really quick with a spoiler alert. If you don't want to be spoiled for The Bachelorette, skip ahead five minutes from this point. This is a spoiler alert. You've been properly warned. Thank you. I don't know if everybody out there has seen it, but on Twitter this week, Becca M. from R.E. season of The Bachelor publicly spoke out against Colton and his intentions of being on The Bachelor.

She's claiming that he went on the show for Tia. And if you've watched any of the season so far, this is how the story's played out. Colton approached Becca on last, two weeks ago on the episode and sat down with Becca and said, hey, Becca, I'm here for you. I think you're great. But I got to let you know that after the Bachelor went on,

I reached out to Tia and Tia and I hung out. And we dated and we had a great weekend together. And nothing crazy happened. But we had something. and we talked for a while. But he said, you know, once I found out I was going to show, things ended. And there wasn't that flame there anymore. And Becca's approach to it was, you know, just like any wise person would.

She took her time, thought it through and said, okay, if he's here for me, then I'll say this is okay. But people out there in Bachelor Nation kind of spoke up and spoke their opinions and said, Colton is not there for the right reasons. He was there for Tia. Now it's Becca. Why is he still around? and why isn't he pursuing Tia but Colton wanted to stay

and Becca let him stay well now we know that Colton is in paradise we've heard this we've seen it and Becca M has spoken out against it and said that Tia and Colton were planning this all along

well Tia's good friend Raven came back after Becca in this initial tweet and said that Becca needs to stop and hold her opinions because she is wrong Tia and Colton have the right to pursue any relationship they want. And so this became a little bit of a Twitter war, one that reminds me of high school all over again.

And I got to ask anybody out there, am I wrong for somewhat being very interested in this war? Is it weird of me now? Maybe this is a little bit evil of me. But when people start arguing on Twitter, no matter who it is, if it's the President of United States, if it's people from the Bachelorette, if it's just regular people in general, I'm intrigued and I read and I read every single tweet that comes out. I mean, even today, I'm doing it right now as we had a little break in the podcast. I'm scrolling for an update on Twitter to see if Raven or Becca has posted anything new.

I want to hear your opinions. Please email us at Ben and Ashley at iHeartMedia.com to send in your opinions on the Colton Tia situation. and then also what you think of the Becket versus Raven scenario. I mean, this is not a small thing. These people have influence. You know, they have a social media following, and they're willing to go out and speak outwardly against each other on their following.

This is something, something that we should all watch, either for entertainment or intrigue, or just to get the juicy news. We're going to be keeping track of it here on the podcast, but I needed to bring it to your attention. If you haven't seen it yet, make sure you check it on Twitter. Nothing super cruel and personal has been said. It's mostly just opinions based on the Colton and Tia situation. But it is fun to watch.

It is fun to listen to. So I'm excited to see how this plays out. I bet this won't be the end of it, especially if the rumors are true in Colton is in paradise. This storyline will be playing out for a long time. we are I think that's the point of everything I'm saying here is drama is existing in Bachelor Nation as we expect but it's also spreading to the real world

this is why these situations are so intriguing to me is we're watching a show on TV that a lot of us ask is it true is it real is it fake it's not and I can tell you it's real it might seem crazy but life's a little crazy it's real but then also we can get on Twitter and see a lot of different people speaking out opinions or arguing with each other via social media. It's the world we live in the day.

It's an interesting world. It's an entertaining world. And Bachelor Nation is not above it. So make sure, again, to go out and check out this recent debate between Raven and Becca. But also, make sure you go out and check out one of our favorite sponsors. You've heard of them before. We love them dearly. BioClarity.

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disagree with me I appreciate I need it emails at Ben and Ashley iHeartMedia.com or hey how about you respond on Twitter I was like to read your tweets. Ashley loves to read your tweets. Make sure you tweet about her and Jared's engagement, but also tweet about the almost famous podcast tag. Hashtag the almost famous podcast when you tweet us. I'll read it. I love hearing your opinions. Positive or negative. Mostly positive. So as I talk to myself here, your way to help me co-host is to tweet, Instagram, or write us an email. So this week, we have a big one-on-one day. I think this is a huge one on one day. Obviously, Garrett's been brought up on this podcast before. His controversial

social media activities have caused kind of a ruckus in Bachelor Nation. He has apologized. We do not support what he did or said on social media or the likes that he gave. It's completely inappropriate. You know, we think that social media is a responsibility that we all have, and one that, especially during the Bachelor, as your popularity grows, you're going to be scrutinized. And so you've got to hold yourself above approach. You've got to hold yourself with respect and dignity. But outside of that, Garrett did have the one-on-one date this week.

And this was a big one-on-one date because everybody's emailed us and everybody in studio right now, we believe that Garrett's going to be around for a long time. We see him being maybe the front-runner. I mean, he did get Beck's first impression rose. She is just incredibly giddy every time she sees him. And that was clearly obvious during this one all one day. I haven't seen Becca kind of lose herself in this experience like she did when she was with Garrett. I mean, it was incredible.

You've seen this Becca as The Bachelor, we've seen her hold herself with class and dignity. And she's walked and thought with wisdom and taking pauses when she's needed to. And she's held herself just to a standard that almost seems untouchable. but with Garrett she just lets her guard down you can see it she's dancing she's laughing she's singing it's not like she's the Bachelorette anymore it's like she's in a relationship

and that's why as I'm watching as a fan and judging and being critical of their relationship I'm seeing something different with him I'm seeing this become a relationship that I felt during my season one that you know almost was just like

I this might be too good to be true I don't know what's happening but I'm feeling something I've never felt before, and she's using crazy words during this date, like, I'm in trouble. And she does it not to garner attention. It's interesting when she says, I'm in trouble. It's almost like she's saying it to the producers or the camera. Like, you have something that you need to watch here.

Like, I might be falling for somebody very quickly more than I ever thought I would. And we still have a show to do. We still have a lot of dating to do. She's in trouble. She knows it. She admits it. Her quote exactly is, Oh, I'm in trouble.

There is no doubt a lot denying that she likes Garrett. Do you like Gareth, though? After watching this day, what are your thoughts on Gareth? What are your thoughts on their relationship? Send it to your opinions. We want to hear them. I mean, there's a lot here, right? And every time during the Bachelorette,

I find myself getting, or the Bachelor, just let's just say this in general. I find myself getting more critical of the contestants than I ever would. of any person in real life. I think we all can relate to that, right? We watch the show, we judge, we criticize, we drink our wine and big parties, and we laugh and we joke with our friends about the crazy person on the show.

But if we can say that Garrett is a frontrunner, now we need to start judging him under the frame that is he right for Becca. He seems super excited to be there. He seems incredibly excited to be in the moment with her, but is it real? is it truthful? Is his love and admiration for Becca something that could last? It was the questions we have to ask herself.

It's interesting for me. Two, is as we're watching his story play out, he's admitting the things that I never thought we would hear from him, right? I mean, who knew that Garrett was married? And a lot of us out there can relate to having very intimate, important relationships that have ended.

And we'll have to speak of them publicly. They've affected our life. positively or negatively they're a part of our story so we have to talk about him but this is obviously one that garret was feeling you could see in his eyes you know for a guy i think becca said it like garret's so good at making eye contact when he's talking to her about this this last marriage and this last relationship it was hard for him to make eye contact which for me is a sign that he he's still feeling it that it's still important to him and it should be i'm not saying that's a bad thing it will probably always be important to him and and it's hard to get over love until you found

love again. And so I have to see if Becca and Garrett find love, and then if he's able to tell her, you're the one. And I love you, and I'm willing to trust somebody again. But it's an interesting story, isn't it? I haven't heard many like it. You know, they got

married. They were together for a while. They got divorced after two months, and I don't know the details. And really, it's none of my business. It's not my business to know what happened and details of what happened. But he got divorced for two months. I have a feeling. And I'm not, yeah, I never claim to be the smartest person out there.

I have a feeling that, that walking into a marriage and being so confident that you found your person and then ending after only two months, it's pretty, it's pretty defeating. I have a feeling that Garrett has really been affected emotionally by this experience. So outside of everything else, outside if you like Garrett or not, if you agree with what he's done or not, or what you feel like a relationship, it's going to be interesting now to see Garrett's story and how he moves into relationship with Becca and how they pursue it. So, I could ask you the question. Would finding out someone is divorced after only two months or divorced in general, would you care?

Would it affect you? Would it bother you, or are you willing to look past it? And let's be honest here. I don't want a bunch of emails just saying, oh, yeah, everything's good. If it would affect you, I want to hear your honest opinions. If it would make you hesitate, and why would it make you hesitate? Let's get a conversation going here. We've got to start talking.

If this podcast is going to be about The Bachelor alone, this will never survive. We've got to start getting relatable with each other. We've got to start talking. So please email us your thoughts, tweet us, Instagram us, at Ben and Ashley at iHeartmedia.com or on Twitter, you can Instagram, or you can tweet Ashley or myself personally. We'll read them if you hashtag the Almost Famous Podcast.

I guarantee I'll read them. I want to start talking. I want to start understanding what's going on here. Becca handled it very well. As she has through this whole season so far, she's been slow to judge, slow to speak, but quick to find compassion. And so

at the end of their date, one of my favorite things to ever happen on this show. I mean, I had Amos Lee on my, on my season of The Bachelor, and he's one of my favorites of all the time, but I love country music. I'm a huge fan, and The Bachelor seems to always bring in country artists, and good one.

I mean, we have some huge names that have been on this show that I'll tell you about in a little bit. But first, I got to mention Granger Smith sang to Becca and Garrett on this week's episode of The Bachelorette. He's next live in studio. Garrett said it was the best day of his life. But first, it's summertime. Shirts are off, bathing suits are on.

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all the workouts, the nutrition information, and support, totally free. Again, just text, almost famous to 30, 30, 30, do it today. I lost, and I've said this every time we do this spot, but it means a lot to me. I've lost a ton of weight doing Beach Body and healthy weight. Good weight. I look a lot better, feel a lot better. I'm a lot healthier now than I ever was before. Thanks to Beach Body and their incredible workouts and incredible trainers. Make sure you go out, check it out today. Text, almost famous to 30, 30, 30 today. As mentioned before, we have one of the most specialist guests ever on this podcast.

Granger Smith is in studio in Los Angeles. Right now, Granger, thank you so much for joining us. Yeah, man. Good to be here. Thank you. You know, you're obviously on the podcast because we claim to be not only Bachelor-focused, but we seem to always relate this podcast back to The Bachelor. And you were just on The Bachelorette on the latest episode. Yeah, yeah, a really cool experience. And obviously, we play shows a lot, but this one was very different. And so I'll remember that for a long time.

What was your, okay, so back in the day when I was The Bachelor, I had, I had Amos, Lee. I don't know if you know of Amos Lee, but I'm a big fan of his. And he came on my season. And it kind of worked out where they knew my song, my, my love song. And they asked him to come on to the episode and play for us. And he really enjoyed his experience. I was surprised he did. I was kind of almost embarrassed. I thought, oh, no, this is going to be a train wreck. Did you enjoy your experience on it? Yeah, I did. I did. And I could see how you might think that. But it's kind of like I said, it's such a different environment for us to go into this with producers telling us when to play and where to stand and how to cue the music. And there's kind of just this excitement in the

air almost like it was live television, even though we could have done it as many times as we wanted to make everybody happy. But it felt like a big live TV show. And there's this kinetic energy in the air that we all felt me and my band and crew and yeah it was a blast doing that so how does this work for an artist like yourself um you get a phone call from the bachelor at or the bachelor abc or whoever does then you show up to you showed up the park city which i'm assuming isn't the place you live correct now i live in austin texas and and then this live live audience is there and i was actually surprised there i mean not surprised because of you you can pack out as many places you want but because of this small little venue this whole thing got filled up right there's there's no open space

yeah yeah they did and it's relatively small venue i think it it was like 400 capacity and um and so kind of a small venue but but that was perfect for what they were going for so we we loaded into this little stage and and um did a sound check and they had you know as you expect from bachelorette they had really beautiful lighting and you know candle-esque type stuff everywhere you know romantic stuff and and then they brought the crowd in long before we shot the video and so they brought the crowd in and we played some songs for them to kind of amp them up and it just really felt like a very intimate concert and you kind of forget the cameras are even there did you walk away from that I mean this is did you walk away from that feeling like the the audience and your

band yourself had a good experience like the audience walked away going okay i got not only a little like live free concert got to see a couple people making out on stage uh got to meet granger smith in person like is that how they walked away from it you think there's absolutely no doubt they did they did and we did too everyone walked away that night with a smile on their face and it's just because we all felt like we were part of something greater than ourselves you know what i mean we felt like we're part of something that will be shared tonight and back then it was i think it was like march and so we were a couple months out and june seemed like eternity away but we all felt like we were we were a part of something that everyone would share on this night and uh and we felt very proud to be in that moment

you know i got to tell you man uh being a former bachelor it means a lot and i'm sure i'm going to speak for beck here but it means a lot to any of us when you do come on and we walk into the room because I don't know if Becca knew it was going to be you or not. For me, it was a surprise. But when you walk in and somebody like yourself is willing to take time out of their schedule to come and play during, you know, a crazy reality show, but a show that does have a lot of personal impact, it just means a lot. So thank you from Becca and Bachelor Nation for giving up your time to come on.

It's just really awesome. Absolutely, man. Yeah, that means a lot to hear you say it. And, you know, I was talking to the date that night, Garrett. And he told me, he said, I think this is the greatest night of my life. Oh, man. And the way he said it, it looked completely genuine. And I could tell that he was living in that moment.

And he didn't say that because we were there. It was just, it was part of the moment. And he was living that night to the fullest. And that made me feel really good. Yeah, dude, that's awesome. You are really creating something that will last a lifetime. for Garrett, for Becca, for any of these contestants, no matter what their lives, where their lives taken,

this show does play a big impact. The show has been known throughout the last 20 years of filming. To have some big-name country artists on, I'm going to run through the list here. We've had Lanko, Russell Dickerson, yourself, Chris Lane, Billy Currington, the Eli Young Band. What is it about country music and these country artists that bring them to The Bachelor?

I don't know. That's a great question. I'm friends with a lot of those bands. you just named and it's an honor to be part of that list and you know country music is is so lyric driven and uh we have a lot of love songs and and our love songs are very um very truthful from the heart lyric driven songs and i think that's that's the connection that you could have with a show like bacheloret yeah definitely so i mean that raises a question i think everybody's always interested in this what is your inspiration behind the music you come out with great

lyrical songs. They tell these incredible stories that are relatable that I can listen to at any given time and go, yeah, that's me. I get what he's saying. But where is your personal inspiration? Well, it comes from all over. And I wouldn't, no one could live enough life to write album after album worth of songs with just one life. So you really have to open your eyes and you have to listen to other people's stories. And sometimes it comes from movie scenes. or a friend of yours just went through this crazy breakup or gotten married. And you listen to those stories and you talk it out with them and suddenly a line will pop out here and there.

Sometimes the most special ones are the ones that you live yourself. You know, something that happens to me and I jot down some notes. And as I start writing it, you could just feel the energy of that song coming out. So the answer is really all over the place, but we just have to keep our eyes open and pay attention when those songs are out there. That's incredible. I mean, I got to imagine, your mind never shuts down, right? I mean, at any given moment, a song could be had.

You have to keep your phone right by your bed so that you could have that voice memo ready to go if you dream something. That's how it is. Unbelievable. I mean, I used to, Granger, this is a little bit of inside looking at my life. When I was in middle school, I have a notebook. I'll try to find it here. maybe I'll take a picture of it and put on social media at some point that I used to write songs on no they're terrible absolutely awful I can't sing I can't do anything but I used to write these

songs down because all of a sudden something would pop into my head I'd be like I want to remember this moment like this is a special moment that I think a lot of people felt but I you know oftentimes I could never communicate how I fell and so whenever I could feel like I could put a lyric out there I'd write it down man that's a lot of people do that that's how I started and it doesn't matter whether it's technically good or bad lyric sometimes it's just therapy to get that out there and it makes you feel good it makes you like you said live in that moment and feel the color of that specific emotion and writing it down really does it really makes it it makes it reality and so yeah you're doing the right thing it's always impressive to me and i got

to say this and i've i was preparing for this podcast i was listening a lot of your music here one thing about music and this is not this is common knowledge music opens up our eyes to what we've already felt right like the lyrics communicate in words what a lot of us are feeling I think that's why I love country music so much I'm a big red d'ur find I love my my Texas in Oklahoma country but I but I'm really just a huge country fan myself because I feel like anytime I turn on little music I can relate and and that's in your music does that, including this new single that you're coming out with, you're in it. Can you tell a little bit of us a little bit

about that? Yeah, this song is, and first of all, you're right. That's our, that's our job to, as, as musicians, to try to connect and to try to relate with songs. And we're, we're simply messengers of the music, because it's so, music is such a powerful thing that for all of us, we were all fans before we did anything else we were fans of music and that's why you see little babies you know we'll nod back and forth to music and people on their deathbed the last thing they're doing is you know wanting to hear music it's it's it's it's a crazy thing music the power of music but um but yeah this single is is a fun one for me because it's kind of uh an upbeat feel good song and it's about how we you never really know uh what tomorrow might bring you never know where we're

where we're going to be tomorrow, but, you know, when you're in love, when you have someone special that you, that you're in love with, if you're with that person, then that's really all that matters. And so that, and that's kind of what this song is. I don't know what the future holds, but all I know is, girl, you're in it. And that's what the song's, you know, promoting on The Bachelor Act? Is this, is this the upcoming? You think this is going to absolutely rock people's world? Or is you feel like this is relatable? right to this specific situation that Becca's in? I think if I could say what is going to rock people's world, then I would be a huge megastar right now. If I could possibly predict that. But I just hope that it could connect with somebody in a situation like Becca, absolutely. Yeah, that's incredible.

I mean, going into this little segment on The Bachelorette, were you a fan of The Bachelor before all this? Like, did you know about it? I absolutely knew about it because my wife is a mega fan. And she, as many people are, she, you know, religiously watches it. And so the first time I was exposed to Bachelor Nation was, you know, walking in. And, you know, I kind of walk in mid-show and see a scenario going down. And I'll sit down on the couch with her and usually say, what in the world is going on here?

And she has to tell me the backstory, tell me who this guy or girl is and why they're doing this crazy thing and yeah and that's how it's been for years and uh and so i get more and more into it and the the most important thing about that show to me is that that's uh that's a special time for us together you know to to sit down and and discuss this whether whether we're saying how crazy it is or how fun it is whatever it's just it's good time for us together the that's the part of that i think i love to hear is so many times couples come up to me and and one of the couples, if it's the wife or the husband or whoever come up and say, oh, you know, I wasn't a fan of the show, but they've made me watch it. But then they're always the first person, the person that

doesn't want to admit they're a fan, to ask me the follow-up question. Is she really that crazy? Did you really fall in love? Oh, yeah. It's impossible to not discuss it. You can't sit there and absorb that television and walk away and not have a comment of some sort, which is why it's great. I think that's why our listeners listen to the podcast, too. I mean, it's awesome. But the inside look into things is why people listen here because this is a captivating show and it's relatable just like we talked about with the music you know the bachelor is relatable in the sense that everybody wants love you know everybody wants to pursue love everyone wants to find love but with the bachelor we get this unique twist where we get some crazy stuff happening uh which this week's

episode was not without it is how excited is your wife about you know you being on the show was she thrilled that she care oh my gosh she was the first person i told you know i Yeah, I've done a lot of cool things that I'm really proud of. But when it came down to this, she was the first person I called because I knew that I knew how excited she would be to hear that. I mean, her favorite show and her husband's going to be on it. That was something special. You can literally sell out stadiums.

You can sell out stadiums. Oh, yeah, it wouldn't matter. It would not matter. And being on The Bachelorette is the thing that gets you excited. It is crazy, man. I'm living in this world for a while. you have people from all different walks of life who find The Bachelorette and Bachelor to be the one thing that gets them excited. If they're making fun of it or if they're super invested into it,

the Bachelorette and the Bachelor really is all inclusive. And I think that's what's the fun part about this. You know, Granger Smith's wife can get excited about him being on The Bachelorette. That's cool. Yeah, and that's kind of an understatement too. I mean, she is ecstatic. She has all of her friends coming over tonight. Now, they do that anyway, but tonight's really special night. So, they're all coming over, and they'll have their wine, and, you know, they're just going to go all out. It's going to be great. That's awesome. So then after that, you're going to be on Jimmy Kimmel, correct? Yeah. Taking over ABC tonight. That's going to be pretty cool. You literally are taking over ABC. What is Yee Nation? So Yee Nation, for anybody out there listening, is the group that

supports Granger. And, I mean, they are passionate. I'm reading, right now. Granger, you have over 7 million people that follow you on social. You've got to be one of the most popular country artists when it comes to social, correct? It's important for sure. And we love our fans. And yeah, Yee Nation supports

us to the end. And that's all I could ever ask. That's all anybody could ask is to have that kind of support. What does that stand for? So that's a little brand that me and my brother started. And it's a way of life, as we say. It's living life to the

fullest is really what yee means. And it started with just a funny video that we came out with about five or six years ago with this alter ego, this crazy ultra country boy named Earl Dibbles Jr. And Earl Dibbles yells out Yee, and it's like this old Texas cattle call saying, but as that kind of took on a new dimension and people started coming to the shows, holding up signs saying Yee, and yelling it. And we just really adopted that is our thing. We trademarked it and it's just become a lifestyle brand for us so so there's there's hats it's like what else what else can yee nation purchase gosh it is create as if you as you want to be there is a geeky on something I mean we have beach towels and sunglasses and lipstick

and I mean you name it if it's not out there we even have an energy drink called yee energy so yeah there's there's a lot of stuff it's a it's a fun lifestyle brand for us live it. I mean, if you, okay, so if we take Yee Nation, a group that is passionate and supportive of you, Granger, and your music and your pursuits, but it's also a lifestyle brand. If we, if we kind of looked at everything from a 30,000 foot view, what is your hopes for your music career, for Yee Nation? Like, what are you hoping to accomplish? Well, I think ultimately this grows more than just music. It really started with just music. But As well-rounded as we could be, and I say we, my two brothers, we all work together on this.

And as well-rounded as we can be, that makes us happy. You know, we have the energy drink. We have some documentaries coming out. Earl Dibbles has a book coming out this year. And so that stuff just makes me excited and makes me happy. And this endless pursuit of happiness, as we all say, you know, that's more important than any kind of accolades. or number one songs or trophies that you could hold up.

You know, just doing something that you love that always is exciting and always taking, having a new twist and turn is really the goal. It's how many things could we get our hands in and have fun with? And that's what we're trying to do. I think that's incredible, man.

And I hope, this is my hope. And I'll speak on behalf of Bachelor Nation. Again, I'm speaking on half a lot of people, but I guess that's why I have a podcast. I hope you appearing on The Bachelorette is something that really does support E.E. Nation that supports his pursuit of you and the happiness that you're trying to spread from anybody listening out there. Make sure you go check out Granger Smith's Music. Watch him tonight on Jimmy Kimmel.

But also, if you like hats, if you like T-shirts, if you like beach towels, if you like sunglasses or anything creative, make sure you go out and you purchase a Yee Nation branded product. Hey, Granger, before we leave, I got to ask you, what are your thoughts, honest feedback on Becca or Bachelorette? And then I'm going to ask the same thing about Garrett, her date. But let's start with Becca. Yeah, I got to spend significant time with both of them that night. And granted that they were on cloud nine, you know, and they were. They were in the moment and they had had a great dinner and some drinks and were in this really cool environment with a lot of fans.

You know, everyone there was a fan of them as well. And so they're cheering them on. So you could imagine, you know, make it out and while people are cheering you on. So they were on Cloud 9, but at the same time, just talking with them, they seemed, I'll start with Becca. She seemed just so down to earth and grateful to be in her position where she was. And she didn't seem to be in a hurry to do anything. You know what I mean? She didn't seem to be on some kind of tight schedule where she could only chat for a second.

And that was so nice. That was so nice to see in her position because I know she's just living in a whirlwind. at least she was during that time when we film that. And her life must have been absolute chaos. But she didn't show it at all. She held herself together with grace. And it was fun to see. And I could say Garrett, he seemed like he could be a buddy of mine, for sure.

He seemed like he was very loose, very relaxed. As I said, he told me that could have been the greatest night of his entire life. And the way he said it, it looked like he meant it. really did he was he was just happy to be there and um and and and living it up he could tell that that he knew that kind of excitement and energy might might never happen again and he was going to take full advantage of it yeah i mean i i'm i'm with him typically in life i'm just really happy to be there i don't know how we got there how it's happening i'm just happy to be there especially when 400 people are literally like you said applauding at you making out i mean

Nothing makes you feel cooler than people watching kids and celebrating. Yeah, celebrating, exactly. It doesn't happen often in life. Granger, it happens for you all the time. But for me, it doesn't happen often in life where I can stand in front of a crowd of people and they cheer. I promise you, never, it never gets old. That never fades. And I'm just like you.

I love to live in that moment. and you never know when the last time is going to be. And so we only have this moment. And, yeah, I'd never take that for granted. Hey, before we go, I just have one more thing because you just said something that I think is important for anybody out there listening. On this podcast, this is a Bachelor podcast,

and we like to try to relate the Bachelor to the real world. And oftentimes we get these contestants that come on the show. And all these people, I think, you know, desire something more from life when they come on the show, if that's the influence, if it's love or whatever it is. And the show catapults you to a level of recognition that you've never had before, that you'll never really probably have again. The Bachelor is such a popular franchise that millions of people watch.

As soon as you do the show, a lot of people recognize you. Granger, the same thing happens in your life, but you have a talent, you have a skill behind it, and you've worked hard to get there. But a lot of people recognize you, a lot of people love you. How do you, and if this is advice for yourself or advice for any contestant coming on the show, any future contestant coming on the show, how do you keep your head small? How do you not let your head get super big and your ego totally inflated where this world becomes very selfish? What is your advice for anybody out there? You know, that's a daily question that I have to answer, that I'm forced to answer.

And not necessarily because I always find myself in that boat. I don't, but I do see people, especially people on a greater level than I am, and you wonder, either A, how do they do it, or B, they're really, they've really fallen off the deep end here. And I think the best way to answer that is you have to really compartmentalize what's a job and what's work and what is theoretically not real life and what is. and when I go up on that stage and the lights come on and they're on me and I'm singing a song and people are cheering

that's not real life that's not who I really am that's my work self and I have to put it put it that way in my brain those people are not cheering for me personally Granger Smith

they're cheering for what I'm representing in that song in that moment on that stage that's what they're cheering for they're cheering for the office that I'm holding at the time

during those three minutes at a time during a song but when I come off the stage I'm just as normal as any other guy and and I I still have my same friends that know who I really am and my tour manager has been he's known me for 17 years my brother is my manager so I've kind of surrounded myself with these people that would slap me across the head if I started becoming something that I wasn't and so if you could surround yourself with with the people that know who you really are and then try to compartmentalize what is real and what it's not you're going to be okay that's that's incredible advice

surround yourself with a group of friends that really know who you are and they're going to hold you accountable when life gets a little out of balance grandeur thank you so much for coming on the podcast we're a huge fan to you uh i'm personally a huge fan of you i've listening to music for a long time i'm a huge country fan uh but also i'm i'm pumped i'm excited to see uh where this new single is is going to take you because i think it's going to be incredible popular i do think I will speak and say that I do think this is going to take over the world. Make sure you listen to. You're in it by Granger Smith.

If you want to get more information on Granger, go to Granger Smith.com, purchase anything of you nation. But also, man, just thanks for coming to talk. And thank you for coming to The Bachelorette. Everybody out there appreciates it. Thanks for making this show a little bit better. You're welcome, buddy. And thanks for taking your time to have me on, man.

It means a lot. Hey, we'll see you soon. Thanks, buddy. Again, this week's episode had so much one. We had to break it up in two segments. Thanks again for Granger Smith coming on. He's amazing. He's incredible.

Check out his music. It's worth it. He was on this week's episode, but this week's episode was not without much more than just Granger. We had a group date. Colton, Colton, good old Colton, good old Denver boy Colton, is now fighting with Jordan as well. And this is the thing with Jordan.

He's such a captivating character. He's one of the only people I've ever felt like watching the show that he has to be a plant. It has to be a character. And he's not. I know he's not now because he hasn't changed the whole time. But when I first met Jordan or Memphis, I guess, I haven't met him. I feel like I met him just like all of you probably have. When I first watched Jordan on this show, I was like, this guy cannot be real.

He's so much, he's too much. He's so confident. But typically when you're that confident, there's a lot more going on behind the scenes than any of us really realize. And that's one thing we always have to take into consideration is, do we really know Jordan? Or is there a front that he's putting up? And I don't know that at this point. But Colton seems to know that.

He seems to be seeing right through this front that Jordan's putting up. So we're going to bring Colton back into the team of against Jordan. So not only now is David not on team Jordan. Colton's not on team Jordan. There's a few other people that are going to join on. It's interesting because I feel like if I was there, and I've talked to a couple people about this. And I feel like if I was there, yeah, I don't know if Jordan

I would be the bestest of friends. And I don't think he's right for Becca. But I feel like him personally would just be entertaining. Maybe there's more annoyance going on than I know. But I just feel like watching him would just almost be entertaining. Having him a part of the show would almost be the comic relief you need when you're starting to stress out and you're starting to have feelings. You need that like fallback person.

You need that person that's always going to make light of the situation or at least make fun of the situation. Because I know for me, I was taking it so serious with Caitlin when I was there. And there were so many emotions being on. you know, pulled into my life, that any comic relief or any relief from that intensity was welcome. And I'm surprised that Jordan's not bringing that to the people around him, that people are actually getting upset. So at some point, we can ask Clay when he comes on the podcast a little bit, what is it

about Jordan that really rubs people the wrong way? I don't get it. I think he's, I think he's kind of funny. I think he's weird. I think he probably should go home pretty soon. But don't get mad at the guy. He's just being Jordan. but things got weird quickly.

I'll say to the Colton-Jordan relationship. Things got really weird. Jean Blanc out of nowhere, he gave her a gift. He said he was falling in love with Becca. Then there was awkward sentence. I mean, we kind of knew going into this

that their relationship was not where he thought it was. She thinks it's too much too soon. I get it. I think at this point he's the first to really admit it to her, and we haven't really seen them have anything yet other than a few kisses.

He needs to go. He needs to go. home. Then he says, he said it because he thought she wanted to hear it. It was all so weird, right? I mean, I don't get it. I mean, Becca is smart. She understands where she's coming from. But why would he say something as powerful as love if he thought she just wanted to hear? I mean, we've talked about a thousand times. We know my story. We know that I am one to throw the love word around. But I meant it, right? I meant that I cared about both women, that it was at the very end and this journey had taken us to a place where our relationships were deep, they were

entrenched in each other, that real emotions and real feelings were there. I felt like I had to say it because it was what I was feeling, not because Jojo needed to hear it, or that it was going to make what? Her feel better? I mean, maybe it was that satisfaction and reassurance that I was trying to give her is like hey I really care about you I really love you even though this is this is the end but it seems like Jean Blanc was just saying because he thought she just wanted to hear it what to keep him around longer I mean love is not something just to mess with and I and I've learned my own um from my own mistakes I've learned a thing or two and I've learned that the saying I love you means a lot and it carries a lot of weight and that's that's a good

lesson for me to learn I get that but I would like to think that my situation was a little different than his. Got super weird. Anyways, then Becca got really mad about it. She was mad and hurt. I mean, I'm personally thinking a little bit like, is she overreacting?

Is she being too critical? She'd just let him go. But then I realized it was a trigger for her. This was reminding her of a situation that wasn't long ago and it took her back to Ari or her past. Because who cares about

Jean-Bong? I mean, really, he hasn't been around a long time. We don't know a lot of history between him and Becca. We've seen him kiss a couple of times and he smells nice, right? I mean, that's what we know about Jean-Blanc. But it was a trigger.

It was a small situation. It was a minute situation that brought up a bigger issue that she was holding it. That by him just saying something because he thought she wanted to hear it, it was reminding her of a past. It was reminding her

of something deeply seated inside. So I get now why she was so sad I get now why she maybe looked like she was overreacting I mean on this show or in life we run into a million weird situations a million weird scenarios and every once in a while there's one that just really stands out

and that really affects us I can speak to that and this one was one for Becca so so with that it's a huge moment that we have to remember as we watch the rest of season this is that kind of breaking point for Becca when all of a sudden So some inner feelings, some inner turmoil came out.

We now know that Becca is triggered by somebody admitting feelings when she doesn't feel like they mean it. But then she walks into an amazing one-on-one day with a guy named Wills. We don't know a lot about Wills yet. We don't know about a lot of these guys. But what we do know is he seems like a cool guy. He knew he was walking into a situation

where she was going to be in a tough mood. He was aware of that from the very beginning. And he knew that he was taking on the burden the responsibility to say, hey, if anything, if nothing else from this date, I, I, Wills was admitting that his job now is to just lift up her spirits. And I think that's awesome. And that's about all I got from that date. You know, I think they have something, I don't know how long term it is,

but he did an amazing job at lifting up her spirits when she needed it most. And for that, Will's good job. Credit goes to you. Kudos, buddy. So at the beginning of this episode, I was, I found myself asking, the question, and he's definitely a candidate for who the heck are you coming up in the future. But we have this guy named John. Well, I have no clue who he is.

Zero idea. I haven't seen him from the beginning until now. But all of a sudden, he pops up during this lumberjack date. And I don't know how, or it was incredibly unexpected. But this John guy pops out of nowhere and ends up dominating this lumberjack day. Seems like a good guy. Seems like a nice guy. I think he had a couple

I think he had a funny line that I wrote down here I'm gonna get it but you'll get it you'll understand it he makes a line that he's like I typically get intimidated

or nervous around cute girls and really good looking guys I'm like man you went on the wrong show I mean the Bachelorette is not the right show if you're gonna get intimidated by cute girls

and good looking guys I thought that was just funny it shows who John is he's humble he's a great guy and he's super athletic who knew that John was going to pop out of nowhere

and dominate the lumberjack date. Okay. Skipping. We're starting to know the guys a little better. We're starting to know the standouts, Garrett, Connor, Blake, Colton, Jason, I would throw in there as well. Who else is a standout to you?

Let us know. Who else is standing out? Who else is a frontrunner in this season? I mean, I think these guys that are standing out, it's pretty clear. Becca isn't holding back her feelings, but we also just know But these guys are not only good looking, but they're also charismatic and they're also intentional.

And they're kind of taking that leadership role in the house. These guys, Colton, Garrett, Connor, Blake, and Jason are really standing above. But one guy that really stood above for a long time on this season, one guy that I think Becca was really into is our next guest. And Clay will be joining us right now after his dramatic exit from last week's episode after an injury that will affect. his real life and I can't wait to hear about it, hear about what's next for him, hear about his experience and the bachelor's. But first, take a break and talk about Bull and Branch. Bull and Branch makes the softest, most comfortable. A hundred percent organic cotton sheets you will ever sleep on. I sleep on them. They're incredible. They stand out. They make my sleep

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Get it today. Next. A guy that got hurt. A guy didn't expect to get hurt because he's big. He's beautiful. He's powerful. Is our buddy, Clay. The football player who left two episodes ago.

Clay, you're out there. Yes, sir. Hey, man. Thanks for joining the almost famous podcast. I appreciate you coming on. Yeah, man. Thanks for having me. Welcome back to the real world.

We saw you leave two weeks ago on this, on an episode of The Bachelorette. Tell us about that experience leading up to your departure. Yeah, man. It was really good experience. It was fun. You know, obviously I got to make a lot of good friends with the guys and build relationships with them. But, you know, it was good to get a chance to meet Becca. And, you know, me and her started off, you know, is a little slower than I'd say some of the relationships.

But I feel like every time we got to get some time together, we built on that. We progressed and we progressed until, you know, the last couple of episodes there, I thought we were in a really good place, and, you know, I got the group rows, and then obviously, you know, I find out how severe the wrist injury was. So, you know, that was tough. It was a tough decision to make to have to leave the episode to leave the season and, you know, back up.

But, you know, ultimately, I, you know, I think it was the right thing to do to, you know, take care of a lot of people in my life and my family and to continue my, you know, NFL career. I think that's admirable, buddy. And I can't wait talk more about that. But first I got us talk, talk, you're a good looking, you're a successful NFL football player. How in the world do you end up on The Bachelorette? Okay, it's actually a pretty funny story.

A good friend of mine who played a few years of NFL. We grew up together training and stuff, went on, tried to try it out for the show. And he didn't quite make it. And one day he just happened to be out in the city of Chicago, having some drinks with some friends. And he ran into the lady that interviewed him in Chicago for the casting. process. And she sees him and comes up to him and tells them that she would like for him to come proud again. He happens to have a girlfriend at this point. And he says he thinks he has a couple guys that she would like. So he shows her a picture and she thought that I might

be something that the rest of the casting team would be looking for. And, you know, he told her I played football and stuff. And he didn't know if I'd even be able to do it. But me and the casting lady got in touch that way and we shot a few texts back and forth and before I knew it I was you know stepping out the limo meeting back I mean this is totally unexpected then yeah totally unexpected you know I had no idea this would happen it wasn't something that you know I went and pursued but I had just got hurt on in New Orleans I was on in reserve the entire season there's no chance I was going to play last year it's an I are all season and so I'm just rehabbing at home

and, you know, I'm finally getting healthy, healthy enough to do things, but not play NFL football. And then, you know, I started, and then that's when I got in touch with the casting people from the back so I started talking to them and going back and forth and if there's something I should do or not. And I, you know, I decided I would, you know,

go give it a shot and take a shot at love. That's amazing. I mean, were you concerned at all what people would think? I mean, it's interesting. I'm a big fan, big NFL fan, and I watch all these guys on TV, and they're battling Sunday after Sunday. But we don't get it up close and personal look

into their, like, personal lives typically, and especially their love life. Were you fearful at all, or why weren't you fearful, maybe, of entering into a show that really does highlight who you are and your insecurities and makes you vulnerable to the public? Yeah, no, that's a good question.

It's, you know, it's tough, and most people don't really see us. I want to run the NFL field as people. We got all the pads on, you know, the name on the back of the jersey and, you know, the favorite team. We're just a player for a team. You know, you don't really really know the actual person. You just see the person you see every Sunday, the guy that, you know, does this or that make this sort of player, what position he is. You know, I'm not a tight, I'm not Clay Harbor, the person. I'm Clay Harbor, the tight end.

So it was different. Yeah, there was a piece to me that was nervous. You know, what do people think if I, you know, if I go on the show and, you know, will coaches GM think something of it. But for me, I said, you know, I think this will be a good thing for the league. I'm going to go out there, be myself, and just show people that, you know, NFL players and professional athletes are just normal people. You know, we struggle sometimes to meet people.

And sometimes it's even harder. It's hard to meet people. But when you're an NFL player, you're successful in people. Some people like you for the wrong reason. You know, it's tough sometimes to separate that. And when I knew Becka was going to be the bad threat, she was definitely a woman that I was interested in. And she has so much going for her, not other than her look.

She's, you know, successful, beautiful, obviously. And I thought it would be a good opportunity to, you know, meet someone I could potentially, you know, spend the rest of my life with. we get it yeah that's awesome man that's that's i'd say it's a really incredible of you to take that risk uh and thanks for you know as a fan of the show thank you for letting all of us get a close and person look into your love life because now i know when i'm watching on sundays i'll feel like i know you a little bit better which is exciting for me um flashboard to the show now okay how does it feel to get hurt playing football with a bunch of clowns when you're a professional

a football player. Yeah, I know. That's a tough one. It's interesting because, you know, I stiff-armed a lot of people in my life, but I'm looking at it, you know, it's glass half full. If I'm going to break my arm on, you know, Andrew Ryan, then I probably would break it, you know, on an NFL linebacker. So obviously, it wasn't healthy.

It must not have, there must have been something there that wasn't right, but now it's fixed. It feels strong. and it's healthy in time for training camp. I have a couple of workouts set up coming up with teams. And, you know, I've shown healthy, show them in shape, and I'm confident I'll get back on a roster in time for training camp. Yeah, because I'm confident, Clay,

that a lot of GMs, a lot of head coaches are listening to Almost Famous Podcast. They're huge fans of this podcast. And so for anybody out there listening that is a part of a team or of a franchise NFL, We've got to give them the update. Did you have surgery? What exactly was the diagnosis? And are you healthy enough to go back to the NFL? Yes.

So, yeah, I had surgery. And it's healed up great. I've spent a lot of times since I've left the show, I've been rehabbing and getting it ready and also working out. There's a lot of stuff you can do while you're rehabbing and doing all that. And honestly, my body feels great. And I feel like I'm in as good as shape as I've ever been in.

So, yeah, I tore a couple ligaments, and now they're fixed, they're healed up, and basically rehab now. It's just working on strengthening and range of motion. Everything else, the hard stuff behind me. And, you know, I got about 35 to 40 days before my first workout. Then a couple days there, I have another one, and I'm really looking forward to both of them. And it wasn't forward to getting back on the field. Football is my passion. I love playing it.

you know, I don't, I don't foresee me myself not losing that passion any time soon for the game. Awesome, man. And I, like I said, we're all going to be a huge, I mean, the almost famous podcast is going to be huge fans of you every Sunday now. It was super sad when you left. I mean, I think a lot of people out there were just kind of, oh, we wish Clay would not have gone so soon, especially in a situation like this. But it does sound like you're getting back into what you're passionate about. It does sound like you're getting your life in a direction that you love. and it does sound like the show was it was a good experience for you looking back now two

questions are you happy and we'll just start with this one are you happy to the bachelorette yeah 100 i'm i'm really happy i did the bachelorette and not just because you know i got i made a bunch of new friends but obviously you know becca was was amazing it's great to get a chance to meet her and just spend time with her and the whole the whole bachelor's family it was great to produce producers, you know, all the cameraman, everybody there, the handlers. I mean, I feel like I have a whole new, you know, a group of people that are, I'm close with that I didn't even know before I went on the show. You know, the outpouring of support and love after I got hurt has been, you know, incredible.

I've gotten hurt on the field before and had to get surgery, but, you know, it's amazing, you know, to see the Bachelet family and the fans that really, you know, care about the show. and they care about the contestants. They see us on TV, but they really do care, and they're really invested. And that's something I've seen from my time on there. It's been crazy how much, you know, support, love I've gotten since leaving the show and getting injured. It's, I mean, you're right, man.

You could play and have a super successful NFL career, and I forget have a couple buddies who play, but Bachelor Nation just seems to come out and support more than any other fan group I've ever witnessed and been around. You have a lot more fans now. I can expect a lot more people to be wearing your jerseys every Sunday, wherever you end up, and we hope you end up in the best place for you possible. And that seems to be what's next for you, right? You're pursuing your career. You're looking for that team. And so as a podcast, as Bachelor Nation listens, how we can support you best right now is just really cheering you on as you find your next home. Yeah. No, yeah, that's great. And I want to thank everyone.

everybody for all the wishes. And, you know, it's really, it's really been amazing. Just, you know, being from Chicago, I walked around a street fest this week and just the amount of people that, you know, asked about my wrist, am I healthy and, you know, saddest thing to go, the love online has been great. But yeah, right now, just, yeah, supporting, you know, the NFL career and everything there. And people have been great. I've got tweets from people tagging their favorite NFL team to give me a shot. It's been, it's been really, funny to look at and you know it's just it's really incredible because you think you're prepared for something because obviously playing football for so long it's something that you're in the

public eye but it's just a whole different ballgame with bachelor nation and all the bachelorette and bachelor fans that's it's you're right man I think that's the thing that people don't get too sometimes is just how inclusive how large bash nation is you can play in the NFL for a long time as you just said. But when you finally get a part of this show and this franchise, then the world really starts to know you. There's a couple of contestants. We're going to play a little round before we say goodbye to you here. This is a little segment. Well, before we do that, I got to ask you a question. Will you now be a recruiter for The Bachelor to get people from NFL on the show? I've already had buddies approach me and asked me about it. How do you get on the

show? People that are interested, yeah. I've had friends and teammates. I've had friends and teammates. and people that are already interested in going on the show. And I don't want to, you know, obviously spoil anything. But I think I do have two buddies that are NFL players that are talking to a couple of casting people. Absolutely incredible. That's awesome, man. Well, thank you for making this franchise.

It's a little bit more fun for me. Hey, Clay, before you go here, like I said, we have a little segment. I got to ask you just a quick 10-second synopsis of the names I'm about to tell you. First thing that comes to mind, let us know. You don't have to be super nice, but you also don't have to be super mean.

Just be honest. Okay. That's all we ask. Okay. Clay, who do you think? What do you think of Garrett? Garrett, I love Garrett. I know he's had some bad news come out recently,

but honestly, Garrett was one of my best friends on the show. He's a genuine guy. He's a great guy. And I 100% support Garrett. And if, by chance, he wins the show or whatever, I think that he would be a, you know, a great, a great match for Becca. I think he's caring. He's, you know, he's successful in his career.

He's a genuine, a nice person. Colton. Love Colton. Colton, first thing that comes to Mike, man, he's a really good-looking human being. I had a man pressure. You know, it might be Colton. You know, very athletic, genuine guy himself. I know he had some, you know, some drama.

the Tia of late, but, you know, Colton's a good guy, he's a good person, and he has good intentions. Chicken suit, David. No, I like David, man. David's, you know, David's an interesting guy. He's always fun to be around. He has a sense of humor, and I think that's why, you know, he promised chickens to you wanted to put a smile on Becca's face. And, you know, in the house, David, you know, David always put a smile on people's faces.

He was always trying to play games with the guys and figure out stuff we could do to pass some of the time in the mansion and also a good guy. Becca. Becca, awesome. Man, what to say about her is just super easy to talk to. I don't think they've ever met a woman

is easy to talk to as Becca. You know, you kind of go into a conversation and run a show, first couple, week. I'm like, all right, let me tell a couple things to talk to, talk about, and, you know, make sure I have a couple points I want to get across to Becca, let her know who I am. But then when I, when I learned that you don't need to do that with her, the conversation flows so great. And you guys just have such a good talk, and she's so easy to talk to, that it's better just to go on there like, you know, any other time. And, you know,

Becca is just really easy to talk to, really down-to-earth, Midwestern girl. And I really appreciated, you know, the opportunity to get to meet her and the time I had with her. Awesome. Yeah. And finally, last but not least, the captivating character. One that we can't quite figure out. Model Jordan. Model Jordan.

I'm actually a big fan of Model Jordan. I've got, that's one of the questions, just walking around and people, you know, stop you and recognize you. They want to know what's up with Model Jordan. is he really, you know, how he comes off on a show and said, no, man, Jordan has a good heart. He's a good heart of guy, and I think he does a lot of things and fun. And he is, he's very passionate about his career. He's passionate about modeling.

At any point that you can go, you tell him, you know, show me this look, and he's going to do it. He really loves modeling, and, you know, and that's his thing. It's, you know, how I feel about football. If someone was asked me questions about football, I'm going to talk to him, and that's Jordan with modeling. He's passionate about it. He loves it, and I think he just, he obviously comes off as an interesting character,

but, you know, I love the kid. I'm sure he's an interesting character. Like him or not, I'm sure he's an interesting character. Anybody that can give you a look in seconds based on what you've asked is an interesting character. Hey, we're happy. Yeah, we're happy that you love him. It sounds like you love everybody, Clay. You're just a big, lovable human being who plays NFL football.

You're the total package. We hope best for you. We hope that love is out there, and it's close to you. And we also are going to be huge fans of you from the podcast, rooting you on this next season in NFL. We'll find out where you're at. We'll be big fans, ma'am. Awesome. Thanks a lot, Ben.

I really appreciate it, man. Hey, no problem. Thanks for coming on the homeless fans podcast. Everybody, that was Clay from this season, The Bachelorette. Clay, we'll talk to you soon. Thanks, Ben. Bye. Clay's just a lovable guy.

You can hear in his voice. The man might play NFL football basketball basketball. But I've never, even watching the show, I've never came across somebody and talking to him on the podcast here. His voice just sounds so sweet. It's just a sweet voice. He just sounds like a guy full of love and just a big old teddy bear that just pounds people on Sundays for a living. But what a, what the dichotomy? How ironic.

But you know what, I bet Clay really enjoys treating the people in his life well. one way he can do that is by investing a little bit of his money a little bit of his time and purchasing our fat bit fun box everybody who else has tried fat bit fun if you don't really know about it it's the seasonal box with full-size beauty fitness and lifestyle products this summer box is epic it has products like skin care from kate somberville dr brant and juice beauty fashion items from rachel pally michael star between Turk and Millie, beauty products from Tart, Moroccan oil, Shai, Oscar Blondie, Butter London, and Zoya. So the contents in this box are Yumi Kim makeup train case, Furio Luna Fofo, Pier One imports marble ring dish, summer and rose beach towel, tart beauty products. That's just the beginning of it. Don't miss out because they sell out fast. They sell it every time. Check out www.

www.fadfitfund.com and use the code, almost famous. So you can save $10 off your first box, making it only $39.99. Again, that's fadfitfund.com and use our code, almost famous. You deserve to treat yourself. I bet Clay would treat somebody with the fat, pit fun box. I'm going to let them know. We're going to call them after this podcast. Tom, you know what, Clay, you seem like a nice guy.

We like you. You got a good voice on you. We wish you the best in your NFL career, but I bet you want the opportunity to get somebody well, and I bet that's through buying them a fat-fit fun box. So make sure you go out there to fat-fitfund.com. Enter our code, almost famous today. Our final segment of the podcast, and this is an important one. It's one we love doing, and we do it during the season when we can, because oftentimes we don't have time.

It's reading your emails. We got to read these. I'm going to start with just a few here. This one's from Malen. Malin's title is Lauren's Instapost with Ari. This is a great one. How you guys? I love your podcast.

I'm a faithful listener. Okay, can you guys address Lauren's Instapost with Ari from this past weekend? Her caption said something about how they met at a location a year ago from that day. But I'm confused because they thought they met on The Bachelor. So many people commented on her photo asking the same question, but we didn't get any answers. I love you guys. I love the Bachelor franchise. Thanks.

Okay. So I have a little bit of insight. in this. Lauren and Ari did meet outside of The Bachelor. And this was talking about a little bit during the season. It wasn't brought up often because it really wasn't a big deal. Lauren just happened to find herself at a race once about a year ago. I don't know where it was at.

I think it was Dallas or Detroit someplace. Anyways, she was at a race that Ari was participating in. And they walked past his garage and saw Ari out working on his truck. At that point, Lauren and her friend stopped and just said, hey, you're Ari from the Bachelor. And he said, I am, I am already from The Bachelorette. And that was it. That was it. They got a picture.

They laughed about something and then they moved on. I think that's what she was talking about was, you know, they met very briefly with no romantic connection a year ago. And how crazy is it that they meet again on it on the Bachelor? I mean, she had no idea he was going to be the Bachelor. He had no idea who was going to be a Bachelor at a time. But yet, hey, they fell in love. They got together.

Next one's from Christy. Colton and Tia rekindled. Hi guys, I'm going to cut to the chase because I'm freaking out over here. I'm reading all these tweets and Instagram stories that Becca M has posting about Colton and Tia rekindled. Okay, so does that mean that Tia had to jump back in the picture while he was on the show still? Or do you think they started dating again after he got booted? I never liked Tia, she says.

You can just see her intentions in those beady little eyes. Oh, that's mean of hers when she makes that smirk. Bug. Christy is not a fan. Anyways, would love to know your thoughts, opinions, and an insider scoop you might have on the situation. Love you guys so much. And then she tries to hook me up with her sister at the end.

She goes, P.S. But if you're single, I really have a pretty sister. I think you make a great care of. Well, thank you. That's sweet. I'm sure your sister is beautiful. But that's not where we're here. We're not here to set me up in a relationship.

We're here to talk Tia and Colton. And as I mentioned earlier, it's a big deal. This will be a storyline throughout this show. I don't know how it ends or if it ends or if Tia comes back in the picture or not. But whatever it is, there is something romantic going on. Previously for Tina Colton and from what I understand from Becca M, it seems to be something going on now. I don't know the situation.

What I imagine is happening is that T. and Colton somewhere, somehow, if it's in paradise or whatever, did get back together through pictures or whatever. It looks like they're pretty friendly. My friends typically don't sit on my laps, at least not when I ask them to. And so there is a picture out there where Tia is sitting on Colton's lap. I don't do that often. I think that only happens when you're romantically interested in somebody or when it's Christmas and, you know, Santa Claus is near.

So whatever is happening between Tia Colton, it's a little serious. It's something we need to follow. It's going to be dramatic. It's going to be incredible. The Becca and Becca M versus Raven scenario will not end soon. I don't think we've got to get this brought up. If anything, it's a great PR for the show. I mean, I'm loving watching it.

I'm staying connected from it. So anyways, my inside scoop is this. I don't know a lot, but I do know that something weird is happening, something we've got to follow, something we've got to stay up to date on. Okay, here it is. A little relationship, and this will be a last one for the day. This one's from Kelsey. It's called Always Bickering, but whose fault is it?

Hi, I've been in Ashley, so here's the problem. I've been having some issues. My boyfriend and I have been together for over four years this past year was the first we've been living together. I'm 25, and he's 24. He is the love of my life. He has a kindest heart, and our relationship is great. He still gives me butterflies, even after all these years.

However, I find myself constantly getting upset over the smallest things he says to me. For example, sometimes he will say things to me in a cold, harsh tone, and I immediately get upset over it. I always feel so guilty because I'm the one who starts these fights, but at the same time, if he didn't act cold and harsh towards me, I wouldn't be upset. Is it my reactions to things that are causing these problems in our relationship, or is he actually doing something wrong? And if it's my reaction to things, how do I fix it? Oh, boy, this one hits close to home.

Oh, feeling it. Kelsey, this is a good one. I've said here recently, one of the things I've learned in my past relationships and especially the one with Lauren is my reaction to things are very bad. I am terrible at reacting. I don't react well. I get oversensitive or I get over-anxious or get over-angor, whatever it is. I don't react initially to situations well.

I don't know where that comes from or why that is and I should probably talk to my counselor about it. But I don't and I admit that and I know that I put myself in a situation that oftentimes is worse than it needs to be because of how I've reacted. So I can exactly, I can picture multiple scenarios in my life with people, friends or romantic relationships where somebody has said something that they didn't even mean to be completely rude or personal and I've taken it personally and I've reacted poorly because of it. I think that comes a little bit from insecurity. I think it comes a little bit from being oversensitive. I think I have a little bit of insecurity that I try to mask. And when somebody hits it on the head, I react poorly because I think they found me out. And I have this weird feeling and you've heard about it where I feel unlovable because if somebody really found me out, they wouldn't love me.

And so when somebody close to me, I feel like finds me out. I'm like, oh, no, it's the beginning of the end. They understand me now. And now they're starting to make fun of my faults and they're starting to pick up my faults. And it's all over from here. So I think I react poorly to defend myself, to protect myself. And maybe that's what you're doing. I don't know.

I don't want to say you have insecurities that you're masking or hiding. But I'd like to ask the question to you. And I'd like to ask you to think about it for a little bit. Kelsey is why is your reaction so negative? Why isn't it positive? Is there a way to switch the reaction to be positive? Even if it's to take a 10 seconds and count down. My mom taught me as a kid.

I remember this. And when something was bothering me, and something was wrong, anytime I would feel that urge to defend myself, it was always taught to me to count down from 10, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. And once you've done that, you take a deep breath. Typically, you're able to get yourself back into reality. And it's no longer reaction,

but it's an intentional communication that you're able to give that hopefully highlights the issue at hand. So, you know, I don't think there's anything wrong. with you telling your boyfriend, sometimes when you're cold, it comes off harsh to me. And when you get harsh to me, I unfortunately react negative to it. And I would like to change that because, honey, I love you and I like you. And I don't want to be the person in your life that's griping at you or that's causing guilt fights because that makes me feel guilty.

When I feel guilty, I don't feel like we're flourishing as a couple. I think that's fine communication to have, great communication to have, one that any caring partner would say, okay, thank you for telling me this. I get it. and I will try to be less cold to you. I think one thing that's just awesome here, and I'm thinking through this, is if my partner ever said to me,

hey, babe, I don't want you to be cold towards me because I love it when we can just talk. And if you're feeling tired or you're feeling upset, then take time away, take time alone. I get that you need that to rejuvenate yourself. That would make me feel really careful and really loved and really excited about the future of our relationship. So communicate this stuff, but do it an appropriate way.

Take some time and even your email here. I mean, just knowing how it ends, it says, I always feel so guilty because I'm the one who starts these fights, but at the same time, if you didn't act cold and the harsh towards me, sometimes I wouldn't be upset. You can tell that you don't want to be upset with it. So just be opening, honest, talk to them. This isn't an issue that's going to be fixed overnight.

We all have issues, though. This one hit close to home for me. So I get it. And it's going to be okay. Sounds like you really love this guy. Hey, everybody. I really appreciate you hanging out today. It's just been me, and I'm sorry that my wonderful co-host hasn't been in studio.

I hope this was still fun for you. I hope you've appreciated our talk. I really want this to be a conversation. Make sure, again, you contact at Ben and Ashley at iHeartMedia.com. Tweet us and hashtag almost famous podcast or write us on Instagram. Next week, we got Ben and, and Ashley together in studio again for the first time in a while we're going to talk Ashley updates she's got a lot of them she's engaged in love and stuff and so we're going to talk all about that

we've got my buddy Sean Booth in studio he is one of the best dudes one of the best dudes ever met I mean he is a complete stud love that guy we're going to be with an in studio it's going to be the first time I've seen him in a while we have a lot to talk about we have a lot to catch up on I really appreciate that guy uh hey some of you've been asking real quick about the bin bitches segments. That's an off-season segment. We're going back to it. It's not gone away. We got many more years with you.

We got many more bachelor seasons to recap and update on. That will be coming back once Becca's season of The Bachelor is over. But for now, we got a pack schedule. I mean, we just, I just talked to myself here for like two hours. This is unbelievable. I'm going crazy or something. Anyways, with that, I love you guys.

We love you guys. Send to Ashley to her, congrats. She's in love and she's engaged. This has been the Almost Famous Podcast. I've been Ben and Ashley's somewhere far, far away. We'll talk to you soon. Follow the Ben and Ashley I, Almost Famous Podcasts on IHartRadio or subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts.