The Ben and Ashley I Almost Famous Podcast - Sisterly Love

Episode Date: August 1, 2023

It’s Hometowns week for Charity Lawson’s season of The Bachelorette! Ashley has a deep analysis to share about “Uncle Joe” that will blow your mind. What did Xavier REALLY mean when he said his sister loves Charity more than he does?? We try to get to the bottom of his true feelings. And it’s time to place our bets on who’s winning Charity’s heart when the final rose is handed out!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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

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This is the Ben and Ashley I, Almost Famous Podcasts with IHartRadio. Another week of The Bachelorette. This is the almost famous podcast with my co-host, who is incredible, who is very excited right now, very pumped up about this week's episode. We have a lot to talk about, a lot to break down. it's hometowns week. Hello, Ashley. Hello, Ben. Yes, I am super stoked about talking about this episode. It was such a good episode. There's so many feelings, so much warmth. I loved all the families. And, you know, I was really so engaged. This is so funny. When Charity ends up meeting Jesse at the end to just

kind of deliberate about the week, I was expecting to see Chris Harrison. No way. I haven't been like that invested in that long that I expected Harrison to just be there you're just like this feels like a Harrison week

yes oh well yeah it wasn't it was Jesse Palmer we still love Jesse we still love Jesse okay so loved this episode so much because so many reasons

one we got to know so many great people and two you just didn't know what the heck was going to happen at the end and it wasn't

because multiple things had gone wrong during the week. It was because so many things went great. There was only one wrong thing. And it happened with somebody, Joey, who I thought was too strong leading up to this week to have just one fault bring him down. We got a lot to break down. We're going to go in order here of hometowns.

Ashley is right. I think, Ashley, would you tell me that I'm right if I made this statement that in seasons past, This has been the most, I don't want to say likable. That's not the word I want to use. The most peaceful, the most, the easiest, the least bizarre hometowns week in recent memory. Yeah, because usually you get the whole protective parents or siblings thing, overly protective, you know, like too much attitude.

And then you get somebody who got riled up and made the lead feel uncomfortable. We didn't have that either. We just had an Uncle Joe. We'll get to Uncle Joe, who I wonder if Joey is named after. Makes sense. In a few. Let's start with Aaron. Why we call him, why we still call him an Aaron B?

But it just feels like Aaron B rolls off the tongue. Aaron B is hometown. It's Aaron's hometown in Houston, Texas. It's hometown week. We're going to go in order today with Aaron, Joey, Xavier, Doughton. Ashley, coming into this week, Aaron B's. the one that we felt like was most likely to go home.

Now, I will say, and you kind of mention it at the beginning of this podcast, this was the hometown. I was most intrigued by going into this episode because we thought he was going home. I expected something to be clearly go wrong here where we'd be like,

of course, now he's going home. It's not a shocker. But as you mentioned the beginning of episode, after watching the first couple dates, you and I both felt like we didn't know who was going to be eliminated. because this hometown went really well. Kick it off with Aaron B's hometown.

All right. So Aaron kind of goes straight into the family session. They do the little date thing later. We meet his two parents who are standouts. Eddie and Ethel. Amazing. Aaron says, yes. Ethel is the name of my dog.

So it's a special name for us. We had a Lucy and then we had an Ethel. Okay. So Aaron kind of warns charity that his mom can be tough on girls. She doesn't like a lot of girls that he's brought home. But then we meet Ethel and she is warm and she loves charity. Not without her like having a great conversation with her. She actually ends the family part by saying that I more than like charity.

So mom has been won over. The dad, Eddie, incredible because this man, one, they share. They kind of like share for the first time that, he's proud of Aaron and Aaron is like I've been waiting so long to hear my dad say he's proud but that might be a little bit of a weird wording because I feel like this family is so connected and they've always been proud but it's like this moment where he hears the words from his dad for the first time and they just express how much to love each other and oh the dad is just like really sold on charity too because he's just like I don't I told them my boys and don't bring home girlfriends I don't want to meet your girlfriends I want to meet girls that you say. like, hey, I really see something long-term with her. And he says that he sees it in Aaron's eyes and just the chemistry that they have together when they walk in the room. And it's breaking my heart.

This father-son relationship is so sweet. And so is Aaron's relationship with his siblings, specifically his younger brother. They're all just so stoked for Aaron because they all, you can tell, want to welcome charity into the family. and charity has she expressed the expresses throughout this date that you know

she wasn't sure about Aaron because she felt like they had fallen behind she even admits to the mom that if she had to accept a proposal from him today

would she do it and she said no which is honest but then at the end of the night they go to this cute field and it's like basically a mock high school

date he plays the song that Lauren Elena played on their first date. They have matching letterman jackets. It's just the cutest thing ever. And he says that he's falling in love with her. And her reaction is wonderful.

She starts crying. And I'm thinking in my head, I'm like, because it's the first date, I'm like, oh, are you crying because, like, you're sad that you can't, that you don't reciprocate these feelings? The cynic in me was like, ah, she's crying because she feels bad. But then the episode goes on and you kind of realize, like, she can't. keep saying, I can imagine a life with him. Like, I feel like I could be falling in love with him. So we're totally thrown off of what happens at the end of the episode, sort of kind of.

Okay, but let's continue to talk more. Is there anything that you want to mention? Well, I think it's unique. Well, I think one thing I want to mention is, uh, it's always exciting. Eddie and Ethel. They had 32 years of marriage, I think was how long they were married for, which is just an accomplishment, uh, in itself. And so we want to say congratulations to that. But then also, you know, it's interesting to watch this episode for me, Ashley, now knowing how it ends, right, with Aaron B going home and seeing him, you know, communicate the way he did to her, saying the words he said, this very cute moment that they had. And then how good charity felt. And so I say this to say in the back of her mind, I think going into this hometown, she always expected Aaron to be the one going home. Like, I think she knew this week, like she had communicated that she couldn't say yes to the mom. She knew that they had fallen behind. I think these other three relationships had such, like, dynamic conversations in the previous weeks that she thought, and if you would ask her, who's going to be going home within this week?

She would have said, Aaron is, right? So it's interesting to me that she felt good after this date. Not that she wants to feel bad, but knowing what we know about charity so far through the season, I expected her to be. almost in turmoil going leaving this date because she was like I it's it's going to be so hard like these next steps I cannot imagine like I think she's stressed I think she would be stressed at the end of this date thinking like oh crap this was the guy that I was supposed to kind of eliminate at the end of this yes but she's not she's feeling good I don't think so I think she's truly happy and I wonder what the actual order of the dates was but based on her reaction

I don't know, I wonder, I wish she was here right now so I could ask her, Charity, did you truly look at this like each day was with a different man, different situation? Did you separate it so well that you weren't thinking about the others or were you plotting them against each other? Yep, I agree. Well, next hometown date is Joey's. It's Joey's hometown date, which is in Collegeville, Pennsylvania, which I've never heard of in my life. No, I was like, stay college? No, yeah, Collegeville. Never. ever heard of it, but Charity is very excited to meet Joey's family. I think there's reasons for that. I think she's very into Joey, and so meeting Joey's family is very exciting for her. We've seen so far through the season that Joey and Charity have felt like they've always been in a good place. They've always been able to connect. They obviously connected physically and the longest kiss ever. They've connected through conversation and through good moments and great moments. And so this feels like a strong relationship going in. I don't think you or I, or most people that listen to this podcast, expected this hometown date to go poorly. But out of all

the hometowns, it did feel like this one was the toughest. Not bad. I'm not going to put it up there with some of the really bizarre, really tough hometown dates of past, but it does raise some questions, maybe more questions than answers. So, Ashley, take it away. Charity even says at the end of the hometown, she goes, I was hoping it was going to be great. It wasn't bad. It was good. It wasn't great though. Like she's not saying it was great. No, she's not saying it's great. So I think that the only lead in that we had that this might be like the more dramatic hometown was because we saw on the scenes in the next episode last week that this man who we thought may have been Joey's dad, but it wasn't. It was his uncle. Asked Charity if she thinks that he's seen, she

seeing the real Joey. I just want to pause you there, though, because we thought, or at least I said, I think on last week's podcast, that I thought this little clip was being overblown. Like, it was taken out of context. It was just a good teaser. It wasn't necessarily overblum. It was very much what we saw. Hi, my name is Enya Yumanzoor.

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

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And in the middle of the lesson in which she's being like super flirting, and she keeps saying how comfortably she is with Joey. Like physically, she just feels like she's very loose. She's very flirty. And I'm kind of realizing for the, I'm like, obviously like everybody's been really into Joey the entire time, fandom and charity. but now that I put him directly next to a date with Aaron B I'm like okay I understand she's she's definitely like more crushing on Joey

so they they're in there they're in the tennis wasn't and then Joey's uncle Uncle Joe comes in and he's such like a bro dude he's like not like giving like a ton of warm energy her way I don't remember if there's anything like from he basically just says like this is my uncle I am the closest in my family to him he is somebody that like has guided him in like so many ways

it's who he started doing tennis with and that obviously turned into his occupation and then they go back and forth they hit some balls and then Joe, Uncle Joe says that he and Joey have these similarities and it's almost like

he's referring to the fact that they have similarities that will be of great impact in relationships. Maybe I'm reaching, but that's just how I'm vibing. It's what you're taken from it. It's what you assumed he was trying to say.

This is just me, yeah. So then Uncle Joe leaves. He kind of makes a reference to the fact that he didn't feel a ton of chemistry between the two of them on the court. Now, okay, to close this, up then. He makes this comment, Ashley. One, do you agree? Two, what does chemistry even look

like on the court? And three, do you think, do you think that Uncle Joe walked into this date because of the situation, because of the fact that it was the Bachelorette? Because of probably his confusion on why Joe is even on this show, do you think he just had already said there's no way there's going to be chemistry between this two? I think that the dude is kind of like bitter against the idea of the show. Sure. That's what I thought. I think that he probably thinks that he and his nephew are too cool for it.

Again, I might be reaching and I'm just, I'm vibed. Okay? This is just like, I'm going with the flow on how my feelings may be. And then I, as far as like their chemistry, I always thought it was great. It was great.

But then I started a second guess the chemistry. I'm like, wait a second. Do I have to watch body language more between the two of them? Is Joey off? Is he not as into her and not as reciprocative to touch? And I thought that like, they seem pretty good. Once I continue to watch the rest of their interaction, I was like, no, I think that they do have chemistry. So you disagreed with Uncle Joe. You think they have chemistry. You've always thought they've had chemistry. You think Uncle Joe is wrong, which takes us then to later on in the afternoon where Uncle Joe brings up the clip that we obviously

watched in the teaser, when he kind of says that his, uh, His nephew is a chameleon of sorts. He kind of adjust to wherever and whoever he needs to be at that time. My first question to you, before we get into just what he meant by it, is do you think it is a bad thing? Listeners, do you think it is a bad thing when somebody kind of adjusts who they are, what they say, how they behave, based on the group that they're surrounded by? I have a good friend who I find that does this. and I don't find it to be a bad thing. It's just she's a little bit different with different people,

which I think most people tend to sort of be. You have like different vibes and personality that come out, right? Do you find that? I 100%. I mean, I think when I hear this, I think when I hear Uncle Joe say this, my thought goes to he, like Joey is doing this to an extreme, right? Like he's one person in one moment, another person in another moment, which I don't think is right.

But I think as long as you keep your core like foundational principles, your ethics, your values, your care for people, then like, yes, I'm not going to be, I'm going to be different around my closest friends from middle school than I am going to be in a group of strangers at a business meeting. I'm going to be different on a first date than I'm going to be on a fifth date. There's just a difference. Yeah. You can look at what he's saying. dramatically. I think Uncle Joe is trying to be dramatic. Sure.

But what I think this is, it's like, yeah, you've never seen your nephew with cameras for a national network show. You've probably never seen your nephew, like, on a date before. Of course he's going to come across different.

Well, and, I mean, I look back on my time on The Bachelorette, especially. And I was a, I was different on The Bachelorette than I would have been, in any other dating scenario. Because I, one, was nervous. Two, knew that everything I said and did would be potentially aired on national television.

So I didn't make the snide jokes that maybe didn't land. But if it didn't land amongst a bunch of friends, they just say that was a stupid joke and we move on. If it goes on national television, there is judgment. It does live with me for a while. So I would say 100%,

I was quieter on The Bachelorette. I was more reserved. I was shy. I was nervous. I didn't speak up maybe as much as I would, for example, doing a podcast. I was a different person. So I think it has to happen with everybody. I think it's a unique person that is the same way on this show than they are in real

life. Like I think Braden is probably very similar in real life as he was on this show. He didn't seem to be reserved at all. But it may even be not to defend Braden even more, but it may be even more of like an opposite effect where it's like if you are completely like yourself, it comes across bigger on TV than it wouldn't person. Sure, sure. But I just think like some personalities do have to adjust more or less. And it's especially true with personalities that live in their own head that are very, they're one always kind of self-aware in a good and bad way. They are. They are.

always thinking, like, even in normal life about what they're saying and how it's like going to affect people positively or negatively. If you do that in real life, you're 100% going to do it, you know, when cameras are around. Yeah. Another thing that is like telling that maybe there's more to this story is that in the scenes of the next episode, it shows Joey and Charity at dinner together. And he says, I'm not an easy person to be in a relationship with. So now do you think there's more of the story? I don't know if the two things are correlated directly. I do think he's going to for the first time

kind of express some of the things that maybe he has his red flags. However, I also would argue that if somebody's willing to tell you what their red flags are, most of the time can work through that. Like if he comes to her and says, I'm not an easy person to be in relationship, with because I have a hard time communicating my feelings or I I'm selfish you know I've lived alone in Hawaii for so many years I'm selfish I think that's probably what it's going to be along the lines of he kind of likes his independence yes he likes his independence and I think that's what we're

going with now I do want to just kind of close up the thought with uncle Joe though okay um what do you think uncle Joe was trying to do here like do you think he was trying to uh end this relationship it because this whole thing seems so weird to him? Do you think he was trying to add doubt to Charity's head? Or do you think he was trying to do something to deepen their bond

together? He definitely wasn't trying to deepen the bond. There's like something about this guy. And I don't want to say like I don't like him. I don't know anything about him. But like he gave dark energy. Okay. And I like don't even

want to elaborate on that because I don't know him. I can just say what I interpreted him to be from the little he said. Maybe the other way to say that was he, because he did this for me, he gave me energy that if it's not, that in life, if he doesn't approve, then it's not right. Meaning if he isn't on board with what's happening and there's like nuance to it, if it's not his way, then there's no way. Yeah. And I also think that like he's always been the person that Joey's gone to for advice and for like,

just as that like role model figure. And I feel like he almost doesn't want somebody else to be put up on a pedestal by Joey. Hmm. Well, that's, that's heavy. I know. And that's, I'm so ridiculous. This is a podcast, guys. I, I'm just throwing out things that I just, just lightly.

bived. But okay. So, all in all, though, this scene with Joey's uncle is not in the top 20 of scenes we've seen in the past on hometowns. It feels more dramatic because all these other hometowns functioned as such a smooth and sweet and like simple, peaceful place. This is the only amount of kind of contentiousness that we saw this week. And that's, why it feels so heightened. But I don't think this is like one that will ever go back. I don't think we'll remember this in a year. I don't think there was sabotage at at play here. I think everything can still play out exactly how charity needs it and wants it to be. It just felt like the one standout moment that we could say, hey, didn't seem to be great. Didn't it seem to be helpful. Maybe, maybe it was

helpful. Maybe it didn't seem to be one that added security and peace to their relationship, but it added some questions. Okay, to close out Joey's date here with the rest of the family, is there anything else to sit out to you, Ashley? The rest of the family seems lovely, especially his mom. She got really emotional, just really excited to see him finding somebody that he's willing to commit to because everybody was just like, oh my God, if you get Joey's heart, like, holy moly, like almost like he doesn't let himself fall easily. But I think the other huge thing to mention about Joey's date is that Charity was ready to say I'm falling in love with you. She said, I'm ready to say this to him.

I wonder she was ready to say that about Doughton because she didn't mention it up with Doughton's date. And then at the end, when they're sitting on the bench and talking, she's like hoping to say it, I think, but she's waiting for him to say it. And then he doesn't say anything about her. So then she just drops the whole thing. gets really awkward when he gets in the car because he's sensing that something is off. He's like, oh, man, am I going to go home? Did something go wrong? Am I the next on the chopping block?

He said that every time they say goodbye, it feels like they're leaving off on a good note ready to explore the relationship more. And then this is felt more of like an ending. Hi, my name is Enya Emanzor. And I'm Drew Phillips. And we run a podcast called. called Emergency Intercom. If you're a crime junkie and you love crimes, we're not the podcast for you.

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Hi, I'm Jenna Lopez. And in the new season of the Overcomfit podcast, I'm taking you on. on an exciting journey of self-reflection. Am I ready to enter this new part of my life? Like, am I ready to be in a relationship? Am I ready to have kids and to really just devote myself and my time? I wanted to be successful on my own,

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You know, look, maybe you used to watch a show every Monday night, and now you have a lot of time on your hands, and you're looking for something new, someone who's here for the right reasons, if you will. I've got you. Listen to the most dramatic podcast ever on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you listen to podcasts. so the family great the mom super emotional she seemed really sweet everybody was really excited that he found him found a girl to give his heart too it seems like he does not give his heart easily and the like the huge thing is just the whole exit because she was ready to say i'm falling in love with you she didn't say this about any other guy during this episode but she was preparing to possibly say to joey if it seemed like the right time you timing if things went great but because they as she said didn't go great and because i think he

didn't really say anything along those lines she doesn't say anything she puts in the car crying she keeps saying i'm crying because i'm going to miss you but he can pick up that that is not the whole story and he says that he feels like he might be on the chopping block because they always leave each other excited to further explore the relationship and and this just felt off so where do you think it goes i mean at this point in the episode, Ashley, you're watching this scene, you're seeing it unfold, where is your mind at? My mind is at she likes him too much

to have this be the last draw because it's really the first draw. It's the first time there's ever been anything at all, even emotional in any type of negative way. Again, as little as we think this was a negative, this has been the first time in their relationship. It was going to be shocking to me if Joey went home this week.

I wouldn't have expected it. didn't see it coming, never fully believed it could. So, Xavier's hometown, speaking of really sweet family dates, this is definitely one of them. If you remember last week, Xavier and Charity had a, what I would say, a very real difficult conversation about his experience mostly on the show and where he was at and where he thought he could go and what he was worried about. he was I don't think he snuck in

to hometowns in fact I would still say last week that Aaron B snuck into hometowns but there were questions about Xavier and charity and where their relationship would be going and could go and so with this hometown I had a lot of anticipation

as I tuned in so first they go knit which is cute they went to a knitting class he taught her how to knit so like all the guys are trying to do like their thing just like joey did tennis and got to touch her while teaching her form the same thing is happening here with saviour holding her hands as they're learning how to it's actually a pastime of this for her a first time uh very sweet and then they move on to the family portion

and we are going to meet his mom who we know he's become a scientist because she has ms the woman lights up the room with her smile when she sees Charity everybody this is another wonderful family this sister is freaking obsessed with Charity Xavier

says one thing that I was like a little bit of like a for me he says I think Chelsea might like charity more than may love charity more than I do I mean

I mean I think in the past like i love jessica's family they are they i love them a ton and she used to like she's made a joke about every single person in her family like did you marry me because of my dad did you marry because of my mom my brother's like it's just a it's a sweet joke and um i've made the same like remarks back to her at times based on my family and i i know where it comes from for me and i know where it comes from her it's a place of endearment because we are obviously so close with our families and we love and respect our families a lot, that when you find a partner who loves your family equally as much and enjoys them equally as much, it is like the sweetest

thing to see and to be a part of and to gift. And it's a big answer to prayer. So I think Xavier says it with like, how cool is this? Like how fun is this? Yeah. Yeah, especially since he said that his sister is really protective. And so Charity, she sits down with the mom. They have a great exchange. The thing that she really learns from the sit downs with the sister and the mom is that he is ready to be a husband and a dad, that like all those things that he was saying, you know, being scared about commitment is the mom says probably just because this is such

a fast process and not that he has any fear of commitment like in general. And then he sits down with his dad and they have this cute little convo about like when do you know that the person that you're with is like the person that you should be with like forever, like something that'll last over 30 years like you and mom. And the guy just basically says like you just know there's a feeling when you're with that person. And the dad says that he says that he feels like he sees that connection between the two of them. and Xavier's saying that he feels like he can get there with charity. Yeah, it's so funny. I was so mad at my dad for years, and I've said on the podcast before. But I asked him once, how do you know when you found the right person?

And his advice back to me was, when you know, you know. And I said it, I was like, that's such a terrible answer. And I joke with me. Yeah. Like, but then I hear all of these people in my life. And I watch it on television, like The Bachelorette. and I see people who love their sons and daughters. And that question is usually asked in hometowns in some way or another.

And it always can kind of be summed up with that same thing. When you know, you know. And I say it was true for my own life. I'd say it was true based on conversations you and I have had about your relationship. It's actually a very sweet thing because how do you describe love and how do you describe that you found somebody that you believe you can spend the rest of your life with? you just know. Yeah, I know.

They leave and charity says that she just feels like their relationship is elevating. And she's walking away so good, so good that she says that she can see him as her husband. And I'm like, holy crap, only who is leaving? Especially knowing that Daughton is coming and you're like, well, he's a shoe in. I just want to make sure that I state this again. from week one Xavier has been my top choice your favorite you love him

I love him too he's great I think he's great I have no spoilers I have no information on how this plays out but I have said since week one I believe that Xavier will be the one standing at the end and I still will say that to this day

I still don't know how you can say that with Don I'm sorry But like, I don't know what it is. Me watching Charity and Doughton is like me watching one of the greatest Bachelor love stories. It's sweet. I still think you're playing devil's advocate every week.

I'm not. And I'm fully aware that I could be wrong here. And I'm with you that this could be one of. And at this point is one of the Bachelor's greatest love stories from start to finish without any issues along the way. But I think Xavier could be that sneaky kind of. There's just this theory that I have in my head that there's no way the show would make it this obvious for this long.

But we're getting far enough along in the show that I'm starting to be convinced and know they just made it this obvious for this long. But I've always been surprised at some point. And with the relationship with Doughton, which we'll get into right now, I have yet to have a surprise where I'm like, no, this is just still really good.

so like there's just no drama you've never seen like a drama free coupling in the end no i don't know if i could remember one i mean let's go back let's just do this a little game for a second i can remember jack and katie great love story tons of drama tons uh kail and shan come to mind uh beautiful love story during the season they really especially being there that it felt right you know it felt like it was going to work tons i mean the most ever. Well, let's do another married couple. Jojo and Jordan they, uh, tons

of drama there. Tons of drama. Them always being like Jordan's here for the wrong reasons. A hundred percent. And home to, or, uh, and the, uh, the date at the very end with Robbie where the family was kind of on Robbie's side saying I think I like Robbie and we're like,

what are you thinking? And now we're, now we're all like, that was really bad. Um, Rachel and Brian, they convinced us she wanted Peter. So it's just not the case where these love stories play out without drama. And we're getting so far along that drama I don't think is going to ensue. And we could be standing here being like, yeah, this couple is just perfect for each other. I hope that's the case. Let's go into his hometown, though. Again, he's been at the top of your list every week. He's been at the top of most people's list. People like him. People enjoy him. People want to see his family where he comes from. I remember on night one when he came in that he said, that most people in his life like like him like they they kind of say that he is a a likable guy and so obviously his family is very supportive and encouraging because he believes that he is that man and I think he is so his family was was an exciting one for me to

tune into yeah he is just the strong silent type there's definitely a sex appeal about him he's just like ooeds confidence and he tells her that it's such an unfortunate situation but her his parents are in Nigeria they go for four to six weeks every year and it just happens to be this four to six weeks they come over to the house the family's awesome they seems so warm really welcoming and then they go into the kitchen and meet his grandma and this woman is a gem to all of us watching and to the earth she's cooking up a storm

she's too cute she says that she sees them as a match made in heaven right off the bat I want to get her wording perfectly correct because I think it's so sweet she said that she believes that they are a match bonded

from heaven oh bonded in heaven that's beautiful so gorgeous they go outside to eat and then his parents show up. Oh my gosh. I'm wondering, I'm like ABC,

you guys better have sent them first class back home and you better be sending them first class back to Nigeria so that like, yeah, because this is a commitment, you know, like that's their time there. That's what they're,

I'm sure their extended family is. And they took a lot of effort and probably money with like halfway across the. world flight, flight change. Yes, it's not a short flight. That is a big flight. I hope ABC treated them so well. Yeah.

But it is so sweet to see them come in, to see the surprise, and to have them there because you can tell that Doughton really, really wants their input and how weird would it be if this all plays out like we expect it to? And he never gets their input because they're obviously a close family. It would be odd. So this is beautiful. I was so stressed that she wasn't going to meet them because I knew how important it was to her because I really even though it's tricky at this point I really see the two of them together I think she does too and she was like I can't believe that I'm going to get engaged and not having met his parents and now it's happening they meet it goes over really well he says that his mom is often tough on the ladies he brings home but she definitely gets the stamp of approval and beyond when she says

that she's part of the family already. She's like already accepted her as a daughter. I'm like, oh my gosh, I got goosebumps when she said that. Anything. Do you think they're seeing the same thing we're seeing? Like, do you think her parents because, I mean, from

week one, you were saying, hey, this is, this is it. And I wasn't convinced. I'm still not convinced that it's going to end up like you think it will, but I, you know, it's obviously a good relationship. His parents know him well, obviously. Do you think a, like, Immediately they can just be in the presence of the two of them, be like, yeah, this is, this is special.

I think so. I hope so. For the woman to say, like, I accept you as family and she said, I have a wedding for you that I am already basically mentally planning for you in Nigeria. Yeah, she obviously sees it. She literally said, if you choose my son, I will have a huge wedding for you. Come on. Let's go.

Well, it's so freaking cute. Everything about this is amazing. And the grandma just like hurt just her presence every time she's on the screen, amazing. And I have to like just talk about the little clip at the end of the credits when the mom gives her gift. So she's giving charity gifts. She gives her a necklace, like a dress, all from Africa. And then at the end, she goes, this beaded thing.

She goes, that's for you putting around your waist in the bedroom. And then the sister goes, my mom. you'll learn is very giving yeah oh yeah so funny so cute all right so love this love everything about it seriously goosebumps at multiple scenes and then they go to the drive-in movies and they have kind of what we saw last season with rachel and zach where it's like a movie of the two of them throughout time and at the end there's pictures of the two of them together and charity's just like so emotional I like this date. Do you remember I like this date last season? I think this could be a staple date. I like seeing the pictures. I like seeing the reaction. I think it's very real. It's very cute. I could watch this date most seasons because I think it brings out like a vulnerability too between the two people. Connection. Yeah. And when you go over to Jess's house, do you like looking at old pictures of her old photo albums? Yeah. I did just I did actually this trip because we were there for a, baby shower and so we're pulling out old baby pictures and see it's the best you learn about you

mean you learn about them right you learn about how you know the experiences they had yes you tell story yeah it's great based on the photos it's an easy convo starter definitely all right well then charity goes and talks to jesse who like i was saying i was expecting chris and the bottom you know to sum up this conversation it's holy crap i pretty much i pretty much could say i'm I'm falling in love with all four of these guys. And every hometown was wonderful. I see them all as husband material. And it just confuses us more as to who she's going to eliminate.

Well, I think at this point, I'm still convinced Aaron's going home. The only reason I say that is because nobody moved down this week other than possibly Joey. Yeah, sure. Other than Joey, but I didn't think it was enough to send him home. I know. And I've thought for two weeks now, more than two weeks, that at some point Aaron was going home. And so I think I've just had this build-in idea that Aaron was going home, even though

you're right. All four of them this week shine bright. They pull it off. What you have to do is just think like, okay, is it Aaron that like got me this week or is it Aaron's family that got me? And really it was it was the whole family experience. Sure. That makes sense. Yeah. Well, uh, the conversation with Jesse feels very similar to conversations. past. This is, there's, there's a moment every season that I love. And I don't know why I love it, actually. I love when the people walk into the rose ceremony after hometowns and after fantasy suites. Because I believe we're kind of looking at the, the Hall of Fame of this season. And it's a very relaxed vibe when Jesse greets them. And they say, hello, Jesse. And how are you? I'm doing good.

You know, it's less, it just feels more intimate. Less of a game show moment. Yes. It's a, it's a, it's a, it's That's it. It's less of a game show moment and more of a personal, like, hey, I remember these moments from your season. And it's going to be weird now for me to see you go home because we have connected with you as a contestant. And we have connected with your relationship with charity.

It is less of a game show moment. It is more personal. And I just really like the entries. It's weird, but I like the entries. I do too, Ben. I do too. And I love it when they do a,

a row ceremony at this airport airplane hangar wherever this might be it really adds to the drama and just like the sexiness to it all sure does all right well we see er and go home yeah he was very emotional he says that he's like holding back tears and oh it really i got he got me you know this episode he got me and i he hasn't got me all season well i think it's an emotional exit for him i think he really likes charity. I think he, I think some of his behavior in the, you know, protection of charity and the kind of like the anti-Braden camp leading that.

I think did come from a place where he just really liked charity. And I wasn't convinced of that most of the season. I think this episode really solidified that a lot of that kind of protection came from the fact that he really believed that him and charity could be together and should be together at the end, which is tough to see him go home. but it's also, I do think the one relationship that was most expected to end. It was, it was. And I just really want to see him, like, have success in paradise now.

Oh, I think he will. I think he's going to, going to be great. But Aaron B is going home, which leads us, leaves us with Dodden, Xavier, and Joey, moving into the next week, which is Fantasy Suites Week. It is always an interesting week. There always seems to be something pop up in Fantasy Sweet. week that is shocking, surprising, different, and it has helped most relationships on this show either be solidified or end. And we can pull back many moments in Bachelor history for that.

Well, Ashley, we do have Bachelor headlines to get to. This has been another breakdown of charity season of The Bachelor. We're loving this episode. Ashley, between Joey and Xavier, which one falls second? Because I know where you feel is first. Ben. What? I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. and I'm having fun with the fact that I don't know. I just put a wild goose out,

especially to humor you and say that Xavier gets farther than Joey because maybe the Joey thing next week, it's doing something weird happens. I also am very curious to know who shows up that charity is mind-blowed by. Her brother. Oh, you think so? I don't know.

We'll see. Hey, it's time for Bachelor headlines. Let's jump into it. The first headline is this, Bachelor in Paradise's Raven and Adam, Reveal baby number two's name. Yes, they also released the sex because we didn't know if it was a girl or boy when she gave birth last week.

It is Max Asa Gotstock and the baby boy obviously was eight pounds, two ounce, one ounce when he was born last Monday. It wasn't Sunday or Monday. Yeah, so, oh my God, you have to see Ravens Instagram for, just the cutest videos of Gates, who's one and a half, interact with baby Max. It's really sweet. Too freaking cute. Very sweet.

Well, next headline is this. Serena Pitt reveals why no Bachelor Nation stars were at her bachelorette party. It's not very dramatic guys. It's just that she's like, hey, guess what? I went on The Bachelor two and a half years ago. I was close to those girls, but these are the crew of my closest. friends, most of whom I've known for eight plus years. So I will have Bachelor Nation friends at the wedding, but this was my core group. That makes sense. Well, that's all the headlines

we have for today. A very quiet week in Bachelor Nation, not a lot of drama, not a lot of stories happening. But we'll have more next week. I'm sure they always are existing. But until next week, I've been Ben. I've been Ashley. See you guys. Follow the Ben and Ashley I, almost famous podcasts on iHeartRadio or subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts. Hi, my name is Enya Umanzor. And I'm Drew Phillips. And we run a podcast called Emergency Intercom. If you're a crime junkie and you love crimes, we're not the podcast for you.

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