The Ben and Ashley I Almost Famous Podcast - SPECIAL EPISODE: Grocery Store Joe

Episode Date: August 21, 2018

Ben Higgins sits down with Grocery Store Joe for a special bonus episode of the Almost Famous Podcast! Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is the Ben and Ashley I almost famous podcast with IHartRadio. My least favorite episodes are when Ashley is gone. It's not fun. It is not fun from me. We have such a special guest. We do. Ladies and gentlemen, this person has been loved by many, seen for a very short period of time, smiles and the world lights up. We know him as grocery store.

Joe is in studio. Joe, welcome to the Almost Famous Podcast. Thank you. Thank you. Glad to be here. Joe, what's your last name? Amabali. Holy cow.

What's up with your season, or I guess, Becca's season, and all of these names. Yeah, I know, right? I mean, Joseph Anthony Amoboli. It's Italian. I'm from Chicago. It's Italian? Yeah. I mean, it's beautiful.

It really is beautiful. But your names, I mean, what's Becca's last name? kufrin right kufrin i think it's yeah you're closer you're closer than uh her second or her third place finisher so um i mean i only lasted a day so i can only know so much uh joe this is i you know i don't get it i'm sitting here preparing for this podcast we've talked to most of the people that came off the bachelor um from winners to losers to second place people to who the heck are use and for some reason as I'm getting prepared for this I get a little nervous because I'm talking to you and you were literally gone day one why is that I think I'm I think I'm really

good at being bad at this like I just I don't know like because it was I was horrible that first episode I mean I think I just I don't know I'm good at sucking at things I mean it was I mean I was very nervous I was extremely I got out of the limo and I freaked out. Like, I couldn't, I couldn't even, like, make a sentence. And I was like, but, but they edited to make it look like you could talk just fine, right? Yeah. Oh, I, I, I, I walked up and said, I forgot everything I was going to say. Well, I think that's, I mean, Joe, that's you. Yeah. You've literally, in your failures turned into, I'm not kidding, one of the most endearing people that America has ever seen. Oh, thank you. Well, no, that's not a compliment. I'm saying in your

failures like it's just odd to me too i wasn't expecting it you know after that first after when i went home i'm like okay no one's going to remember me that was it so long you know i mean what is it i'm sitting here again preparing for this and talking to you makes me nervous i mean like it's not you sucking at this there's something about you joe that's like oddly endearing for everybody involved and yet nobody can put their finger on it yeah you're a good looking dude great good for you but there's something about who you are as a person that has attracted the billions to grocery store joe you know what i think it's i think people watching everybody would be nervous in that situation because it's nerve wracking and i think i do a pretty good job of

showing that i'm nervous like i didn't i didn't try to hide it like i knew like like i'm going to be awkward on tv because i'm not used to having these cameras in front of me and it's a lot of pressure and even even just approaching a beautiful woman like becca i'm like you know i'm in a suit i don't wear suits like ever so i'm like i was just i don't know it was nervous and i think people could appreciate that you nervous right now um i mean a little bit not like i was the first night so some people when they get nervous i was looking this up right now on google so a lot of people when they get nervous talk more the most people here as i was researching seem to by studies found to talk

more than than they kind of shut down you shut down and there's something about you joe we're going to get a little deep here for a second okay when you shut down you get away with it like for me, I feel like if I just sat and stopped talking like you do and giggled and smiled and just sat there, I would come off as the weirdest, creepiest, most odd person alive. But there's something about you, Joe, that you do that. You get away with doing nothing and people love you. I know, it's great. I'm jealous.

I mean, it's a good, I guess. I'm very envious. Yeah. I don't know why it works. I really don't. I'm shocked by all this. Okay, okay. So what was your expectations when you went on to The Bachelorette?

You knew you were going to be nervous. Yeah. Let's just walk. Okay, this will be fun because what a lot of people don't know about my night one on the Bachelorette is Caitlin and Britt will say the same thing. I got out of the limo and froze. And I wasn't smooth enough to say, I forgot everything. I said I literally tried to talk and couldn't, could not get two words out.

I said something along the lines of. Um, Caitlin, nice to meet you. Britt, I like you. and I like that's how it went and I walked inside and I thought and then you don't really talk to much on night one I was laying in my hotel room that night because you go back for a couple hours just to get some rest because it's so late and I was I had my head in my pillow and I was so embarrassed because I knew I was done I knew I was done I knew I was going to be going home soon I knew this was over for me I was nervous too so anyways that's my night one one of the most nerve

racking things that we're done you're prepping right you're so you're in a hotel preparing to go over to the mansion preparing to walk down the limo what's going through your mind walk us through that whole night for us oh okay so i wake up i'm like all right you know i was watching some baseball i'm like i just take it easy be yourself um you're gonna be nervous but be okay with that and just you know my i was just gonna i didn't want to do any gimmick when i got out of the limo i didn't that's not me and I just was going to be honest and tell her I was just really I'm really looking forward to meeting you you know she looked beautiful I wanted to tell her that and that was my goal and I was just hopefully I figured I'd be able to come across myself I wanted to make her laugh

and I thought it'd be okay so I'm good like I feel confident I'm ready to go we line up to get in that limo and this is the first time you're seeing the guys and everything And I just, and I'm still, like, in the limo, I can feel my nerves coming. I'm like, all right. You're really nervous. And when I get really nervous, I get, like, I can't, I really can't speak. Like, it's hard. Like, I'm like, oh, my God.

Oh, I get it. Yeah. And then I, like, I feel my nerves go away as I'm about to get out of limo. So I'm like, okay, beautiful. This is going to be great. Oh, that's your body playing a trick on you. Yeah. Oh, yeah.

Yeah, they got me. Oh. So now, I step out of the limo. I think I started talking, and then I stopped, and then I walked up to her, and I'm like, this is good, yeah. I'm like, I forgot everything I was going to say. My name's Joe. I hate myself right now.

And then I walked away. I'm like, fuck. Yeah, you know. And then the whole, like, I couldn't enjoy, like, that first night's not enjoyable anyways for anybody, I don't think, just because it's just so hectic and it's so new, and there's cameras everywhere. and nobody really knows what's going on. But I just couldn't get out of my head.

I was like that feeling you said when you went back to the hotel, I'm like, I was just so upset with myself. So I couldn't, even when I spoke to her on our one-on-one, I was just too nervous. Yeah. Okay. So, Joe, I think everybody's, I mean, actually, I don't know. Maybe it's just me. This is my interview anyways.

I can do what I want. So you go back to the hotel. You're kicked off night one. um you realize that you fail straight up this this was you i mean everybody wants to say you'll learn from your failures failures are turning the great things i'm sure it will good for you look at you now but at the time you're soaking in failure in misery and heartbreak and rejection from night one right it's everybody's worst nightmare when they go on the show you're going to go home night one yeah you sit there what is your mindset i remember you talked to chris

Harrison, you said something like, you know, you had to call your buddies and be like, it's not good. But did you carry this, like, wait for months knowing that this all ended so quickly? Not really, because I'm pretty good at getting over things quickly. Like, I was really upset. Yeah. But, like, when I got home in Chicago, it was St. Patrick's Day the next day. So we all went out. And I'm like, I know I'm going to, you know, I'm going to look bad, but I'm going to be on TV for what?

you know when they when it gets edited in commercials i'm going to be on tv for a couple minutes i'm going to look a little goofy and that's it um so i i got over it pretty quickly and then there would be moments where i'm like oh man i you know i wish i i wish i just didn't screw that up like i wish it would have won a little better why did you want to do this in the first place you that's what i was wondering yeah you seem like the least likely person to ever want to go on the show Hey, hey me. Sorry, I'm just being honest. He's so nervous.

He's so much better than I. Oh, yeah. I mean, I was so embarrassed. I would have held onto that guilt or that shame for so long going, all my friends are going to laugh at me, my family. Joe, you just cruise on by. You are a lot better man than I am. Yeah.

So why do you want to do this? So I was at Whole Foods. I was shopping. I was walking out. And a lady approached me. She said, you want to try out for the bachelor. So I'm like, I could be the next bachelor. I'll do that, you know?

So you have confidence. Yeah, so I'm like, I don't even think I got to go out of The Bachelor. I'm like, this is perfect. But I just, I don't know, I feel like everything kind of happens for a reason. I'm single and I'm like, why not give it a try, you know? I, you know, I haven't met that one in Chicago and I thought this, I mean, maybe. So you don't let your nerves stop you. No.

No, like, yeah, I know I'm going to be nervous, but that's just something I have to deal with. That's just who I am. Real quick, we got to backtrack. know our listeners are going to freak out um why were you shopping at whole foods don't you own a grocery store so I own the grocery store that was that's was on the south side of Chicago and it's like yeah an hour from where I live and it's it was just a smaller store and I was just I was actually going to Whole Foods to get like the hot foods for like I just want to clear that up yeah I knew people would freak out

yeah it's a big thing you're not faithful you know you turn your back on the things you love that kind of stuff I just don't want that for you no thank you Um, okay, Joe, now you're on Paradise, um, you're, you leave Chicago, which by the way, uh, I'm going to Chicago for a Cubs game tomorrow, big Cubs fan. Um, yeah. So, uh, I'll, I'll give a little blessing there when I, when I land in the windy city for you. Um, so you leave Chicago to go back to paradise. At this point, America has fallen in love with you.

Chris Harrison is a huge fan of you. You have continued time over time on your moments on TV to, make people just go, that Joe guy, there is something different and special about him. Showing up to Paradise, were you nervous, as nervous? What were your feelings? Well, first, I was shocked they even asked me to go on Paradise, you know. I was still nervous there, but you do, you get, you get more confidence as, like, my social media, like, was getting a lot bigger and people were, like, loving me.

So I had that going in there, and I knew I was going to be nervous, I'm always, I feel like I'm better the second time around. So, you know, when I, I walked up, I met Chris Harrison. I was nervous, but I was able to speak. And I knew that's all I had to really do. I would have loved for you. That would have been one of the best scenes on TV ever if he froze talking to Chris Harrison.

Like if you got nervous to talk to Chris and you couldn't get your words out because you were so anxious and excited to talk to Chris. That'd have been good. Yeah, I should have done that. Nice. And so we've watched you on this season so far. This has been a great season of Paradise. Your love story is one that we're all tracking.

You've kind of bounced back and forth. Can you give all of our listeners a little recap of your love story to date in Paradise? Yeah, sure. So I was talking to Tia, Crystal, and Kendall. But Kendall was the only one I was really interested in. that first night and she but why did you talk to the others then well i just got there and i figured let me you know talk to everybody see what it's like okay plus i was working i was working out some nerves anyways yeah you know get loosened up for the you know for the super bowl i get it get some practice

and so so you start talking to kendal is there a spark immediately yeah i think so um we were able to she's very easy to talk to she's very beautiful and we we just would laugh at everything. Like we wouldn't even really talk about anything. We were just laughing the whole time. So there was something there. Yeah, I get, I've watched you two. And, you know, when you watch on TV,

I've always said that The Bachelor does a great job at telling the story. But there's those small details that have to be left out because there's only so much time that they can put on TV. When we watch your story with Kendall so far, what we've seen is a lot of giggling, a lot of kind of like funny, odd comments that make the, you're like confused but yet again you and kindle both have this ability to talk about the oddest things like having picnics and cemeteries and people respond with going isn't that sweet if i said

that on tv if ashley i kennedy said that on tv if really any other person i know said that on tv other than sean booth the world would freak out how have you never been on a picnic yeah that's weird isn't i don't i just never as weird as kendall remember when she told us she likes to go the cemetery with and read a book with an apple i was like that's weird too but how have you not been on a picnic you own a grocery store i just i don't know i'm from the city it's just something we never even thought about doing it was like never an option it was never like what do you want to do tomorrow you never made a sandwich and took it to the beach no i don't get it either i mean but but here's the thing amy this is the truth like that's odd it's different like you never took it with the like checkered

blanket but like you never just made a sandwich and took it to the park that's a picnic i if i made a sandwich i i would eat it yeah that's a good point it picnics are weird because you have to like make food and then wait a couple hours but the thing is amy joe is always going to win like i guarantee you after this podcast i'm going to get some email saying please stop being so mean to joe and i'll say how was i mean to joe they'll say you picked on them for not having a picnic and i'll say stop taking Joe's side on every single thing in the world. This man has the biggest support system of anybody I've ever heard of. And we love him for it.

I think he's a great dude. I'm a big Joe fan. I can't reveal any details on this, but I have been in a public place where Joe was in the same public place. And I know what it's like to be a night one person compared to being you. Like more people know you. So many people were like, grosser Joe, watermelon Joe, a trader Joe. like they were freaking out it was really i know i think it might be the teeth you he's got some teeth

smile for us joe real quick just give us a good smile like your dentist or orthodontist should really get like some sort of call from you because they did an excellent job yeah hey amy real quick can you can you get up in there and take a nice close picture of joe's smile i want to post that on social media for this podcast yeah please do that just yeah get up in there real close as close you can why it's keeping it clean i think i have a lot i think i have a lot of teeth people's yeah try and give me like a real big let's check that tartar line we need to make sure yeah i'm drinking yeah i'm drinking coffee right now good for you hey you know jo i'm i am a big fan of you not only you're a midwestern guy i'm from indiana yeah um and so i'm super close i you you're great dude uh there's a reason

why people love you i think you i feel like you're going to carry the weight for a while on this franchise of the guy that everybody's going to be a little confused by because you're only on for such a short amount of time also saddened by because we didn't get to watch you more and a huge fan of everybody's going to be a huge fan of you because you really are the type of guy that kind of draws people in like amy was saying as we were prepping for this podcast we can't say where you're at but as she was with you and she's been out with a lot of people from this show in public the the attention and love that you get is beyond anything a lot of people have ever seen and it's deserved man it's really deserved and let's say things go well because

I see the spark with you and Kendall, obviously, on the episodes we've seen. If things go well, would you move? Would she move? Are you going to try and date? Would you be open to that? Like, do you like California? Well, if things go well. Right.

I get it. You know. We're just saying. We would, I think we would have to, we would have to talk about possibly splitting that up a little bit. But I love California. And Chicago winters are brutal. Not so fun.

Yeah. The worst place in the world. It really is. It is. Yeah. It's the most beautiful place in the summer, the worst place in the winter. I wouldn't blame you for forgetting out of there. But Joe, you don't seem like the kind of California guy to me.

Like, I think being a Chicago guy has a certain amount, just a Chicago person has a certain amount of grit to it. Could you handle the California lifestyle? You know what? I don't know. We eat dinner really early here, really, really early. Like 530 is no problem for us. It is definitely a different lifestyle.

But I am more. laid back i mean it is more that laid back lifestyle but i'm i think i'm laid back do you like taxidermy yeah i don't have a problem with it i really don't like taxidermy at all like when yeah i think kendall asked me she's like did you ever see a dead body i'm like yeah you know i think she thought i was going to be like oh my god that's so creepy did you see your grandma or something uh my uncle yeah i mean i saw my uncle's dead i walked in on my uncle that passed away uh as well so i'm with you on that Joe it's not it's not something that uh you really want to live through again but but so it's seen one dead body my great grandma yeah it was like an open casket that's a very

strange thing we should this is i'm talking different than just open caskets yeah we saw like a dead body yeah yeah we were pretty close i i like walked in the house and he was yeah same it was oh my god this is traumatic it was yeah so okay joe this is a good segue then because somebody asks you So there's two things that the ways look at this. Somebody asks you like Kendall, because I've experienced the same thing as you. I know it still sticks with me today, walking in on that. Somebody asks you that.

You can view it two ways. One of two ways. Either one, she really cares and wants to hear that because she knows it's traumatic. She knows it will affect your life long term. Or two, it's just an odd question, and you take it as an odd question that's a little bit offensive and a little bit weird.

When Kendall asks you this, how do you take it initially? I take it as her showing off her personality that she's not scared to talk about anything. And I think she wanted to see how I would play with that. And I didn't want to bring up, like, that's a, that's something that was a really, like, sad thing that happened to me in my life. And I didn't want to talk about that on the show the first day. And I didn't think she was pushing for that. I think she was just being fun and silly.

And I didn't take it offensive at all. There's not, I don't, I don't really get offended too easily. Yeah. I get that. I kind of looked at it as, you're right, like showing off a personality. She kind of has this way, tell me if I'm wrong, because we're watching, well, we're all fans of the show. You know, I don't know Kendall really at all. She kind of has this way of saying, how far can I creep you out until you stand up and stop getting creeped out?

And then I'm just a really cool, funny person that you're actually going to enjoy being around because we can talk about anything. Is that her? Is that who she is? Exactly, yeah. And I was pretty good at calling her out on that. I actually hung out with Kendall a few times, and I think she's pretty deep. Do you know what I mean? Her sister is, too.

They're very like, they're not going to just talk about the weather. Like, you can really talk about, like, real stuff. Yeah, she's very intelligent. Yeah. She knows what she's doing. That's awesome. That's good. But here's my thing.

Here's the interesting part about the show. If anybody asks me that on a first day outside of being in paradise or on the even kind of on The Bachelor, I guess, I would be super creeped out, like, really creeped out by it. It would be a red flag on you, you're odd. minds in a different place in me but you just kept going with it was it because you kind of knew kendall was semi normal just from watching her in the past i didn't even watch her in the past but i i don't know i just wasn't creeped out by it that doesn't bother me now if she would have talked

about it the entire time then i would have been like yeah okay this is clearly an obsession and i don't know if i'm comfortable with that but i um jo yeah i just thought for me it was just it was her showing off her personality and I like that it's interesting and that's what I was looking for coming on the show with something different yeah you know that's what I was going to ask were you looking for something like this or something to shake it up were you super excited I mean at this point you're probably already getting like Joe should be the bachelor tweets and so you had your mindset on what if you find somebody in paradise you no longer have the option to be the bachelor was that okay were you okay with that yeah absolutely I mean I think um the whole bad all the bachelor

talks i mean of course i've thought about it i think i think everybody that goes on the show thinks about it because it is a possibility um i don't know how i would handle it i don't know if i would accept it um but i mean i would entertain the idea yeah well i'm glad you met joe i tell you one thing and i mean this i don't say this everybody i think i've said it to one other person when i'm in chicago or you come through denver wherever we can meet up at you i just want to sit and hang out. I think you are a type of guy that we can sit down, have a beer, talk life. I'll talk about all my weird stuff and you'll listen and giggle like you do to Kendall. That's cool. But Joe, you're a good dude, man. Thanks for coming on the show, like not just this show,

not almost famous. We appreciate that. But thanks for coming on The Bachelor and Bachelorette and representing this franchise in a positive way by just being yourself. You got it. I really like you too you're a great guy before before jo goes can we play a quick game ben i would love to what's the game i'm going to say a name and joe has to say the first word that comes to his mind no need to be nervous joe i'm not um that comes to your mind when i say the name okay are you ready yeah colton virgin tia not a virgin this is this is going to be boring if we keep doing Oh, obviously I'm going to change Annalise, emotional.

Jordan, the model. Smart. Chris, why they calm goose, I don't know. Chris is funny. Funny. I guess I'm breaking the rules of this. Kendall. Cemetery.

Wells. Wills. No. Okay, that's funny. I didn't get that at first, but that's funny. Chris Harrison. Well, dressed. Nice.

Okay, that's the game. Becca. I don't know I don't know I don't know why I just froze up to that I don't know you got why yeah you still got some yeah I guess so I guess I guess some issues yeah I guess I can't and I got a little nervous when you said her name too hey the good part about this show is you get a second chance and so I've got two people for you one is somebody that I just don't understand and don't get yet and I need to get your clear down but this one hey my turn Becca

Becca wait holy cow you got some issues I think so what is it with this girl why why I don't let's talk about this for a second before we move forward this is this is a beautiful segment

yeah Joe what's wrong I don't know I get really I guess I guess the whole thing it was a traumatic experience for me I was really upset about it yeah all right Joe third time's a charm Becca cool

How about that? Oh, gee. I'm back a, Becca. No, that was good. That's fine. I'm going to take cool. What's to stop there? And the next one, the one I've never understood from your season.

Okay. And I don't know if you've been around a lot or not. But let's try Leo. Tarzan. All right. That can mean a lot of different things. And I think it fits. Joe, the grocer.

Joe, what's your last name again? Amobli. Amobli. Yeah. The man of the hour. The Man of the Franchise, you know, it's kind of like the PGA Championship that existed, you know, last week. Tiger Woods got second, but yet he is getting a lot more attention than Brooks Kepka, who won. It's kind of like Joe the Grocher.

There's a lot of people in between night one and the last night, but Joe the Grocer has came out on top. He is winning over America with that smile and that charm. Joe the Grocer, thanks for coming on the podcast. Thanks for having me. Follow the Ben and Ashley I, almost famous podcasts on IHartRadio or subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts.