The Ben and Ashley I Almost Famous Podcast - S8 E5 Villain Redemption with Krystal Nielson

Episode Date: October 16, 2018

Krystal Nielson is hanging out with us for this whole jam-packed episode! She tells us about her journey from a villain on Arie’s season to being America’s sweetheart after Paradise.  Vanessa Grimaldi stops by and opens up about what might have happened between her and Ben if she had gone to Winter Games.  And we talk to Chelsea Roy, one of Krystal’s friends from Arie’s season, about how many of Arie’s girls actually felt a “real” connection with him, and she dishes on if she’d ever be The Bachelorette. Plus, Ben gives us the real story about his Twitter fight with Ashley Spivey, and he shares some behind the scenes secrets from his time as The Bachelor. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hey, let's do this. This is the Ben and Ashley I, almost famous podcast with IHartRadio. Sorry about it. Oh, my gosh. You're okay? I'm like, I'm the one that's eating here. I have two very, very special guests with me. Somebody we got because we offered free food.

Vanessa loved me. That is so true. And then Crystal is my co-host today. Crystal's birthday was. yesterday. Happy birthday. The almost podcast loves you so much that we gave you a cake. Everybody bringing the cake.

Ah, you guys. It's already there. Happy birthday to you. Thank you so much, you guys. It looks like there's glitter over it, but I think it's actually sweat. The cake has been sweating. You're such a fitness guru. Would you eat something like that?

I would. Because if not, I'll take it home. I will smell it. I will let you eat it. Do you not eat the sweets at all? No, I definitely do. I prefer drinking it. form of wine or dark chocolate as Ben is a big fan of so hey what do you think if somebody does

both I'm not in it and drinks it I don't even want to talk about what I did this entire past three days celebrating my birthday oh so what did you do for your birthday um so my fiance Chris actually surprised me he like came into San Diego and he's like I have a a whole excursion you know nothing about and every day kept giving me little little cards with clues and hints and it was like champagne glasses and then it was like choose option one or option two and it was really sweet but I was like I feel like I'm on the movie The Saw and it's like depending on what I choose would determine like the outcome of my destiny um and we ended up romantic destiny in this case it really was it was just a romantic weekend and we went to laguna beach last night and sit in a

little villa on the beach and just celebrated just drink wine and ate lots of good food and good company so the simple things. you know it was really nice speaking i mean not to complete happy birthday and i'm glad that this chris guy really loves you because it sounds like he is just a doll um did you all know you've both been on the bachelor uh before that the creator of the bachelor created the hostel movies which kind of remind me no no he did not really my oh yeah i don't think that's right that's not right i look at i'm looking it up i'm looking it up right are you saying the bachelor is the hostile I mean, in some situations, absolutely.

I know Mike, Mike Flies did a very bad shark movie, but let me see. A very bad shark movie? Hoffa was produced by Mike Flies. That is confirmed. What? Ben, with the knowledge. Damn. Isn't that weird?

Does that ever make you question how you both fell in love? It does. It explains a lot, actually. Does it why are you questioning how you fell in love, Ben? Is that why? No, I'm very happy that I fell in love, Vanessa. I am too, Ben. Well, I'm really excited to have you both in here.

These are two of the best personalities in Bachelor Nation. It's the offseason for the Almost Famous Podcast. So we got to find ways to buy time. And part of that is getting to know the people that actually participate in the show. Crystal, once again, thank you for joining us today. I want to talk a little bit about you and your story during this whole Bachelor ride. you've had a really interesting I feel experience let's say you start out as a villain I don't think it's unknown to anybody that you were criticized that your ostracized kind of pushed out of the house

and then you go on paradise and so I want to stop there and hear your thoughts because Vanessa and I and neither of us have gone on paradise I want to hear your thoughts on why you chose as the villain to risk going on another show well I think at some point you just fall down so low like you can't really fall any lower so everything is just up from that point but really when i was on the bachelor i mean there were great moments and not so great moments but ultimately i definitely came out feeling very misunderstood and that my intentions were just kind of you know had had backfired and gone the wrong way so i mean really i was seeking a second chance to come on put myself out there and really just be true to myself because as you guys know like going on the

bachelor um it's a little intimidating being on such a public show knowing you're going to get that criticism and i just i learned a lot on that journey and i wanted to take all that knowledge apply it and do better so i uh so just to give a little background here uh for anybody wondering um crystal nielsen is the the co-hosts here on the podcast we have venessa here as well she's just a fan favorite always um and crystal was on ry season of the bachelor she is now engaged to The Goose, Chris. On Ari season of The Bachelor, Crystal was the villain. I think it's very clear.

And then she becomes America's sweetheart. The question, though, and I think this is always interesting, and without just totally destroying the show, now that you're happy and the show has been good to you, do you feel like you were accurately portrayed during The Bachelor? No, I think that there was definitely moments where I was speaking about Ari and how it was just, shown was it showed women but so it appeared I was talking about the women when in fact I was

actually talking about the bachelor and you know I studied film production in college so I'm definitely big fans of creative editing but you know there were definitely moments when I did I did say things and react to certain situations bullying anyone but you know looking back it was I really felt like it wasn't me do you feel like and it wasn't me also like in those moments so because it was just so it was such a unique experience I really don't know how to describe it other than you're not really sure what's real or what's going on and the elements of surprise you open a door and don't know what's behind it I think anyone that's placed in a house and stripped away from their social support system and let and I said this from the beginning I no one will understand what I'm going through unless it's the women in this house and people that are watching will you know you kind of just tune in and you watch what you what you what you're going through unless it's the women in this house and people that are watching will you know you know you kind of just tune in and you watch what you what you what you're what appears to be on TV and you think that's 100% the reality of it. But they only get to see a fraction of who you are. I mean, I felt like I was very happy with the way I was portrayed on my show,

but it was a fraction of my personality. I was like the goody, two shoes from Montreal, and I felt like I had zero personality that came across on my season. So I guess, like, I know Taylor had gone through a similar experience on my season where she was villainized. And then she wanted to go on Paradise and when she was asking me for my advice, I'm like, I don't know if it's a good idea.

Like, you just don't know, right? You're putting your faith in the hands of other people to see, like, how are you going to get portrayed this time around? Right. And, I mean, it ended up working out for her, too. She got engaged. I mean, now they're not together anymore, but she got engaged. She fell in love with Derek and she had a great love story like you did.

So it does, it ended up working out for her too. Yeah, I think that ultimately what it comes down to is high risks, build high rewards and unless you put yourself out there you don't ever know what's going to happen and i'm so glad i said this at the end of the um bachelor in paradise reunion that i said i was so glad i didn't let fear get in the way of me taking this chance for myself ben you did winter games yes i did i got asked to do winter games and i could have fell in love any any email i mean i am coming to Denver so there you go there you go I left fear getting the way and I'm like I don't I don't know if I was ready to you know I fell in love on the show that was like the only guy I've ever dated off the franchise I haven't like even held hands with anyone from the franchise and so I went in thinking hey what if I just go to enjoy my experience there and I don't actually like have to kiss anyone and Bennett was like Vanessa you know this is the whole point of the show like you're gonna get asked out on a date and you're gonna you're not gonna look good if you say no to them so I'm like I'm I just I felt like I wasn't ready so

I was like, no, I'm good. I'm going to ask me to do Paradise. They'd have? Why didn't she? They did. They did. Girl, we could have rock those beaches. I was like, I was ready to date in the real world.

I was just really happy to, you know, I was really open to meeting people in the real world and to form those connections. I love that we actually say the real world because it's truly a thing. Like outside of the show. But it works out for people. It does. Here's something that I'm giving up. Okay.

And I'm trying to give up a lot of my pride and my ego. And I think this is something that we always lean back on. And Vanessa, I'm with you. So I did winter games for a bunch of reasons. And it ended up kind of, it was never a bad thing. It was actually really therapeutic and good. But it like kind of smacked me in the face because I realized that going back to that world after coming out of a breakup and that world was just terribly traumatic.

Like not good at all, not healthy for one second. and so now I am completely single like completely single I've dated I've been interested I've dated people consistently for for a while since the show but I am completely single now and I have a and nobody go oh you're going to have you it's all going to be fine you're going to find somebody it's really hard to date it's not very easy it's not really fun the the whole like process of even meeting somebody and having those first conversations It's something I don't enjoy. So I have found myself getting more and more intrigued by the idea of having help dating again.

Oh, are you looking into like the matchmaking? I think the show is more attracted to me than ever has been before. Really? And the assistance of like somebody even like a really good being woman or a really good wing friend. Right. Wait, wait, Ben, are you thinking about going on the back? Bachelorette? Well, until I find somebody, it's always... Back on it. Yeah, I might go on the Bachelorette. Anyways, that's kind of my takeaway. Vanessa, I hear what you're saying. There's a lot of reasons not to.

Crystal, there's a lot of reasons not to. The risks are high. But I understand when somebody has a traumatic experience or just not a great experience on the show, you can still see that this can work. And so you become interested again and maybe trying to make it happen on the show. So now, Crystal, you are America's sweetheart. You and Chris are celebrated. you're loved, you're cared for. This sounds like the real deal. How does that transition feel? You know, it feels great. It feels great.

I really just feel like I was just true to myself and it was shown and shared and celebrated. And so, you know, I had a big transformation coming off of the show. A lot of people reached out to me before Paradise, just saying that they appreciated that I continued to stay true to who I was and just was able to showcase that. Thank God for Instagram and social media. And still being able to connect with fans and share my journey, my story about my brother. And to now come out of paradise in a relationship and with someone I'm so happy with and finding that love, it feels really great.

And I think the best part about it, and I'm sure you guys can relate, is just to be celebrated by strangers on the streets and just for them to give so much love and just so much love and support. It feels wonderful, much different than the last time. I'll come up to you and say mean things No no one No one would ever come up to my face and say mean things The thing that really bothered me was when people

Would come up and say I'm so sorry And it kind of gave like that pity Oh Like I'm so I know that's not who you are And it was like clients and members That would take my classes like You know took my yoga classes

Or like I know you're not that person I can't believe they showed you that way I'm so sorry And it was like the pity I'm just like oh man And I think Paradise I was like I got to do something about this because this is not who I am. I'm not leaving my life at this, at this, you know,

stage. Got to do something about it. Nobody wants pity. One thing you've never gotten pity for is how well you work out. You are a fitness guru. It's incredible. It is something. Thank you guys. I need to take a second and tell all of our listeners how they can look like Vanessa and Crystal. No, it's not easy. It's not easy. It's not easy. It's not easy. It takes work and you can do this work by checking out Beach Body. Beach Body on demand is an easy-to-use streaming service that gives you instant access to a wide variety of super effective workouts. You can do timeout from the comfort of your living room 24-7.

History of success with this company is incredible. This is the company behind P90X Insanity, 21-day Fix, T-25, Brazil buttlift, Pio, hip-hop abs, three-week yoga retreat, and more. the best trainers in the business get motivated by celebrity super trainers you know and i love shanty's focus t25 program it doesn't require any extra equipment and it's only 25 minutes a day one of the cool parts is you can access anywhere any time view on your computer web enable tv tablet smartphone roku apple tv chrome cast and more we can get in shape together you've heard me talk about it i've shared it i was 60 pounds heavier in college that's not healthy weight i'm healthy today that's

pizza beer and couch weight shan t helped me get back into shape we hope you can too right now our listeners can get a special free trial membership including their new 14 day results plan where you can lose up to nine pounds in the first two weeks crystal that's healthy right yeah i think that i would be on board yeah nine pounds in the first two weeks yeah when you text almost famous to 30, 30, 30. You'll get full access to the entire platform for free. All the workouts, the nutrition information, the results plan to get you super fast results and support.

Totally free. Again, it's easy. You're sitting with your phone right now. I know it. You're listening to us. So just text almost famous to 30, 30 today. Look good, feel good. Vanessa and Crystal can be your personal motivation.

Well, talking about like experience, like, you know, reliving moments. and stuff. So my parents on my podcast, obviously we talk about love and all that stuff. And so my parents got divorced when I was 18 and I still don't have boxes of memories of VHS. What are they called?

VHS. VHS. So I was thinking about that. I'm like I want to be able to go find those things of memories of me doing gymnastics and all that stuff. And Dean was talking to me about this. It's this thing called Legacy Box.

Ben, have you heard about it? I love Legacy Box. No, it's true. I think you're hitting the nail on the head there. There's all these things that we've had growing up that now are just kind of sitting around. We can't capture these moments anymore. I mean, from photos to VHS, and there's a solution. And let's tell you about Legacy Box.

This is actually kind of cool. I think our listeners are people who really love to capture memories. And so send your Legacy Box filled with old home videos and pictures. they'll do the rest professionally digitizing your moments into a thumb drive digital download or DVD it's easy to follow and safety bar clothes included for every item so you can kind of go back trace what everything what everything is receive all of your original recorded moments back along with perfectly preserved digital copies get personalized updates at every step receive up to 12 personalized email updates legacy box is the world's largest most trusted digitizing

of home movies and photos over 450,000 families have trusted Legacy Box over a decade of experience. All the work is done by hand right here in the USA. There's never been a better time to digitally preserve your memories. Visit LegacyBox.com today to get started. Plus, for a limited time, LegacyBox is offering our listeners an exclusive discount. Listen up, go to Legacybox.com slash almost famous

to get 40% off your first order or save up to $200 on your large. legacy box kit go to legacy box.com slash almost famous and save up to 40% today get started preserving your past this brings up an interesting conversation and one that I think we should get to after we talk to our next guest Chelsea but we have all these memories right that we're trying to preserve in life we have all these pictures and a lot of like Vanessa our childhood are on these things that we no longer use and we have a big piece of our life documented now on a television show

and I cannot find my season so I'm asking every listener I have your season I have your season why what Chris was a little creepy I was just doing some back study I was a huge bachelor fan I've been watching since Juan Pablo

that was my first season my first season is my first season than I watched God then what was your first season that you watched Andy Dorfman Andy watched yeah yeah so you've known Nick all along I've known

The whole way. From beard. To no beard and back again. Hey guys, Chelsea, Roy is out there. We're thankful that she's joined the podcast. Chelsea, are you out there? I am. Hi, guys.

Hi, Chelsea. What's up, boo? Hi. Did I hear that Crystal is a part of this? Yes. What is up, Mama? Happy birthday. Oh, thank you so much.

You know, there's some cake here. We would love you to come over. I'll give you a slice. Are you in L.A.? Hi, Chelsea, it's Vanessa. Hi, Vanessa. Are you in L.A? No, I'm in Maine.

Oh. We will expedite the cake. I know. I will eat it for you. Yeah, so I am just going to enjoy ice water and a strict diet of no cake. We all love you. Actually, the very first thing that was said, Crystal and Vanessa are helping me co-hosts this podcast today.

when I told them that we have you as a guest, they both said the same thing in unison. They go, oh, she's beautiful. You're stunning. Stunning. Oh, thank you guys. We love you, Chelsea. Outside of just how beautiful you are,

can you take a couple seconds here and explain to our listeners who you are, how would they know you, and what your storyline was during this franchise? Sure, sure. Okay, so I am Chelsea, and most of you probably know me from Ari Season, season 22 of The Bachelor.

I was the girl that received the first impression rose, but with that came being deemed a villain, which I think is something that all too often happens. Then you'll also recognize me from Bachelor in Paradise Season 5, so this past season, and of which I think I played a little bit of The Bachelorette. Definitely, I would agree. Definitely agree.

Yeah. So if anything, you guys most likely know me also, you know, for Sammy, my son. And if you've followed my journey so far, you'll definitely see a lot of him and a lot of the things that we do. So let's start at the beginning. You're on Ari season of The Bachelorette or The Bachelor. You receive the first impression rose. The targets on your back. What happened between you and Ari? I mean, I know that there's drama. I know that you became. the villain, along with Crystal, we, this is just a villain-filled podcast. It certainly is. You know, Chelsea and I were really, really battling for that villain title, huh, huh, girl? What happened between your relationship, though, with Ari? Like, outside of your relationship with the women, how was your relationship with Ari affected? So, you know, I think I was very open and honest with him about how I appreciated him taking the heat off of me sometimes.

and, you know, getting to know all the other girls. Nothing really went sour in our relationship. It really did come down to logistics. You know, there's distance involved, there's a child involved, you know, what is life outside of The Bachelor going to look like? Both Crystal and I actually left in Paradise, so we were, I'm sorry, left in Paris. So we were pretty far along in our journey with Ari enough to develop the feelings. I certainly would crush. I don't think anyone expected me to be sent home that week.

You know, there were a lot of questions that I had for him. But I think once I stepped outside, I realized that he was looking at the practicality of life after the bachelor and what it is that he's looking for in a partner. And I just don't think that we were the right fit. So Crystal and Chelsea, Vanessa and I can't really answer this. but the two of you were broken up with during the show. Did you both believe that you were a fit with Ari? Like, were you both invested into trying to make this thing work?

I would like Chelsea to answer this question first. Yeah. You know, for me, I am just like a hopeless romantic. So I would like to believe that I'm capable of falling in love with anyone. And I felt like there was a reason why I had the opportunity to go on the show. So I was fully invested. And I think part of that is the mental. challenge, you know, am I just thinking this or am I feeling it? And, of course, in that

environment, when all you know is Ari, you're stripped of, of course, cell phones and things like that, you become a little attached quicker. I do believe that Ari and I would make great friends, and that's the way that any relationship, for me, how I would like it to start, but I'm not sure that there is longevity in the relationship with him. yeah i would agree um especially at the point where and i think everyone here knows that when there's one bachelor one bachelor i mean all the focus and attention goes to that one person and and no one else so you definitely are um you don't notice the red flags as much or maybe you just choose not to notice them yeah you ignore them and i think that i saw a lot of compatibility

personally with ari and i because we live close to each other um we are like five hours from each other I work remote he travels I travel a lot I can work and I just saw a lot with our personalities but I think as I got to know him and I started seeing as I think it was in Tahoe Chelsea when I really became disgruntled with my relationship with Ari because I just saw him really as being a womanizer with all the women and you see me talking a lot in you know there's a lot of B-roll of me or just interviews of me saying that I was so unattracted to how much attention he wanted at one time with multiple women. And there was a moment in the hot tub where I was talking with Ari having this deep conversation.

And I looked down, he's holding Tia's hand while talking to me. And I felt, and that was literally the line had been crossed. I was like, this guy. That is a, savage. Savage. I was like, I am so not okay with this. And I think that was just like, that started it for me. And I just, I couldn't get past it.

Wait, he was holding her hand. Holding Tia's hand under the water as I'm having this like heart-to-heart conversation. I looked down and I was just like, you are so disrespectful. I mean, oh, man. I've never been in the position of being in the lead and I'm sure there's so much that so much pressure. I can't blame him, but I was disrespected. Did you feel disrespected because your ego was like, I'm fighting with all these women to get your attention. And even while there's other women around us, you're still not giving me your full.

undivided attention? No, it was, I'm having a personal conversation with him, like, about my family, and I thought we had a moment between us. And you know, you want those moments. And Chelsea, I think you can relate, Ben, everyone here when you just get to have a moment away in private and have that conversation. It means a lot, because time is everything. And to look down and see, he's holding someone's hand as I'm like, spilling out my heart about my family. I'm just like, you don't even care what I'm saying. You're just trying to get his physical connection. That's, that's, that's Chuketh, man. That is.

We're done here. That is something. Chelsea, I know you're out there and this is all super interesting stuff to me. I always, and this is not about me, but it was always a really scary thought to me that I would ever show physical affection to one woman in front of the others. It was really scary because at some point during this whole experience, everybody's claws come out. men and women and when you get far enough along the idea that i would give any woman the ability to really put their claws out there and and they would feel validity by doing it scared the bejibus out of me um chelsea i want to hear from you so you get the first impression rose you and christel go

home the same week uh you know and and we'll kind of move this question amongst all of you How many people in the house when you went home do you think actually believe they're right for Ari? Ooh. Of total women? Yeah. Truthfully, based on my, I'm a very observant person. I definitely read into body language and I listen to people and sometimes I'm quiet because I'm really just observing. I would say maybe three.

Maybe three of the 29 people I would definitely have. a solid relationship or reason why to think they were going to, you know, end up with R.E. Do you think that's based off of his interact, like the way that he was interacting with those women? Okay. Yeah, definitely. I mean, the way that he was, you know, treating some women, talking to some women, you know, just regular behavior. Body language is huge. You know, he was in control of who he chose to spend more time with and how he chose to spend that.

So, I would say, like, totally invested, if we're being honest here, probably three. I think, I think maybe, like, four, maybe, like, definitely five, I think. I think four to five, I think right in that range. Yeah. Which I feel like is a good number. I would, if I were the lead, I would just want to be able to pick around, like, five or three. I don't want to make, you know, that, it's too hard at that point. Yeah, I remember being there in the mansion, and some girls are like, it's just a TV.

show like calm down or like i'm just here for the friends and i'm like what i gave up my life my career to be here like i got i got very emotionally invested looking back probably not the best idea bet i want to ask you as a bachelor do you choose who goes on the one-on-ones like is that on to you or there's like a i think you i would say yeah so here's the here's the interesting and you get why so it gets frustrating at times um and i think any lead would tell you this so most of the times you have a huge you have always a huge say but there's also a suggestion or format to like so for example like one week i wanted to take let's say somebody on a date and they're like and the people the the producers like well you just took them on a date two weeks ago for you that

feels like forever ago to anybody watching or to the women involved like you need to hold off on taking them on a date again and so they help i think a lot of it comes down to how the show is going to be like formatted together to make it make sense to everybody involved and to also not hurt any of the cast that's that's like involved because as a bachelor bachelor bachelor you're kind of closed off to the world you don't really know what's happening not you don't have your phone either you don't know what's happening in the house that's the biggest thing is you don't know who's arguing why they're arguing what they're arguing about and so you're just kind of like a lot of the time you're using the producers as confidants and trusted partners to say okay I'm into this person

really want to show them i'm into into her how can i do that and can you help me make sure i do that in the most appropriate way that was always my question how okay here's my wish here's my need here's my desire how can you help me do this and they would say all right let's talk and then we talk and figure out a good game plan to okay maybe not this week but next week we're going to a crazy cool location this would be a better time for you to bring her on a date she can wait a week you can wait a week that's kind of that's the balance can i ask about the first impression rose Do you give that out or are there suggestions for it? I know Chelsea wants to know, too.

Wait, who got the first impression? Chelsea got the first impression rose. I was aggressive that night, though. I mean, he almost had to. He were so aggressive. Chelsea cut me off because I was like, I'm getting that rose. Yeah, yeah. So it's like, that's another, like, we all have to be logical here when it comes to the show.

You show up night one. There's 25 to 3. 30 some women or men who show up to the house, you about only know their name and if they smelt good. You don't know. Totally. You sit down in this room and you go, okay, who made a great impression on you? And you lay out and you talk it through and you think about it. And then once you pick some of the people who have made the best impression on you, then you break it down from there. Okay, is this somebody that I want to, that I think, here's a big question. And Chelsea, this is definitely

something that you should take personally another question is okay anytime you get the first impression rose there's a target on your back what woman in the house can handle that target and I don't know that piece on the first night I don't know your personalities or anything and so I need help by my friends or by the people that say okay

she can handle this and she can't and so who do you want to give this to that you know we'll walk out of this and first off not you know destroy her reputation and not get super you know egotistical but be able to kind of just continue to go through this process. So there's a lot to it. And then I think we'd be crazy to think that the bachelor or the bachelor on the first night

just knows right away. Oh, yeah, this is it. Right. Just not the case. I mean, you do have like a, do you feel like night one that you had a spark with a person or more than one person? That you're like, oh, this person's cool. Not even just like as a friend or someone that made you feel extremely comfortable being

there. Oh, a thousand percent. Yeah, you're right. I mean, but as I think I've, I've shared this a couple times, but there's like three people that really, and two of which actually didn't make it that far, but that first night was like, you have a great first impression. We have great conversations. But in one of the reasons, and this made it so hard for me, and Lauren knows this. I don't think she'll feel weird for me sharing this. When she walked around the corner, like my world stopped, like everything changed and I don't know why. And it never left me. I was worried that, you know, and I bet Nick, I think Nick says the same thing about like your situation was, there was just something really different than what everybody else was experiencing. And so for me, that feeling was so different with her that I knew that it was either

going to be something special or something that was going to absolutely blow up in our faces. So yeah, you do have that first impression spark. But again, like Lauren didn't get the first impression rose because I was worried that if I gave it to her, the target would be on her back and it would force her out of the house or force her to be the enemy of the house too early, and I didn't want that. I wanted her to kind of go underneath the radar, to kind of go through the process.

Oh, wow. I think that was the one piece of advice. I remember you gave Nick was to kind of protect the person that, or I mean the people, I don't know. I remember what the piece of advice was that you gave to him, but I remember being like, oh, thank God, Ben gave him that advice. Yeah, okay, so you always have a couple people, and sometimes you're lucky enough to really have one that really stands out to you.

my you know my I've shared this but I was just worried that something with Lauren was going to be off like at the very last week she was going to be like yeah I have a boyfriend at home and this isn't going to work for me and it never happened right but you you're always kind of on edge the whole time so you don't want to give up everything else for that one relationship you want to stay open like they say but the other piece of that is if you really do care about somebody you can have like as the lead you can find ways to protect them so you know you don't give them first impression rose you don't ask them on 30 one-on-one dates you don't go off and spend two hours with him alone in some city why everybody watches and waits on you um you you have to be strategic and it's kind of kind of the secret sauce to being a decent lead is being you know strategic and how you're treating that person that you think you're going to end up with so that not everybody ends up hating them and their whole experience is terrible um i guess it's the only gift the league can give outside of super awkward conversations after you get off the show. I guess that's why, looking back now,

I never got a rose on a group date. And I was so excited. I'm like, oh, this is my night. I'm going to get a rose. And I'm like, does he not notice me? And then it started to play into my insecurities. I'm like, oh, I guess it's not. And I never thought on my season,

he never gave me any form of indication that it was me. Never. Never. Not in the fantasy suite. Not on any dates. I remember telling him when I loved him, It was, I was kind of shocked the way he reacted. Or I told him

I was falling in love with him. And I felt like he was just like, okay, cool. But I guess he wasn't able to show me more. Because then if not, I was going to get too cocky about it. And, you know, it starts to play around with your head. But in the end, it just made me start

second guessing like, oh, maybe it's not me. Right. He could have just told everybody. That seems to be a power move these days. I love you. I love you. Hey, Chelsea, I want to hear about your experience on Bachelor in Paradise. There's a couple interesting things that I always hear about Paradise, and one of those is the sleeping situation. So before I ask you about your sleeping situation in Paradise, I want to speak to all of us

about what we should be sleeping in here outside of Paradise. I'm a sleep number fan. It's not a secret. It is something that I put out there every podcast. I like my sleep number. I love my sleet number. I've been a sleep number dude way before they started sponsoring the podcast. So it was a treat to me that sleep number came on board with the almost famous podcast.

Sleep number is doing great things. I have kind of the older model. I would love to upgrade. Hint. But the new sleep number 360 smart bed helps everyone from parents to pro athletes improve their daily performance through proven quality sleep. So many couples disagree on mattress firmness. Sleep number beds let you choose. your ideal firmness on each side, so it's just

right. Wow. You. Is that cool? Yeah. That is insane. I like it soft. I enjoy I mean, you know, I enjoy it. I said no, whatever. Not in every situation. It happens every time. It happens every time. Crystal, are you a soft sleeper or a hard sleeper? I'm going to say I'm that baby bear. I'm like that right in between.

Well, sleep number has a fix for you. You'd be about 65. No, here's the thing. Chris and I are getting a place together, and we need a new bed so I'm actually like so excited right now about sleep number well make sure you tell them that out that we sent you so the new beds are so smart okay they're really really smart they censure every move and automatically adjust to you keeping you sleeping comfortably throughout the night it's like your best friend that's a bed it's it's really awesome come in and see the newest sleep number 360 smart beds it's your competitive edge from 999 sleep number is the official sleep and wellness partner of the NFL, you'll only find sleep number at one of their

550 sleep number stores nationwide. Visit sleep number.com backslash podcast to find the nearest one near you. Make sure you go to sleep number.com. It's worth it. I'm a huge, huge sleep number fan. Anyways, Chelsea, I hear the sleeping in Paradise is not the best. Walk us through somebody behind the scenes of BIP. Okay. You ready for it? We are ready. So I'm from Maine, and I typically don't mind the whole idea of camping. Well, this is definitely glamping. We are in a resort setting, but it's actually more of like a cottage.

It's super sweet. We have huge windows and doors that are wide open to the ocean. I swear to God, I was going to be actually hearing the ocean like months after leaving paradise, because it's just so loud with the roaring waves. Yeah, it was so lovely. We have friends. A lot of friends. A lot of creepy friends.

Really? That like lights. That many? I thought it was just like added in as editing or something. The bugs? Yeah. No. The crabs.

Oh. Crabs? Can we talk about the June? The June bugs? Did anyone get craps? And then there's also a nighttime bed check for cockroaches, which I found many on my pillow. Oh.

Did you have crabs in my bed? Did you guys zip up your luggage before, like, if you leave your luggage open, you don't know what's going to crawl into your luggage and then what you're going to bring home? No, Astrid brought home. There were like rotten crabs in her luggage when she came back. We were on this big group text, and everyone

was sending photos of the items that they had packed with them. Unintentional souvenirs? Oh, yeah. Nasty. Nasty. Yeah, Paradise was really beautiful. As Chelsea was saying, it was just open ocean everywhere and no windows, no privacy. So you know when you're no privacy.

There's one door without a lock. Locks on the other side. I would like use my leg to, right? There was many situations that happened. Here's my sense of watching Paradise. I'm a big, big Bachelor in Paradise fan. I get this sense that kind of all boundaries get broken down and that's maybe why this love thing works there because like Vanessa would just say like you're you're pooping in front of

people you're sweating you all kind of smell a little bit like there is no fake there very few fake things at least when it comes to physical appearance for both the women and the men when it comes to paradise am I wrong or right you well do you remember um for the promos for this they showed me talking it was probably to will and I said we're all just basically naked and that was the one way I could describe it we are all naked like there's no point in where makeup There's no point in putting on heels or, like, dressing up for anyone because it's just a different type of climate there. It's something that's, you know, we don't have resources in Mexico like we do in the United States. Yeah, like Amazon Prime or air conditioning or fans.

Take me as I am. You know, it's so true. Paradise was just such a, I definitely feel, I personally felt so much more comfortable in Paradise because, I mean, as Chelsea was saying, it was, you know, very relaxed. I mean, you didn't curl your hair because it would just fall flat with an, an hour. And it just allowed us to be really focused on spending quality time with one another, girls with girls, girls, guys, and just friendships and relationships to really blossom and form. And I felt like it was such a conducive relationship or environment for relationships, which Chelsea, I have to say, I'm so surprised that you didn't come out with

a man in paradise. I was very, very, very careful. And Ben, you earlier had mentioned how you wanted to be respectful in, you know, getting to know everyone. And I think that's the way that I did it as well is I didn't want to be fixated on just one person. I wanted to make sure that that person was always in my head, no matter how many people I took time to get to meet and to know, because that was my one opportunity. It's the one time in life that you are like literally free of all your distractions and you can focus on dating. I don't get a lot of that. I mean, And it's really hard to do it when I'm available 50% of my time. And the dating is honestly slim pickings here in the Portland, Maine area.

Girl, it's hard everywhere. Yeah, I took advantage of it. And honestly, I love getting to know people in general. And I made some amazing friendships. And I really did come out of there with love in a different aspect, and that's family and friends. So my heart is certainly full, but I know that I left that situation. I'm giving it in my all, and, you know, I didn't find love, but I'm watching you, Crystal, with Chris.

Like, it has given me so much hope that it does work, and it's still out there. All right. I'm going to Paradise next season. Great knowing guys. Hey, Vanessa, I'll see you on the beach. There you go. We'll bring up there. I actually got to go.

My Uber is waiting for me downstairs. Hey, Vanessa, we love you. Thank you so much. We'll see you soon. Thank you for having me. Bye. Chelsea, we're going to get back to your love story in paradise in a second. I cannot wait to dig in a little bit to your strategy, who you dated, how that all went,

what life is like still today for you. You are a tremendous mother. And I know everybody out there listening wants to hear more about that. But before we do, all of us are familiar with the Fab Fit Fun Box. So we're going to take a second to tell you about it. Today's episode is just packed full of amazing products and endorsements. And again, I like to take time each episode to explain to all of you. The reason this podcast can and does exist is because of products like this that say,

hey, we like the almost famous podcast. It has a really good group of listeners. And this group of listeners will benefit from hearing about our products. So if you're out there and you're going, there's so many ads, this is crazy. Well, yeah, that means we're doing all right. So back off a little bit. And it's a holiday season coming up. So it's like, we want the hookup, the homie hookup.

Right? I mean, can you imagine for the holidays, it's no longer the stocking stuffer. It's the box stuffer. I mean, you're going to get a seasonal subscription box for the next 50 years of your life because that's how long you have it fun to be around. The gift that keeps on giving every season. I've actually gotten the subscription box and I love it. Everybody does.

It's not a secret. Because you forget. You're like, oh, my God, it's Christmas. Like a present on my doorstep. I'm so happy. If you noticed, my skin is really like tight and glowing right now because I use all those creams that get sent in this box. Fat-fit fun is a seasonal subscription box with full-size beauty, fitness, fashion, and lifestyle products.

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I really like, it's so you're getting the attitude. You're smiling. You're giggling. Chelsea, I know you're out there smiling and giggling. Getting this box is a great thing. Some of the items in this year's box or this season's box is special. Skin care from glam glow and juice beauty, fashion items from free people and Millie, beauty products from tart.

And I never could say this. Moroccan oil. Moroccan oil. Moroccan oil. That's what it is. It's always easier than I think it's going to be. Oh, this is a great box. All full size products comes to your house.

You're going to get a great deal. Here, listen up, don't miss out because they sell out fast. And when I say fast, I mean fast. Check out fabfitfund.com and use our code, almost famous. So you can save $10 off your first box, making it what? Only $39.99. Again, that's fabfitfund.com and use the code almost famous. You, you Chelsea, you Crystal, you everybody out there, man, woman, and child.

You deserve to treat yourself. Chelsea, your mother. What is life like? I want to hear maybe a couple of the biggest challenges and also some of the best parts about being a mother that goes on this show. Oh, man. So the challenges are definitely the trolls and the judgment

that I get for, quote, unquote, being away from my son. You know, that's not the case. You know, we're, I'm very well accommodated by producers to make sure that I'm able to stay in contact with Sammy during the days I'm gone. The other thing is, is I actually don't know how long I'm going to be gone for. So taking advantage of an opportunity like this could last a day, it could last all the way to the end where I actually find love and it benefits mine and family's life.

So that's kind of the ups and downs of doing it as a parent because I'm not as free as other people or I would say careless to really like have fun with it. It's a more serious process for me because I'm not only dating for me, I'm dating for my son. And I know so much more now because of Sammy what it is in life that I'm looking for. And I feel so blessed to have him in my life. It's never a downfall. I'd much rather be single than settle.

I am really never alone because I have him. And he is that one guy that literally makes me become my best possible self. So, you know, going on Paradise, I was fully equipped. and I had this little boy reminding me, you know, in my heart and in the back of my head, what it is I was there for, especially when there were days where I'm like, why am I not coupled up like everyone else? And it was all for a purpose and a reason, and it's just because I'm not going to settle. You know, it would be nice to walk out of there with a boyfriend and, you know,

get a little extra more air time or something out of it, but it really isn't worth it in the end. I do want something that has, you know, a happy ever after to it, and I have a better sense of what that is because of how clear, how clear my thoughts are and what it is I'm looking for. I don't know. It was definitely challenging being away from him, but it was worth understanding more and more through these experiences what it is that both him and I need in our life. Yeah.

What's what we need in our life. Yeah, Chelsea, I think I just want to commend you. for being such a beautiful, strong mother and an example for Sammy, and in paradise and on Bachelor, you and I had gotten to know each other and had spoken about how difficult it was for you to be away, but at the same time, and I think that a lot of mothers out there can relate how important it is for you to have this time for yourself, too, and I work with clients on this, especially mothers, you need the time to self-love, self-care so that you can come back and be that mom, that partner, that, you know, employer, co-workers.

you need this time for yourself and so I'm proud of you for taking it well thank you um go ahead no I just I just think you're I mean what you just said was completely correct and it's it's always it's always something it's intriguing to me the relationship between the fans and the mothers or fathers that go on the show I think it was a dynamic that was like a shocker kind of on Chris Souls this season was really the first time I remember it but I hadn't watched a show really before that um kind of It's like, oh my gosh, there's a mom. And it was like the storyline of like, when was she going to tell Chris that she has a child? And that was kind of, you know, the first thing.

And then nowadays it moves into this whole thing where you're a single mother. And their single fathers have gone on the show too. And as Crystal just said, which I want to mirror is we forget or we assume or the fans sometimes judge the fact that you want time for yourself too. Just like we were saying, dating's hard. And especially, you know, if you add different elements in like being a mother or father, going on this show allows you to take intentional time to say, hey, I'm out there, I'm ready, I want to do this again, and as much as I love my child, I want to partner in this.

And this show seems to be a decent avenue for it. Yeah, I would agree because truly you don't have any distractions and you can really take the time for yourself and to find the relationship. Did you think, Chelsea, I want to ask you your time on Bachelor versus Paradise, I mean, if you could do one more show again, which one would you do? lead or a group of men on the beach?

Oh, gosh. Because Ben's going on Paradise next summer. It's hard. I guess with the Paradise fan, I get very nervous about that because, you know, we saw me play Bachelorette and it kind of has this sexual, you know, being tied to it or image tied to it, and that's not who I am. I certainly don't go out and kiss every guy that I meet. However, I can't stop them from doing that to me.

Um, so I just, you like dead. Yeah, nor should we. Come on. Nice men to be kissing. But I, I could see myself as bachelorette because of how serious I am about this process and determined I am to find love and how much I really do want it. Um, and knowing what I'm looking for would only help the process. Then you mentioned that there are some, you know, there's some strategy behind who you

choose to go on a one-on-one date and, you know, the way that you do it. My biggest thing about being Bachelorette would be hurting people. So I definitely would have to get over that. But, you know, I do like Bachelor in Paradise. I had a great experience. I came out again with, you know, a ton of friends in a larger family now. But I think I said the other day that I'm interested to see if it's just going to organically happen with my two experiences. I saw a couple like Clay and Angela get together and they weren't even on a season together,

but we're all in this one big niche where we somehow know one another and it's an easy way to reach out. So, you know, or there's Ashley and Jared, you know, three years later, they reunite and, you know, they're now getting married. So I believe in the process so much that I would be certainly open to another experience. I'm just, I'm not, I'm not sure when. I'm not sure how. Real quick, before we send you off, because you've been great and you've been around

and you've stayed on this podcast for a lot long. than you need you too and we really appreciate it if they would ask you to go on Colton's season of The Bachelor would you have done it oh good question oh Jesus okay well so after meeting Colton um god this is a hard one that's why we have a podcast I know yeah this is a hard one um if I was asked to go on Colton season I would personally say no I watched him kind of go between not knowing what he wanted and knowing what he wanted, and I'm pretty sure I want somebody that absolutely knows, and we had the time to talk to each other, and he certainly was not interested in me, and I respect that so much. So I would have sat it out, even though I really

didn't have enough time to get to know him. I had enough time to feel a vibe, and I just don't think that we, like, clicked on that level. So, no, and honestly, he dated two of my girls, so I think I'm all set That gets weird That gets weird guys Hey Chelsea we love you Thank you so much We have

Man Chris This is a good podcast Vanessa and Chelsea and you All together in one podcast And we got cake I love it Holy cow Chelsea thanks again

Love you girl I love you too Happy birthday I'll talk to you soon Talk to you soon maybe Bye All right Bye

Bye Bye. Crystal, you are, again, just super healthy. I was going to say health nut, but that has this weird kind of taste where you're obsessed with being healthy. You're just a very healthy person. You work out well, you eat well, you keep your body in shape, which is something that I admire and appreciate about you, and I think a lot of people do as well.

One of the products that supports this podcast is really focused on allowing people to get the essential vitamins they need. and I would love for you to tell our listeners how important vitamins are and then how important ritual is or how easy ritual is to helping you get those daily vitamins. Okay, so thank you for the nice compliment, Ben. I definitely live a health and fitness lifestyle, and I definitely recommend for anyone looking just to kind of get started. It's talking about really focusing on a strong multivitamin, this company called Ritual.

I've been trying out, and I'm a really big fan of it. these are it's the only omega-3 that actually it tastes really good like a natural mint essential oil so ritual is um they're vegan they're sugar-free non-gml gluten-free allergy-free which are really important especially when you're putting just good food in your body reading the label i highly recommend but also you know they're made in the USA with no synthetic fillers or colorance and dude ben did you know that there's this delayed release capsule that bypasses the stomach to help prevent nausea. Yeah, that was what we talked about last week is this crazy thing. So I take all these vitamins or I have in my life and they always make my, they really do. And I think they make my stomach hurt. Right.

And you get like sick from vitamins. Exactly. Yes, I do. I definitely do on an empty stomach. So these don't make you sick and the ritual vitamins. So I know you love subscription boxes, all of our listeners do because you don't have to think about it. So this is also subscription based. and there's no gap in the nutrient levels

and it's just for 30 bucks a month it's delivered to your door and you know buying the omega 3 for yourself it's kind of like the cost of a whole ritual bottle so you're getting a lot of bang for your buck which is good in the holiday season I think so so you fill the gaps in your diet

with the best source ingredients 95% of women do not get the vitamins and minerals they need on a daily basis ritual created a smarter vitamin with the nine essential ingredients women lack the most take crystal for example but go visit her Instagram page. I mean, this girl, she knows what she's doing

when it comes to fitness. Go to ritual.com slash famous. Choose cleaning ingredients back by science. Sign up now at ritual.com slash famous. Famous. You've all probably heard Ashley Ikaeddie talk about her obsession with thread up by now. She's not here to defend herself,

but she is obsessed. And if you haven't checked them out yet, what are you waiting for? Ashley always looks stylish. I feel like everybody in this Bachelor world looks stylish. And so ThreadUp is a huge help to that. They have a huge selection from over 35,000 brands like Madewell, Banana Republic, B.C., BG, Steve Madden, Kate Spay, Lulam, and Coach, and more. Plus, if you go to threadup.com slash almost famous today, you'll get an extra 30% off your first order.

Threadup is the perfect place when you're looking to update your wardrobe on a budget. Dean got me a sweater on Threadup, and I'm not going to lie, wear it all the time. I've seen some really great things on Threadup. I saw, yeah, Becca Martinez gets a lot of cute stuff from there. Yeah. I just, I love when you can get. You can also take some risks with thread up because you're not investing so much money. So you're like, am I going to actually wear this?

This is a little bit fashion forward for me. And then you can try it. And you don't feel so guilty because you got such a great deal on. Yeah. No, here's the thing. Dean loves you. I love you, Amy. I cannot believe that he's one-uping me.

You never give me any gift. Have you ever given me a gift? Oh my gosh. Just my heart. This is the season noted. Plus, if you sign up, you'll get an extra 30% off your first order at threadup.com slash almost famous. Make sure there's no A in Threatup.com slash almost famous.

Okay, it's t-H-R-E-D-U-P.com. That's Threatup.com slash almost famous for an extra 30% off today. There's some crazy stuff going on in Bachelor Nation. Again, we have a new week with new updates. one thing I want to mention is I've been in a little bit of the news this week. I had a little tiff with Ashley Spivey. We have now talked on the phone three different times about this Tiff. I went over Twitter.

Can you give us the background? What happened? Yeah, I'll give you some background here. But I also want to say that Ashley is going to be coming on the podcast next week to talk about it. I think it's going to be incredible for us to hash this out right here on our podcast. Can you find who she is? Because I know, but I think a lot of people listening don't. Yeah. So Ashley was on The Bachelor a couple years ago. She has now kind of left the Bachelor world. She lives in New York City. She's friends with a lot of the Bachelor contestants.

And she's really made her life mission to stand up in support of women. And hey, I admire her for that. A little of the backstory here. And Ashley and I will talk about this next week in the podcast. So make sure you check it out. I'm really excited for this conversation. I think it's going to go someplace deeper than most conversations go just in life in general. But what happened was I tweeted a tweet just saying that I think light always outshines darkness, no matter what you believe or where you're from, that the light of the world will always outshine the evil of the world and that we can use the good things in life to outshine the evil. Well, she, because she's sensitive right now and she's angry and I get why, she feels like there's a lot of injustices at play, especially towards women. and that tweets like that are coming from a place of not understanding where women, what women are dealing with. And so I said, that was not my intention.

Right. It was not my hope. But I get why she's angry. And, you know, it probably was just bad timing and she took it out on me. And she tweeted. Give me your quote again. I want to hear it again. The light outshines darkness.

The light will always prevail. Yeah. It was a kind of a make on Martin Luther King. And he has a really famous quote out there that just talks about being the light. of the world. So my tweet, I was sitting, I remember, I mean, this is, this is what happened. So I'm sitting in my bed. And I'm like, you know what the world is, just feels a little, there's a lot of dissension. It's very decisive right now. There's just separation amongst men and women and races. And I just, I feel like there's this urge inside of me say that we're going to do this thing. Like,

we're going to get there. We just have to continue to fight for the right things. Sure. Sure. And And that was my intention. And again, I cannot wait to bring her on because we are, we have fixed things. Like this is, we've had three very productive conversations and we've came to a place of understanding. What was her response? So my, my exact quote was, we all believe a bunch of different things. And we all have our incredibly valid reasons for that. But, but no matter what you believe, can we all agree that light conquers darkness? Darkness is hate, bigotry, and justice, inequality, et cetera, will never conquer the light. And her response was, uh, pretty much was saying like hey this is coming from a place of privilege and a place that you just don't

understand that there is a lot of like really heavy things going on right now and at first I took it really offensively so we went back and forth on Twitter and people chimed in and it became this kind of a big deal and it hurt because all of a sudden I felt like I was defending myself against the one thing that I care so much about which is being the light I really do but hey you know what this brings up Chris and everybody out there listening it brings up that we just need to start talking more Because as soon as Ashley and I got on the phone call and started talking, there was a lot of mutual respect. We realized we're on the same team. We both want to fight for equality.

We both want to fight for people to vote and to stand up for what they care about. We both want to fight for people to feel known, to be known, to feel like they can to fight in life with a purpose. And we only got there by talking. And so I think Ashley is going to come on the podcast next week and we're going to talk. I think that's good. I think, though, Ben, the thing, and I'm going to. to be opinionated is you're allowed to say what you're feeling. And Ashley's allowed to say what she's feeling. But my hesitation with her is that she had to criticize or take you down to get

her message out, which seems to be counterintuitive to what her message is. And I think that's exactly what she would say now. And I think she realizes that this, I mean, it was funny, we just got off the phone before the podcast because we're trying to talk as much as possible to kind of get an understanding and to feel like, okay, how as a male can I support women and what can I communicate and share that that will be effective? And one of the things, she didn't even realize, you know, about the podcast that we've done with IHeartRadio in support of women. She's like, that's crazy. That's exactly what I think you should be doing. I'm like, exactly. Like, I'm the wrong person to be picking on right now. That's right. It's like I said,

super counterproductive to what her mission is. My hesitation on her, and I totally will say this her face and everybody can have their opinions. She was the one who sort of did the like detective work to out Garrett. I want to know what her that was her motivation is. Yeah, I'm pretty sure. Am I messing that up then? No, you're not. She she was her motivation I think is that kind. Well, it's not. But in the defense of Ashley, and I think next week we should just all talk. I think it's going to be awesome. I think it's going to be incredible. I think she has been hurt um in ways that i don't understand like there's things so here's one thing i came to a conclusion with today this isn't easy for me to admit but it's something that ashley and i will talk about and we can talk

about now if we want is as a white male from a really good home which i never want to take i mean that is where i was born my parents have been great to me i'm so thankful for that there are things that have happened in a lot of people's lives women people of other races people of the same race as me from the even the same town as me and the same neighborhood as me, there are stories to be told that I will never be able to understand and process. And as a result, we just need to start listening and I need to start listening and I need to start becoming more aware. And so I think what Ashley is saying, and I don't think this was the best way for her to go about it, but look what we're doing. Now we're talking on a podcast about this issue that hundreds of thousands of people listen to

and hundreds of thousands of people will listen to us talk and hash out. And I will admit to her that, hey, I don't get it, please explain to me where you're coming from, where this hurt is, where this anger is, and how can we then come together in unison and help share more light? Because I will never, I will tell anybody this. And this is one thing I've told her, I will never, ever back down to the idea or the philosophy that light will outshine darkness. That's not something I will, I will never, never submit to say that's not the case. Your tweet was fine.

And it's what you were feeling. I am interested to talk to her because there are people that get on their soapbox and they forget to listen. They're so certain of their message and their passion, which I respect, but they forget to listen. And I think I just find with her that I think she's getting something out of taking some people down, which I'm not 100% sure is the best way to go. But I will definitely be tuning in to listen to that podcast. What a podcast. It's going to be awesome.

I'm excited. Ashley's been great. She has been tremendous to me here the last few days. It has been more of a therapeutic experience than I ever could have imagined. I'm learning a ton from her and I think vice versa. One person we have a lot to learn from, something that's been captivating the country, something I'm still so confused about, is Jenna Cooper. Jenna Cooper and Jordan are still hashing it out.

We had Jordan the podcast last week. We understand that the quality maybe wasn't as good as what we, desire for this podcast, but unfortunately, Jordan was, I don't know, up in the mountain skiing when we booked him for the podcast. So blame him. It was it cutting out really bad. Yeah, it sounded like poop. It was absolutely awful. So we didn't get his, we didn't get a clear side of this sort. But I have read so many articles, Ben, I am so confused by what is happening. I'm even more confused. And there's like lawyers and what is happening. And they have opposite sides. And I'm like, what is really happening?

Yeah. So we don't get it. I don't think anybody does. I would love Crystal for you to weigh in on this because you were with them in Paradise. But a little backstory, just in case you missed last week's episode or you didn't watch Paradise is Jenna and Jordan dated in paradise. They come off Paradise, engaged and in love. Long story short, to just speed up the process. There were some pictures of tweets that came out where Jenna was texting another guy, a bunch of very, like, romantic things. Jordan and Jenna then ended up breaking up. Once these pictures were released, Jenna puts out a statement. And then just recently, she posts on her Instagram from Hatch Little and Bunn LOP, which I'm assuming is the attorneys, a forensic report digging into where these pictures of the text came from, who sent them. and there is an investigation on its way. I mean, it's under investigation right now. And all I can think about is this is a really sad situation for a couple of reasons. But let's start at the beginning. Just given the fact that maybe Jenna did cheat on Jordan, this has now blown up to be something that is costing, I can't imagine, tens of thousands of dollars that is just being dragged out.

Like, what is the point to be proven? And so Crystal, I think Amy, I think Mark and Easton, everybody in studio, I just want to let you talk here and get your side. You probably have a little more insight into this than anybody else. Yeah, I mean, I was definitely in paradise with Jenna and Jordan. And I watched that whole relationship really form. And, you know, I have to say that Jordan was so smitten with Jenna. I mean, he really fell hard for her. And you could kind of see, you know, Jenna had this connection with Benoit and then also.

or with Jordan at the same time and really towards the end I remember seeing her after the proposal and she just told me she goes I go are you okay I grabbed her and pulled her she was shaking and very white and she said he wasn't supposed to propose he told me he wasn't going to propose and I was like what and you know and we were both I mean we were both just still shaking from the whole rush of the proposal and and I know I read a lot of things that had kind of come out on Reddit saying that their relationship that Jenna wasn't really invested in it and so when the whole scandal kind of came out

I don't want to say I wasn't surprised but something smelled a little fishy yeah I mean there had been a lot of rumors that had been going out that so I wasn't surprised when that story kind of came out but honestly I feel for them because I thought that their relationship I mean it was pretty volatile there were extreme highs and extreme lows

and you just saw a lot of movement in paradise. And I think that ultimately, I think this is just getting really blown out of proportion. And weird. And it's just needs to stop. Does anybody think I actually really care? I don't totally care about, I don't care if she's got another dude.

I'll disagree with you. I'll disagree with you now. Okay. I think this drawing out the process has now forced me to care. Hmm, interesting. Yeah, so, like, I didn't care before. I mean, I still cared. Like, breakups are terrible, and I was into the Jenna Jordan relationship, and I thought it was cool for both of them that Jordan had found somebody to compliment him,

and, you know, he had become, you know, gone from villain to sweetheart as well. I thought that storyline was something I wanted to cheer for. So it was like when I read the news that they were breaking up, I was like, interesting, sad. I mean, just like I would, this is sad, and this doesn't seem like it's healthy. Now, I mean, I'm literally reading reports. on Instagram that she posted this I mean this is the investigation like I'm reading legal documents right that's why I'm completely befuddled by this like what is happening I'm trying to pull up her Instagram has anyone gotten all the way through that legal document no I'm like so what's the

clip note version of it give it to me it with like five emojis like thumbs up thumbs down who's at fault because I started going through it and it's just like I mean just the legal job I need someone we should hire we should call someone in yeah we need a lawyer we need a lawyer just to kind of to give us a very, a quick, cliff note version of it. Right, I'm like it's jargon. What is it saying, Ben? What is it mean? So here is the notice.

Let me read you the last page of this. The next step in an investigative process would be to the review the source device on which the alleged messages were received. If the source device that received the messages has not been forensically analyzed, there is no way the messages posted online could be kept. categorized and vetted and verified. So what that's saying, it sounds like is they need to look at this phone that the guy that she was texting that then shared the messages, they need to see his phone.

He's not giving it up. So it's saying it's like there's no way to continue this process unless they get his phone or they get a warrant for his phone. And then it ends the findings, conclusions, recommendations, and opinions in this report are based on the information known by and disclosed to Protis 3. and it's an investigator the date of this report. I don't get it.

Are you guys done? Yeah. But then are you reading this part? Good morning, princess. Like there's like transcripts of text. And then it says, lip emoji was sent from Ms. Cooper's phone to Mr. Kimball's phone.

So why is it going from her phone to his phone that says good morning princess? And then me either, my heart's already melting, was sent from Mr. Kimball to Ms. Cooper. That's very poetic texting, by the way. Like, I've never received any sort of text in my life that said, my heart is melting.

Good morning, princess. Nothing. I get like, hey, stop texting me. Where do you find your men? Yeah. Not at the castle. Yeah, or paradise. This is, so anyways, here's my opinion.

And I'm entitled to it. I think Crystal said it best. this just needs a stop. Like, why am I involved in this process? Like, why am I being dragged in? Obviously, we have a podcast. We're going to talk about it. But even if I wasn't on the podcast, and I followed Jenna Cooper fit on Instagram,

I'm going to see some legal documents. Why is this my business? Why has it become my business? What is the intention? What is the end game? Where is this going? And let's just make it stop. Like, you broke up.

It's ugly. Whatever happened isn't good for either side. I don't care who's at fault anymore. the text messages are weird no matter what so so here's here's the two scenarios tell me if I'm wrong crystal the one scenario is um these text messages are real uh they were sent they were it was sharing a new relationship that's weird like these text messages are pretty weird to be engaged in sending the text messages wake up in the morning it says my heart is melting for you with lip emojis the second alternative is that these texts are fake so somebody I think what

this is saying is made these texts and pasted them and made it look like it was from Jenna's phone that's weird too so no matter what I'm reading it right now I'm reading it right now what it looks like I can live I've actually gotten this far into the document um is that it looks like these are exchanges between Jenna and Jordan and the whole um photos that came out were saying that these were photos text messages from Jenna to another man and so what this document is saying is the photo the text messages are between jena and jordan so it was i think what ultimately and honestly i wanted i wanted to take a second from jena because um i don't believe in cheating it's never okay but i do want to say from jennas perspective i know like we go on the bachelor in paradise

and i know jena was really excited as you know i think we all were you have a brand to give a platform to kind of share your message and jena is a business woman and you know does a lot within her community and I think I know coming out of paradise I'm sure very much looking forward to the opportunities that come with you know being on the show and then having that relationship celebrated and at the eve of literally like the 11th hour

of the finale I mean the day of the finale it leaks this whole story leaks which is tanks Jenna's reputation right and really like when you go through that whole journey and process and to have really all the opportunities and reputation kind of taken from her and I know she's very close to her

family and has a lot of younger, like several younger sisters that she really is very conscious of how she behaves to set that example for them. So I know that I think Jenna is really just trying to clean her reputation. So does she have two boyfriends or not? Like this is, I don't need all these documents and any of this. Here's what I want to know. You're engaged to Jordan. Totally fine. Do you have like a boyfriend that was kind of the timing's a little dicey? Like what's the real deal? And then otherwise I don't care. You know, it's like I could understand if, you know, she went to Paradise and maybe was seeing someone and was like, I'm not going to date anyone and then like, you know, fell in love and met someone and got engaged. I mean, I was 100% single,

but, um, and coming out of it and you're like, I had, clear it up. Just to clear it. Just so I am not projecting. This was 100%. This was not me, but, you know, like, I know last season of Paradise, there were multiple women who had boyfriends who were going on the show. Like, and she meets someone and it takes her by surprise and comes back and it's like, oh, I got a boyfriend. Like, I was dating someone before the show. And I wouldn't care. That would be like, Okay, so figure it out. Are you going to be with that guy or this guy? Right.

I don't care. You know, we all stumble through life. We all make mistakes, right? It's a matter of learning and growing, like Ben was saying earlier with, you know, Ashley S. But it's, um, if you made a mistake and messed up, it's just own up to it. And I think everyone just wants just the truth. And I think when you come and I can say that from having been, have been villainized on

the show. And it's just a matter of rather than being defense, defense, defense, but taking a second, breathing, owning it, stating what you need to stay. owning the truth, and then moving forward, I think everyone, everyone can move forward. Do you think, Ben, I think we all want to move forward. Yeah, I mean, it's like so weird. Do you think maybe she's like a little bit?

Because I do think the timing's interesting that the day after, these Instagrams were posted the day after Jordan was on dancing with the stars, which is like a humongous TV show, dancing, not able to rip his shirt off. With a Jenna, right. And Joe. So Ben, do you think that that has anything to do with like, Why? The timing. Hmm. Yeah. So just as everybody's clear, last night on, or this week on Dance with the Stars,

Joe brought in Jordan to be his partner on the show. That's a crazy partnership in general. They were terrible. Absolutely terrible. I'm not Joe, but then they were absolutely awful. Like, they struggled bad. I don't think it's a secret at this point. But, you know, I wonder if there's a little resentment. You have to imagine there's some jealousy there. This seems like a battle. At this point, we should just move on. I don't think anybody here, this is now kind of one of those scenarios that whatever injustice was being done can be something that both parties could forgive. We can forgive both parties.

I think we'd like to see that. And just let's just close it. And I think Jenna's reputation would actually be better here. And here's the truth. Like, none of us, this, like the bachelor world is great. Nobody cares about us that much. And if you just stop talking for like 24 hours, there's going to be some other impassal that does something crazy from this show that will take over the headlines. I mean, how do we keep a whole show going on for every week of the year?

Because every week, there's new Bachelor updates of somebody else doing something absolutely asinine and ridiculous that we get to talk about and share until the show's on again. And we get a whole new group of goofballs. They're going to mess up, try really hard, break up, hook up, whatever they're going to do. and we're going to talk about it. So just stop talking for a while and all this will go away. Jenna, the almost famous podcast supports you. Jordan, the almost famous podcast supports you.

But next time when you book and come on our podcast, find a quiet place. You're almost a source. Hey, Crystal, you've been awesome. You've been really, really great. We've got to go or our listeners are going to absolutely destroy us because it's been a long podcast.

We're so happy for you. Happy birthday. Thank you. Tell Chris, he did a great job. I'm already getting emails from people about next week, Ben. They're like, I'd like to tune in for that,

please, with Ashley Spivey. Like, that is some juicy juice. It's going to be great. You need to be strong, Ben, and not just be like, what was your perfect Ben? I don't need that. I need Ben that's like,

you got to spend a warrior. Yeah. This is a podcast. Like I said, Ashley and I've been talking. We are in good terms, but they, but we're going to sit.

I think we should. saved a lot to dig into and so we need a good amount of time i will not back down there's a lot i don't understand but there's also a lot i do understand and i know that and i deal with this i mean a lot of this is my job um on a daily basis and so it's going to be i think a really helpful healthy conversation to have uh in a public setting on a platform like the almost famous podcast so thank you for giving us opportunity i just ask anybody out there listening uh email your questions on that you've kind of read from Twitter if you're a fan of that to Ben and Ashley at iHeartMedia.com also I'm going to talk to Ashley I can Eddie I think

Ashley Spive and I just need about 15 minutes of uninterrupted time to dig deep and if we can have that and if you guys are cool with that we're going to take it so and then I'm going to take the next 10 and lay into her no I'm just kidding I don't care um hey but no seriously crystal we wish you the best. Your relationship has been something we'll watch and admire. Keep smiling. Keep glowing. I can tell on your face right now that something really good is happening in your life. And I have a feeling it's a goose. The golden goose. Hey, before we go on to say my thank you is to beachbody on the man. Get a special free trial membership, including their 14 day results plan where you can lose up to nine pounds in the first two weeks. That's insane. When you text almost

famous to 30, 30, 30, 30. Legacy Box. Go to legacybox.com slash almost famous and save 40% off today. Get started preserving your past. Sleep number. You only find sleep number at one of their 550 sleep number stores nationwide. Visit sleep number.com backslash podcast to find the one nearest to you. Fabfit fun. Check out Fabfitfund.com and use a code almost famous to save $10 off your first box, making it only $39.99 ritual. Choose vitamins with clean ingredients and sign up now at ritual.com slash almost famous threadup sign up now you'll get an extra 30% off your first order at thread up.com slash almost famous and finally kiss fm's jingle ball presented by who capital one friday november 30th at the forum cardi b calvin harris camillo cabella

Khalid and Normani Duolipa G.E.Z. Alessiacara, Basi, Bibi Rexa and Sean Mindus. That's insane. So here's my problem. This is how out of touch I am. I think I got half of those names right.

Do you know half those people? Yeah, this is a huge lineup. I know it is. After this show, I'm going to definitely I heart radio them. I need to start getting cooler and I know listen to Iheart Radio will help me. Tickets on sale now.

iHeartRadio.com keyword jingle ball that's really good um hey i know this podcast had a bunch of sponsors and that's great and i want to remind everybody out there uh that we only have this many sponsors because this podcast is growing it's active i thought this was an amazing podcast and the only way we can do that is because of the brands that help put this on so please never question our intentions there to put on the best possible podcast for all of you you. And if you're listening and you have questions, concerns, thoughts, feedback. If you just absolutely love Crystal, Vanessa or Chelsea, please write us at Ben and Ashley at our heartmedia.com. We love you. Crystal, we thank you. With that, I've been Ben. And when I say

that, you say, I've been Crystal. And I've been Crystal. Later, everybody. Bye. Follow the Ben and Ashley I, almost famous podcast on IHartRadio or subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts.