The Ben and Ashley I Almost Famous Podcast - The Golden Divorce: Ben’s Take

Episode Date: April 16, 2024

Ben gets real with his honest reaction to Gerry and Theresa’s split! Find out what he thinks happened in their relationship, where they go from here, and what this means for the future of the “Golden” Bachelor franchise!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Valicia's journey is a master class in shifting culture and using your voice to spark change. Listen to Culture raises us on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is the Ben and Ashley I, Almost Famous Podcast with IHartRadio. We've had the unique opportunity here on the Almost Famous podcast to have some voices, some wise voices, some voices who have been through the Bachelor franchise for a bit, shared their thoughts on the recent announcement of the Golden Bachelor Gary and his wife,

Teresa's divorce. So I was going to jump in for a second and kind of share my thoughts. It's, this was a, this was a difficult announcement, I think, for so many of us to kind of understand. That's why it's everywhere. If you Google this divorce, all the major media companies and journalists are covering this. I think we're shocked because we're saddened.

I'm shocked, I guess I can speak for myself personally, because I really believe the two of them were going to make it for multiple reasons. Let me touch on those. One, I thought their age was going to allow them kind of this next chapter in life. And they were really going to invest during this next chapter into this new love and this new relationship they found. Quite honestly, this could come off wrong. I didn't think there was enough time to necessarily have. major disagreements, major disagreements, especially ending in a separation. I also thought they were going to have a lot of fun together. Obviously, both of them have done very well in their life. From all

we know, they're both financially sustainable. And so they had a ton of opportunity to go off and to travel or to spend time on the lakes or to go out to dinners and to just enjoy kind of this next chapter. And so for me, I took all those into consideration without knowing the two of them very personally. I had been able to meet him a few times and thought this could be something special. Obviously, now, shockingly, they are announcing that they're getting a divorce. I also think the fans here are a little bit confused because we don't have a lot of information. As so many who have came on here now the podcast today and been interviewed, they've shared that we just don't know enough.

I believe it was Trista who said that, you know, if love truly exists, then you can figure the rest out. So many of us who listen to this who have been in a committed relationship or in some type of relationship that we've had to make tough decisions for, understand that the decisions are tough still, yes, but they're going to get made because there's love behind them. So if it's just a matter of where you move and what family you're closer to, then I would say this is confusing,

especially because Gary, yes, has family fairly close, but they still have to drive. I mean, I believe he has some children that are, you know, five plus hours away. That's, you know, a flight from the East Coast to Indiana. I, and you're retired. I guess I should say that. He's retired. And so there's time to fly.

There's time to travel. I've lived in Colorado. My family's lived in Indiana for the past 11 years. And I don't see them maybe as regularly as I would if I lived in the same. hometown or within an hour's drive. But I see them often. My dad just retired last year. And before that, you know, there was weeks every year that I would go home or there was weeks that they would come here. There was flexibility in that. And so I never have felt like I cannot see my family when I desire to see them or when they desire to see me and spend time with Jessica

and I. And so I want to believe their excuse. I do. I mean, I think their reasoning that it was hard to kind of figure out where they're going to be for their family is fair, but I don't believe it's everything. And honestly, I don't know if they owe us everything in the explanation of why they're getting a divorce. I don't know if that's really my business or any of our businesses, but we are invested in their love story, so we do want to know what happened here. And I think the question of what happened here for me is also confusing because their love

story brought so many people hope. I got to do a segment with Gary that was never shown on television but we kind of did the watch party segment where we went on a bus and stopped into people's homes and talked to people about what they were experiencing watching the Golden Bachelor

and there were tears there was hope, there was joy, there was, hey, if you can do it, Gary, I want to do it too. There was this belief that no matter what age you were, that love could still exist and could still be found. And,

I'm worried, or I guess I'm concerned, or I guess I know that their divorce so quickly after getting married will probably make people take a step back. But here's the truth to it. I still believe what they showed on television and what so many of them showed on television, so many of the contestants, is that love can still be found no matter what age you are at. I don't want that to be forgotten here. I think that's where this whole thing gets so hard for me because I know that so many people, really, truly were invested into their love story and invested into this story in general. And I don't want people to forget that yes, loves can still be found. If you talk to any of the women who came off the show, they believe in love more than ever. In fact, I'll mention Susan and Kathy here. I've gotten to speak with them multiple times.

And as recently as two weeks ago, kind of heard some rumblings at that time that things were not good for Gary and Teresa. And so we got to have a conversation about what did this show teach you? And both of them said that it taught them that love can still be found, that this next chapter of life can be the most exciting chapter yet for them. And so if you're invested into their love stories, if you're invested into this separation and this divorce that they're entering into, please do not forget that love can still be found no matter what age you are in. that the next chapter can be the best chapter in your story, in your life.

I also think we should look here now. Maybe, you know, the main characters of the Golden Bachelor was Gary and Teresa because they were obviously the ones who got married on national television. Gary was the lead. Teresa was obviously the one that he chose and that she chose him at the end. But I think now the way I'm seeing it is it kind of levels the playing field a little bit to where the main characters are everybody that was on the show, these women who have came off of the Golden Bachelor and are now representing all new things. They're representing

wisdom. They're representing this newfound fame and how to handle it when you have so much experience in life so that you don't get sucked up in maybe the relevancy of it all, but you just enjoy the ride. I'm learning from them. And I think now we all can. I think that the cool part would be as we watch the contestants now hopefully go out and date and go out and explore new relationships. And then we move on to now the Golden Bachelorette. We can start to, we can continue to learn from them and continue to invest into their stories and continue to believe that something good is in the future for all of them. A foot washed up a shoe with some

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I don't think this derails it. I do think the, the divorce. divorce makes us take a step back and maybe have a little bit of hesitancy when we watch the Golden Show. And we're kind of waiting to see if there's actually love that is going to be found and what the wedding looks like, what the commitment looks like, what these new relationships look like, because I think you build off of what your first example is, for example, Tristan Ryan from The Bachelorette. we got to see their love story unfold and now 20 plus years later they're still together and they

have kids and we we now believed in the bachelor and the bachelor I think in large part because we saw their commitment to each other and we saw what came from that and so I do think now there'll be more hesitancy but I also believe that the golden show can still be really great and I think success is still going to come from so many couples. And I'm still going to be invested now as much as I was before. I am confused with all of this why they got married so quickly. I mean, I think there's some financial benefits from that. I do believe they at the time believed this was the right thing to do that this was going

to be a relationship that lasts. I don't think either of them were entering into that marriage being like, hey, we'll get married. but yeah, a couple months later, like, it doesn't really matter we can separate. I don't think either of them were thinking that, but I do believe coming off the high of the show, coming off the experience of the show, coming off the press tours, getting to travel together, having this kind of euphoric honeymoon moment right after the show probably made them feel, yeah, this is amazing.

Let's get married. I just never think that's smart. If you go back into my experience, obviously there was some. hesitancy coming right out of the show to get married right away. If you see Joey and Kelsey season, obviously Joey and Kelsey were talking about, hey, we'll have a long engagement. You have to kind of redate to kind of reestablish a foundation outside of the show because the show, once it's over, it's over. And you go back to regular life. The show moves on to the next lead, to the next season, and you move on to whatever the next chapter holds. And so you have to redate, reestablish.

JoJo and Jordan are a great example of that. Matt and Rachel are a great example. of that. So many of the healthy couples we see today have reestablished a foundation outside of the show. And I don't think Gary and Teresa ever gave it time to do that. I think they got wrapped up in the whole thing too quickly, which honestly is a little surprising because I thought they would go about this whole thing very differently than any couples we've seen in the past. All right. So those are my thoughts. I'm sad. I wish divorce wasn't their best. option or the option they felt like was necessary. Maybe it's a better way to say that. I wish they could have worked through some things. I wish they would have given it some more

time to work through some things. Maybe it was just getting to a place where they knew this was going nowhere good, fast. And so they had to get out. Both of them. I don't know. We don't know enough. Again, from everything I've read and the interview, the only really reasoning for this is they just couldn't figure out the family dynamics. I don't think I'm satisfied with it. that i know there's more but as i said earlier i don't know if i'm owed anymore so it comes from a place of assumption i just wish divorce was not the option they felt like was necessary at this time i wish the two of them could have found something beautiful together i was wishing and hoping that the golden bachelor was going to lead to an amazing love story that we'd be able to celebrate for years

to come, but we're not. And so now we move on, and we hope that the next season works. And we hope that contestants find love again, and we hope that Gary and Teresa can find love again, because I know, and I do believe both of them desired it. Love is a beautiful thing. When it's at its best, this show is about love, when it's at its worst.

It's about drama. And so the Golden Bachelor, as we continue, I hope continues to be about love. We don't lose sight of the incredible life change that so many on the show and viewers of the show have had because they've witnessed people later in life make a commitment to try to find love again.

So we watch hopeful now. I watch with a little hesitancy, but I still have a lot of anticipation, excitement and anticipation towards the next season of the Golden Bachelorette and hoping, hey, that love truly will be found.

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Maybe you felt stuck in a job, a place, or even a relationship. I'm Emily Tish Sussman, and on she pivots, I dive into the inspiring pivots of women who have taken big leaps. and their lives and careers. I'm Gretchen Wittmer, Jody Sweetie. Monica Patton, Elaine Welteroff. Learn how to get comfortable pivoting because your life is going to be full of them.

Listen to these women and more on She Pivotts. Now on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The U.S. Open is here, and on my podcast, good game with Sarah Spain. I'm breaking down the players, the predictions, the pressure. And, of course, the honey deuses,

the signature cocktail of the U.S. Open. The U.S. Open has gotten to be a very wonderfully experiential sporting event. To hear this and more, listen to Good Game with Sarah Spain, an Iheart women's sports production in partnership with deep blue sports and entertainment on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Brought to you by Novartis, founding partner of IHart Women's Sports Network. Culture eats strategy for breakfast, right?

On a recent episode of Culture Raises Us, I was joined by Valicia Butterfield, media founder, political strategist, and tech powerhouse for a powerful, conversation on storytelling, impact, and the intersections of culture and leadership. I am a free black woman. From the Obama White House to Google to the Grammys, Valicia's journey is a masterclass in shifting culture and using your voice to spark change. Listen to Culture raises us on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

This is an IHeart podcast.