The Press Box - Ep. 248: ‘Bachelor Party’ With Ashley Iaconetti

Episode Date: February 1, 2017

The Ringer’s Juliet Litman is joined by former 'Bachelor' contestant Ashley Iaconetti to discuss last night's episode (5:15), what to do during group dates (14:15), being sick of Corrine (30:35), and how being the Bachelor can lead to real love (33:15). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hello, my name is Chris Ryan. My name's Andy Greenwald. And we are the co-host of The Watch, a pop culture podcast on the Ringer Podcast Network. We are on Mondays and Thursdays. We mostly talk about TV, movies, music, pop culture, Jeremy Renner, house flipping, the papacy, Reese Weatherspoon dancing at wedding videos. We used to talk about Kanye West. He's in the, like, timeout corner right now.

Never ever talk about Christine Baransky. You can listen to The Watch on Mondays and Thursdays on SoundCloud, iTunes. Anywhere you get podcasts, subscribe now. And thanks for listening. It's a good hang. Welcome to Bachelor Party. I'm Juliet Lippin. This week is a special edition because I have Ms. Ashley Iconetti with me. Hi, Ashley. Hi, Julia. Thanks for having me.

Yeah. I knew. Actually, I didn't know. I asked you to be on this podcast. And then I realized after that you'd been on a two on one date. So it's actually perfect. And so we're going to get into that. And we'll talk about the show. But mostly I just want to kind of know about your bachelor experience. I think it's been very unique. So let's get into it. Right. I think I started. the epic two-on-ones. It was really a big deal starting

after my date in Crystal season. Yeah, because it was very dramatic. So you were on a two-on-one. It was you and Kelsey. Yep. And you guys basically hated each other. Yep. Was that real?

Did you really hate each other? Oh, yeah. She definitely probably didn't know how much hatred I and the other girls had toward her because she was delusional in every way. Yeah, she was. I met her once.

She seemed nice. You met her once. Yeah, when I was at my old job, she came by for a podcast. Really? She was doing some like reputation repair, I think. Oh, yeah? So she came like before the season was over and she just like, yeah, she just wanted to tell

her side of the story. She cried. No way. Yeah. She didn't even cry to us when she was talking about Sanderson. I felt sorry for her. At the time when she told you about Sanderson, did anyone think of that it was fake? I don't think Sanderson is fake.

I think that he was a real human being. I do think that it's that the way she was. retails everyone with the story seems just odd, fishy, and it honestly wasn't included on air. It was or was not? No, it was not. There were certain parts of the story that was not aired, and I feel like if it was aired, there would be too many accusations out there. Interesting, because they already made it seem, the show made it seem like she killed him or something.

Yeah, I didn't say that. I didn't say that. I did say that on Jenny McCarthy. And I got in a little bit of trouble, so I'm not repeating those words again. Okay. That's fine. We'll move on from that. But so you, yeah, you know exactly. You've been through it what happened tonight.

Last night with Taylor and Corinne. We'll talk about it one second. But I just just wondering, like, what's up with you? Like, you live in L.A. What do you do? You write Bachelor Recaps for cosmopolitan.com. It is hard to describe what I do. but I have pretty much a full-time job being myself.

That's great. I'm really living the dream. I'm really, I'm employed by myself, and my job is being myself, and don't knock me for it. It was you guys listening that allowed me to live this life. I don't think anyone's knocking you for it. A lot of people do. Really? A lot of people are like, what's your job?

Do you work? It's like, yes, you don't even know. I have so much I do. You look at my calendars. It's packed. You want to break down your day for us just to prove it? Today? Today?

Yeah. Today? Okay. So today I woke up at 6. I went to Access Hollywood. Nice. And I did the live segment, my live segment on Access Hollywood Live. Then I went and did the Facebook live.

And then I went back in the studio and I did an interview for Tonight Show with Kit. And then I went home. I had an interview with a production company via Skype. and now I'm here doing this podcast with you. Not to mention that last night, I had to do recap for FabFit Fun. On Snapchat, I had to write my Cosmopolitan recap. Quite good, I would say. My colleague Roger Sherman said you were in the top tier of Bachelor recapers.

Thanks. That's a huge compliment for you. And that's me having to be so careful about what I say. Because I could make it salacious. But I can't. I'm contractually obligated to be flowers and rainbows. And that's because you are still, so I assume like your Bachelor in Paradise contract is what you're referring to. Yes, until March.

Got it. Okay. Interesting. Good to know. We're all going to have a party. So that makes it a nine month contract, I guess. It's six months from the finale date. Oh, interesting.

Oh, that's smart. So that gives them like flexibility for when they want to air it. They've thought of everything at ABC. Okay. Oh, yeah. I'm surprised it's only six months. I would have contractually obligated me to silence for years. Yeah.

Well, we'll have to get you back when you are, when you're free to speak. Before then, let's talk about last night's episode. Okay. It was episode five, and we are still in Milwaukee at the beginning of the episode in Waukasha or wherever. And we picked up right where the last week's episode left off, and that means that Taylor and Corinne were fighting. Yes. Who are you team? Who's your team?

Thanks for asking. Yeah. I was very team Taylor. No, I wasn't team Taylor. I take that back. I was anti-Coron. However, she was growing on me a little bit. Okay, good.

Another one of my colleagues pointed out that she's just sort of like naturally pretty. And I was like, yeah, that's true. So maybe I'll just like her for being naturally pretty. Yeah, you're right. She doesn't really need makeup. Yeah, she is quite pretty. So let's give her that. I mean, this is like a shallow competition anyway.

And then number two, she did something smart last night, which was she was taking everything Taylor said and just sort of like absorbing it and didn't let it affect her and just sort of seemed very like logical in response. and was like, well, Taylor, you're bullying me. Yeah. And it's really hard for anyone to come back from the bully accusation. And I think it was a successful fighting tactic. I actually was wondering, like, for you and your experience, what is the best tactic for those confrontations between contestants, between gals?

Oh, yeah. Well, I don't take my own advice. I've been dishing it out a lot lately when it comes to this Taylor versus Corinne ordeal. But my best advice is just to stay quiet and focus on the guy you're there for, because the more you get entrenched in the female drama of it all, the higher your likelihood of going home is. You definitely did not take that advice while you were on the show. I did not. No. I don't know if it hurt you, though, because you've been on Paradise twice?

It hurt me on Paradise the second time around, but that's a story that will be told as soon as that contract's over. Oh, my God. You're really teasing so much information here, Ashley. Yeah, you can go to my own podcast and you're all about it. Oh, my God. Maybe we will. I just thought that Taylor was, like, she kept saying that their talk was unproductive. And, like, what would have been productive? Yeah, I know what?

What could have been said between them that would have, like, been in any way useful to anyone? Like, what does that even mean? That was so counselor of her. Yeah. To be like, we need to have a conclusion. You know, we need something to come out of this argument. Like, no, the only resolution would be for you guys to be. friends and that's not going to happen. Right. And the only place in my life where I wasn't friends

with somebody, I did not get along with someone and I was forced to really confront it was on the Bachelor. With Kelsey. With Kelsey, with Claire with Kayla. Claire didn't like you either? Claire and I was, you know, that was the least amount of tension between all three of them. Was that on the bachelor? That was on Paradise, right? Yeah. Yeah. Because Claire was on Chris's, Chris, I mean, a shot in season, excuse me. Right? She was... Or Juan Pablo? Juan Pablo.

Do you know Juan Pablo? No, I know about him. Really? So he's not in the mix with Bachelor Nation? Oh, hell not. Everyone hates him? We don't... Our Bachelor community is pretty modern.

It's really Crystal season to now. Wow. So you don't have... So like Chris Bukowski's not in the mix with you. He's not part of your world. He's not really part of my world. I mean, I've met him a few times. But that was because he was on one of my seasons of Paradise.

Right. He showed up, of course. He's been kind of gone now. Yeah. He's just out. He's done now. Hmm. So you don't really have, like, girls from Sean's season either?

Sean's season. That was like the Des. Sarah Heron. Oh, I see her soul cycle, like, frequently. Okay, yeah. So Sarah's really nice. And then from Juan Pablo season, really, really like Charlene. Oh, yeah, she's great.

Yeah. Everyone loves Charlene. She's married now, isn't she? She's almost. She's engaged. Yeah, she's got, like, her blog. It's called, like, something, something pandas. All the pretty pandas.

Yeah, exactly. Yeah. I always liked her, too. Okay. But I digress. to Taylor and Cren. So ultimately, Corinne, I think, comes out looking good, even though they both look quite bad. I agree with you for sure. Something that you did, and Taylor also does, just like, referencing her master's degree so much. And there's just really higher education

and the Bachelor don't really mix. I don't like it. No, I don't like it. I tweeted last night. I said, I don't like the way that she's flaunting it. The only reason I ever brought it up was because Kelsey was all like, I'm more intelligent than all the other girls. Like, I'm, I use big words because I'm smart. And I was like, oh, my God. She just was constantly belittling and condescending to us. So when we were sitting there in the Badlands, you know, I was like, yo, bitch, I also have my masters.

And it's in broadcasting from the number one school in broadcasting. So I just, like, had to shove that on her face a little bit, you know? But I never brought it up again after that. It's become the defining thing about Taylor, which is really unfortunate. She is young. She's like 23 or 24. Yeah, and I liked her before she became all like that. I did too.

I enjoyed her faces, though, because she was so obviously irritated. I think Taylor's problem is she's like pretty normal. She is. She's not very smiley. And I will say this, if you are not a smiley girl, if you have resting bitch face, you do really poorly in the Bachelor Mansion. That's true because the girls just assume that like you're against them or something. Yeah. I know that Whitney and I one time had tension.

It will only last like a week. but it was aired. And it was because, honestly, she would look, she'd give me a dirty look, which I honestly just think was her resting face. Right. But it looked like a glare to me, and I was like, she's after me and, you know, whatever.

It's hard to imagine Whitney getting after anyone, but okay. Yeah, I know, exactly. Sure. No, it was crazy, and I totally made it up, but in that hostile, competitive environment, you make things up and you really believe it. This was all preamble for ultimately the two-on-one, which came at the end of the episode,

but let's just get into it. Oh, my gosh. The haunted house stuff was so boring leading up to it. Okay, the one thing about the haunted house, let's just, fine, we'll talk about it quickly. The haunted house was, like, at a former slave plantation, and they just completely glossed over that, like, 100%. They talked about, like, this, like, the ghost of, like, an eight-year-old girl. Yeah.

And that's just, like, a really weird narrative for a large plantation that was, like, built and, like, profited by, like, the work of slaves. Like, it's just, like, a weird look for The Bachelor. Yeah, that's a little weird. Of all the places to go. I just don't know why they had to do that. My sister will tell you that New Orleans is one of the most haunted places in the entire country.

They didn't have to pick the slave plantation. Seriously. They could have gone to like so many other locations. Does Lauren live there? No, but she would probably live there for just for the sake of ghost hunting. Oh, she lives with me here. Oh. Yeah.

Cool, but she's really into ghosts? She's obsessed with ghosts. Wow. Her dream in life is to be like on TLC and have a ghost busting show. Oh, wow. She has to be like, hot girl. speaking ghosts. I don't know why they wouldn't make that show, actually.

Have you guys shot a pilot? No, it's always been a thought. We should probably just go in somewhere abandoned and shoot our own. You got to pitch it to Mike Flace next time you guys here. See if I'll listen to you. Maybe we can do an episode for the Twins show. The Twins won us on. Oh, Sisters and Sisters.

We'll do a sister-sister episode where we go to a haunted house. I don't think you should be on the Twins show. Just my piece of advice. I believe me. It's something I've debated. Okay. And then also, like, what if that extends your conscience? and you can't speak for even longer.

That could be a huge problem. I would never do it if it's under my contract. Wow. Does that mean you're not going back on Paradise? No, definitely not. Actually, my contract was up for like two months last year before going back on Paradise, but I would never go back on Paradise. Wow.

But mainly because you don't do it four times and be classy about it unless your Nick apparently. Unless your neck, that's true. And who knows, maybe he'll find love. I mean, it's really weird to think about that Nick's like currently engaged. It is really weird. It's so weird because I've never known him as a person with a girlfriend. You know what I mean? Like he's always been like my big bro who's single. Is he acting different?

I haven't seen him since December. We've just been like totally crazy. But back in December he didn't seem, he seemed more secretive. Okay. Because he's always, he likes to, he likes to be secretive, but he's not very good at it. Like he ends up spilling the beans always. Like one of those people who like clearly wants you to ask more questions so they give you short answers or something. You know, like, the kind of person who it's like, don't tell anyone, but they've told everyone. Sure.

So I love you, Nick. But he really hasn't. He has not spilled anything. So I know nothing. Really? Yeah. Do you read spoilers, message boards? Yeah, sometimes, but not extendedly.

You know what I mean? You don't go to like Steve.com? Are you familiar? Of course. Yeah, of course. I'm familiar. Just being sure. Yeah.

You know, he's like a luminary in the field. Do you? No, I try to go spoiler-free. That's good. That's great. bad for this podcast if I knew more. Oh, yeah. I know like a little, but I really try to avoid it and avoid confirmation.

It's basically how I'm going. I'm not completely blind, but I'm pretty much. Yeah. It's just like kind of like less fun. Like what's the point of watching? We tweak. Yeah. So I like to not know completely. And it made a better work product. Anyway, back to Nick, Corinne Taylor. So they go on this two on one. At the end

of the episode. And I don't know why it's a thing, but it's now just a thing that you basically have to, if you're going to be on two-on-one, they make you, like, do something that's, like, secluded. So, like, they involve some kind of dramatic transportation. So this week, this week they had to ride a boat to, like, the backwoods of Louisiana, like, near alligators and, like, some swamp lands. For you, it was the Badlands National Park. You took a helicopter to get there. Yep. And it's just, like, become a thing, I guess, for Ben's season. I know. I started a trend.

And on Jojo season, it wasn't, it was like a hike in the woods, which is pretty much nothing. Oh, yeah, with Chad. But Chad was amazing. Yeah, Chad was pretty funny. I mean. Milk is delicious. He was ridiculous. People were like, I don't really care about the villains is kind of my thing.

Like, obviously they keep the show moving forward. Like, Karin's like the propulsive force. Yeah. But, like, I don't really enjoy her. Like, I think Alexis a lot more fun. Oh, I enjoy Corinne a lot. I like Alexis a lot. Did you enjoy Corinne's behavior on this two-on-one one?

Yeah. She more so leading up to it I think like her in the bathtub and her just saying like what did she say she's such a stupid bitch

The way she says bitch Is like got so much Emotion behind it And she also ordered like hundreds of dollars Worth of room service I think she must have done that Just to like spite the show or the producers Because there's no way Karin was eating all that

Like just no way They totally told her to order the room service So did they? So yeah, so explain to me like what you do when everyone else is on a date and you're just hanging around waiting for two on one. I think that little tidbit I just gave you is pretty harmless. They'll probably be like, what? You can't tell them that they told us to get the room service. So actually, that was terrifying day. I was like, you guys are going to go on this group date and you're going to leave me home alone with Kelsey the day before our date. But then I had Becca. So it was very rarely were just the three of us hanging around in a room. Like maybe they had us had one girl chat where we all had to be in the same room.

But for the most part, I think I spent that day just reading, getting, like, I don't know, the hot tub, just talking to Becca. I don't know. We didn't do much that day. I really have a very foggy memory of it. You blocked it out. That's what you're saying. Yeah. Too painful to think back to it.

Yeah. So. Does a producer follow you around all day anyway, like trying to get you to talk and like ask you stuff? That day was a pretty low-key day Yeah, I would say that there's probably more ITM time, which is in the moment interview, more commonly known to probably the public as like a confessional.

Yeah, that's like calling the real world confessional. Yeah. Did the same producer always interview you? So it was like a rotating group of people. Yeah. There's like one producer assigned to like the bat to like Nick, right? And then everyone else kind of is a mix. Yes. In Paradise, it's less of a mix

because you've gotten closer to one or two of them. Sure. So you'll get the mix, but primarily with one or two. And then, but on The Bachelor, it's pretty solidly mixed up. Got it. So the night before you're prepping, we saw Corinna and Taylor, both actively using candles. Oh, right. Which I thought was hilarious.

I was like, oh, well, obviously the producers were like, here are some candles. Why don't you use these? Because they carried them in their luggage or something. And, like, hotel rooms don't just, like, leave around candles for you like that. I actually have never seen a candle like that in a hotel room. No, no, you can't have a candle in a hotel room because it's dangerous. Yeah. That was completely absurd.

So Corinne's in the bath, there's a candle and a bottle of champagne. And what's her name again? Taylor. Taylor is sitting on the floor. I can't even remember her name. And she's like... Smelling things. Yeah, meditating or something with the candles.

And it was a perfect encapsulation of like the differences between their personalities, basically. Yeah. Like Corinne was being like in her own way aggressive and like honestly still quite sexual. Yeah. And Taylor was like being very like looking inward and sort of like very serious. Right. And that's, like, exactly what you'd expect from the two of them, which was just... That's why it was there.

I was dying to know what Rachel was up to. Like, who said she on? So we saw Rachel talking one-on-one with Corinne. Right. Where I think of Rachel as, like, a motherly figure, but not in a way where she looks down on people. She just, like, has a nice little guidance about her. She's warm. Yeah, she's very warm.

That's what I've been saying is that she, it can be smart and confident and, like, that, like, killer, kick-ass, badass woman. but she's also very warm, very friendly. She seemed pretty common. Just like very even, which is not common on reality television. Exactly. I feel like she probably didn't even have, she wasn't even on a team in that case. No, no. I bet she wasn't.

She also probably is just like similar to you, eyes on the prize, but she is like not so, she just is like very even keeled. Yeah. Which I think it's one of the reasons we haven't seen more of her. She probably doesn't give good sound bites. Probably. because what's what's she going to do? Like she's not fighting a people.

Right. Everyone seems to like her. Yeah. I don't know. I'm into her though. We'll talk about her more later. So they go on this two-on-one. They take the boat to like some weird swamp area.

And then the only thing they really show is just the awkwardness of them like sitting near each other. Right. I can't even tell you what happened on this date. Like so little basically. Me neither. Very little activity. Corinne used her time with Nick to explain that Taylor was mean to him, mean to her basically. Right.

And then Nick used his time with Taylor to confront Taylor. about that, which I don't was, like, kind of rude. Like, that's kind of, like, not nice. Well, it's classic two-on-one. I guess so. Convo. But, you know, of course, you get 20 minutes alone, maybe. That's very short.

And that was, what, the 45 seconds of it? That's true. We have to assume it was a little bit longer than that. Yeah. But still, like, that's a really short amount of time. So the three of them are really together quite a bit, huh? I wasn't, on mine, the most we were together was on transportation. So it was in the helicopter.

And I guess the same with them was probably on that little rowboat. Right, right. It just seemed like they make it seem more awkward than it probably is. Nothing's really going to happen when the bachelor's in front of you. Right. They need the girls to be alone for the drama to happen. The class to come out. Yeah, just one-on-one is when things happen.

How does it work? Like, does a producer say, okay, now it's your turn, you two, want to you go off? Like, what's the signal for one-on-one time? The Bachelor usually just comes up to you and so I was like, oh, let's talk. You would take a walk? Oh, God. That's like just so ridiculous.

So crazy. I can't really imagine being in that scenario. When you watch it back, is it weird that you did it? Or is you're just like, yeah, that's just an experience I had? The Bachelor is so far, you know, from my current life. I think about Paradise way more than I think of The Bachelor. On The Bachelor, it was just a straight blast. just the most fun party of my life.

Really? Yeah. It was just a big sorority. You're making so many friends. You're just like obsessed with the producers. You get so close to them. You have like an on-call therapist. You know, they're like an on-call therapist.

You just talk about all your feelings to the producers and you love it. Like I was thriving. I apparently like had so much I needed to air out about my like soul. And then like I liked Chris. But I guess the further I went the more I was. was like, I really like him, but it wasn't going to be life or death if he didn't want to marry me. Sure. So then why did you cry so much?

I don't even know. And if you look back, I think it was, I think I didn't cry as much as you think on The Bachelor now. Okay. Good editing then? It was, I can like name it the time that I didn't get a lone time with him. And I was sad that I wasn't getting a lone time. It was ridiculous. and then him dumping me.

Hystarchal then. Obviously, when you get dumped, you cry hysterically. And then what else? Talking about my virginity was super, super awkward. So I was just crying about being so awkward. Were you annoyed that they kept asking about that? Mm-hmm. Like, did you expect it to be as big of a storyline as it was?

No. Were you pissed that it was still a storyline in paradise? It calmed down at least. in paradise. Uh-huh. I, like, don't want to talk too much, obviously. Sure. But I had less of a problem with it being brought up in paradise.

Got it. Do people still ask you about that now all the time? Yeah. Is it annoying to you? Not really. You just, like, whatever. It's like, it's so out there. Sure.

It's actually, it's good and bad because it's good because I normally don't have to tell guys anymore, which is super awesome. Sure. They can just Google me. But it's also really shitty because a lot of guys, aren't into it. Uh-huh. Yeah.

So, like, but also weeds them out sooner. Sometimes, but sometimes there's really good guys that aren't into it, which is really annoying. That's sad. Yeah, it's super sad. I'm sorry. It's like really, really horrible. We can do a whole podcast about that and thinking about doing my own on it.

Another time. Wow, you're really in the podcast business these days. Keep dropping those mentions. I just started my own five weeks ago. Oh, nice. What's it called? The I don't get it podcast. Oh.

It's about all the things in life I don't get, mainly boys and relationships. Wow. Who do you do with? My sister. Oh, so you guys are like really in it together now. This is like a family business. It sure is. Got it. But she won't be going back on Paradise with you.

I really wanted her to go back. She was her leaving was definitely the biggest mistake of her life. The things that we could have conquered together. Wow. Do you tell her that all the time? I remind her at least once a week and she agrees now. Well, they got a great video of her. That's just amazing footage of her rolling her suitcase across the sand.

I actually can't think of anything I would like to do less than roll a suitcase across the sand. Like, that's really rough. It takes a lot more work than, like, just carrying it. It is hard, and she set the precedent. Now we all have to do it. Yeah, that is, like, pretty cruel. Wow, she's a trailblazer. I mean, she is, right?

Yeah, totally. In the reality TV space. Yeah, I mean, let's just remind everybody of the one line that she gave the world, which was, I have to wake up and have breakfast with these people. That was so underrated. I mean, it is pretty true. She seemed like she was also drunk the majority of the time. She was there.

Zero drunk. Really? Mm-hmm. Did she not drink? Tea total her? She doesn't really drink, and she's just pretty out there as it is. She will say anything that comes to her mind. Damn.

Yeah. Okay. What do you do on a two-on-one date when they're, like, the other girls with the guy? Like, you just sit by yourself? Maybe for a second until you go and do a interview. Oh, nice. And you literally drink a whole bottle of wine with your producer in celebration of obviously winning this two-on-one. Oh, I see.

So I had my alone time with Chris first, thank God. Then I went over to like the middle of the desert. And obviously, like, I won him over. You were sure you had gotten it. I was totally sure. So we'd like popped open a bottle, drank the entire thing. just the two of us in 45 minutes, and I was solid, solid drunk, really, when Kelsey sat next to me and I had the confrontation.

That's crucial information because now I also understand why you were hysterical when he dumped you. Because everything amplifies it so much. And that's part of one of the things I like by Corinne this week was you really saw her drinking, and I'm certain she's been drinking this whole season, like every episode of wasted. Oh, she definitely has. But also, that being said, I can name you the occasions that I were. I was actually drunk on the show.

Very few. When they actually show you, like, plastered? No, like, I think the only time I was super drunk during Chris's season was probably in that scene. In Paradise, it was one day I got drunk with Samantha on the beach. Samantha. Oh, okay, Samantha. During day drinking. And then this season, the only day I got drunk was the rose ceremony that I gave Wells the Rose because it was so chill.

Oh, cool. That's cool. Yeah. Well, good for you. Thanks. Very good self-control. I don't think Corinne has that. No, she doesn't.

And I liked it this week that we finally saw her, like, really boozing. Like, I was like, yes, this is what's going on here. This is why she's asleep, and this is why she's crazy. It was so funny when she was just, you know, had the champagne glass in the middle of interview. Yeah, that was great. It was like a giant champagne glass. It wasn't for normal people. But I always bring a drink into the ITM room.

Just to, like, help you? Just, no, not to help me. Just like to sip on. Uh-huh. It's also like when you're, you know, like, you're in a bar and you're talking to a guy and it's like kind of awkward. You'd like take a sip, an awkward sip. It's good to have that probably for a similar situation. Totally.

That's good. I mean, I'm really happy for you. Ultimately, Nick chose Corinne, which we all saw coming because like she's the engine of this season. She totally is, but not only that, personality-wise, I'd much rather hang out with Corinne than Taylor. Yeah. She seems like she's probably more fun. Yeah. And just clearly down to just hook up.

as much as Nick would like to. I don't even think he's looking for that at all. I know he's getting a lot of flack for... He's made out with a lot of these girls. Okay, I will say this. I think he's making out with too many of them because I don't think there's any meaning behind it. Right.

Like, I really think that he's kissing girls that he really gives zero shits about. Definitely. And I don't know if we see that from all our bachelors as much as we're seeing from him right now. It's been pretty tough for him. Let's talk about who he's actually into and who he's not into. Okay.

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visit simplysafe.com slash ringer. That's S-I-M-P-L-I-S-A-F-E dot com slash ringer. SimplySafe.com slash ringer. If you go now, you'll get 10% off your system. SimplySafe.com slash ringer. All right. So Nick has chosen Corinne. I'm pretty sick of Corinne because I have to talk about her every week,

as I'm sure you kind of are too. Oh, my God. It's my job. My job is literally to talk about Corinne. I mean, me too. We have that in common. I am on on I'm getting over cold if you can't tell

So I can't really My diction's pretty off But I'm on autopilot When I talk to the when I talk to the About The Bachelor sometimes now You know I run into somebody at the grocery store So oh my God they just want to talk about And I'm like mm-hmm yes

Like the bullet points to talk about to ask And yeah I can just press play And my mouth will talk I consider that a challenge then for me Because I want to get the real Ashley takes. So there's a difference between an in-depth discussion as we are having now versus the pleasantries that I'd have to have with a fan in public. Okay, cool. So I'm not getting the fan. That's what you're saying. However, fans, I do love when you come say hi. So please say hi to me.

You're very diplomatic, Ashley. Let's talk about who Nick is really into. Who do you think is his top pick right now? Vanessa. Vanessa is the most well-rounded, wonderful human being I've ever seen. She is quite high quality. She's a specimen. Particularly for the show. I think that she's in kind of like a rarefied air. It's kind of like her and Andy and like maybe Ashley Heber. The women with like who just kind of like come in and don't take any of the bullshit. I really like them.

Vanessa is totally like that. Very little airtime for Vanessa this week. Yeah. Disappointing. But guess what? I freaking love her. She's everything that I've ever pictured him to hopefully find. She's like a Catherine Zeta Jones, as I like to say.

She's classy and sophisticated. She's going to put up a challenge. You know, she's not going to take shit. And he could be a handful. Just like, I am a total handful. And she's not going to have it. And he's got to check himself. Yeah.

And she's so pretty. She's really pretty. So naturally pretty. Her mouth is something. She's great. And she also, I think she dresses very, like, a normal person. Like, clearly doesn't have a stylist. Oh, yeah.

Okay. There's that. and just... I like that about her. She's elegant? Yeah. We all love Vanessa. It's obvious.

Okay, I can keep going on. Yeah. So many adjectives for her. Vanessa's number one. I think Rachel's number two. I think Rachel's number two, too. And so she got the one-on-one date this week. Rachel and Vanessa have a lot of the same qualities.

Yeah, she's also pretty self-possessed, also pretty calm, well-spoken. Also, like, they just seem like they're more, like, they seem like they're, like, less on it for the television show. I agree. I think Vanessa especially. Did you go on it for the TV show? Come on, be honest. Just to be on TV. I always say that if the outcome were me finding my husband, then that would be the best outcome of them all.

And I'm a hopeless romantic who will drop everything for like the husband and a family. And I would have moved to Iowa if that were my real husband. If that were my husband, I would have moved to Iowa. And I've been totally perfectly happy for a while until I got super bored, I'm sure. But yeah, I don't even think the whole right reason. thing is kind of bullshit. Sure. It's like you have to be interested in being on TV if you're going on this.

Not just that. It's Sean Lowe even talks about it in his book. He went on for the amazing experience that he's going to tell his kids one day and travel and making all these friends and connections. And just really you grow as a person. It's unbelievable. The benefits you get out there that you wouldn't even think you would. Sure.

Sure. What was the biggest indication to you this week that Nick was really into Rachel? Like what was like the one moment where you're like, yeah, I see it. When he goes, I'm really into who he said. I'm really into you. I don't know if I'm breaking the rules or whatever, but I'm into you. Would you have been pissed if you were on the show and you found out that, like, Chris, or if Chris had told one girl that he was really into them and you found out, like, would you be pissed about that?

I think that that that's no different than saying, hey, I really like you. I'm really excited to see where this goes. Yeah. But it was just kind of his tone and how cute he was about it. Sure. Yeah. He seemed like he, like, was consciously breaking a rule. Yeah.

Which was cool. I also thought when they were dancing in the second line. That was cute. That was very cute. She has great moves. I was going to say, like, the way she was twisting for that kiss. Yeah. She's got great moves, and he seemed like really into that, too, which I don't know.

I don't think of Nick as a joiner particularly. Oh, what do you mean by a joiner? Like, in the crowd? Like, I just feel like he's not really into, like, I just feel like he. Group dancing? Group dancing. You haven't seen him at the Janor wedding. Yeah, I know I haven't.

Although I've heard so much about it. Yeah. I have a famous video, a viral video, of him and Chris Sol's dancing to the pony that. that magic mic song. Sure. It's by Genuine. Oh, okay. I was seeing some of those moves

during that day yesterday. All right. That's good to know about Nick, I guess. I would just, they seemed like really into it. And also when they went to the club what the woman was singing. Oh, yes, Lola.

Lo Lo Lo. My friend, she reps her. Oh, okay. So I decided to say her name is Lolo. Sure, when Lolo was singing. Also known as Lauren Prichard, who was in Spring Awakening. If you guys are Broadway fans up there.

Huge Broadway fan. That's cool. And the original cast? The original cast. Wow. What an accomplished group of people at this point. That's amazing. It's how amazing that cast really branched out.

They really did. Good for all them. Nick was like really sort of like casually like just like rubbing her shoulder and like very touchy with her. Very tickly. He likes the tickles. I guess so. I like tickles too. Oh, maybe if it doesn't work out for Nick in his future wife.

You already know him. You know leg up on everyone else. I was like, okay, he's really into her. And then when they were like having dinner at the end of the day, they were like talking about meeting her parents. I was like, well, then he's in it to win it with this one. He wants to know what to call her dad. I was obsessed with that. Just a little known fact that you may have read in my Cosmo article.

According to my deductions, about the past six seasons, about 75 to 80% of the top 10 have parents that are still married. Oh, interesting. Yeah. That's like, first of all, much higher than like the national average. Exactly. And also it's kind of like sort of like really want love then if they make it to the end. I mean, we do, we are just, I think we have a mindset that's very romantic and positive. And we are looking for something that our parents have.

That's very sweet. You're really positive and are romantic about this show. Oh, yeah. You really believe in it. I do because I have so many friends that it's worked out for. It's about 50-50 between breakups and failures at this point. But they, not so like from their own season, just from like being in this world. Well, it's like Carly and Evan.

Right. That's pretty amazing. And then Jade and Tanner. Carly and Evan. I didn't see that coming. Jade called into this podcast a few weeks ago. Oh, yes. She told me all about it.

Talk about her friend Liz. She's like, you need to go on there. And I actually had a drink with Pete Laird that day. And he was also your guest on that one. Yes, he was. I've infiltrated Bachelor Nation. You really have. Pete's the greatest.

Let's see. Yeah, there's a bunch of couples. Yeah, then we got Jojo and Jordan. Sure. Yeah, that's only been like six months, but still. And then. That's lasted longer. than I would have guessed.

Look at Robert and Becca are together now. I always thought he looks like Liam Hemsworth. He looks just like Liam. Do people say that top to him? Yeah, he looks a lot like him. Like, he just always has. Yeah. But yeah, he's definitely really into Rachel.

Ben and Lauren, yeah, okay. I love Ben and Lauren. Is there a third that you're like, yes, they're going to make, or a third that you're like, yes, he's really into her? After his date with Raven, I think he really liked Raven last week, but I don't know if she's comparable to Rachel and Fess. Very tough week for Raven. Thanks for Raven.

her up. She told Nick that she was falling in love with him and he did not reciprocate or even like come close to making. It seemed like he was into her. That was very harsh. Can we talk about Danielle M? If we're talking about being into people? Yes. I would love to talk about Danielle M. because she was on the group date in the homas house

which we do not approve of on this podcast. And she was legitimately scared. She was scared. I don't even remember this. I watched it on Thursday. Brag. What a brag, Ashley. So I don't I don't remember the small details.

I just really want to... Okay. Continue. She was legitimately scared, including yelling at Jasmine to shut up. Oh, really? She kept looking around. She was really spooked. I was just like, what's wrong with you, girl?

I don't get scared very easily. I don't, at like a fake haunted house. Right. It's a fake haunted house. Ridiculous. It could have been real, but the spooks that were going on were not real. Why do you think that she... But the producers were having a field day, I know.

They were just laughing their asses off watching these girls. Yeah. Why do you think she got through us? No comment? I don't know. Interesting. I don't know. Do you have...

I think that she got the rose because she played along. I think because she was like the most scared and like the most visibly, I think that like somehow like was a reward for her. You don't think he accidentally gave it to Daniel M rather than Daniel M. L? Interesting theory. I like that. I didn't even think about it. But Daniel L was like barely in the episode. Yeah, but she did say like, I don't think that I'm showing you.

how much I like you and I really just want you to know how much I like you. That's a great impression of her. Interesting. I didn't think about that. So you think it was a mistake. I'm just kind of kidding. You're suggesting perhaps it was this mistake. Are you kidding or do you think that? I'm pretty much kidding. Pretty much.

I'm pretty much kidding. I just don't get it. I don't think they have. I think she's a nice girl and I keep having to defend myself by saying she seems like a very nice girl. Just just absolutely not at all what I picture Nick being drawn to. Well, she doesn't have the same personality traits that the, other women in the sample sides of Caitlin, Andy, Rachel, and Vanessa, which is like really strong personality. Strong personality, quick.

Yeah. And doesn't take shit. Yeah. She just seems like she'll take shit all day. Nick seems like he likes to like butt heads a little bit. And I don't see that happening with Daniel. Oh, totally. He likes arguing a bit, as a lot of us do.

Sure. That's me also makes for great television. You like to argue. So, of course it makes sense. Yeah. Yeah. I don't know why Daniel M. got the rose. I was just like, this is the most, like, obvious, like, producer intervention because she just

didn't deserve it. I really think it's because she was a good sport. So she, like, got rewarded or something. Could be. I don't know. I mean, why else? It's just, like, very bizarre to me. I also was upset that Sarah got sent home earlier on the episode. She, based on my social media slew thing, she seems pretty popular with the other ladies. She seems like everyone's, like, bestie.

I've been texting her, she's the only girl I've been texting. She lives in Orange County. So I was thinking about going over and hanging out with her and Amanda, because she's been friends with Amanda for a while. while. Yeah, I think it was really weird. I think they positioned her to be somebody that we were supposed to root for. Yeah. And she was cute. And going into that road ceremony, I had a long list of people that could have been eliminated before I expected she to be. Josephine, Whitney. Yeah. Whitney was Jasmine, maybe. Jamie? Jamie. Yeah. Everyone you just named, we've gotten very little screen time from. so I assume they won't be around for much longer.

Yeah. It's just hard to imagine that someone like Jamie could go far because we've gotten nothing from her. Nothing. I don't know anything about her, except that she has a nose ring. Yeah. That's pretty much it. And she's by. We know that.

Which I would like to know more about. Can we explore that? I mean, like, just ask her some questions, Nick. I know. I'm sure he is. They just are not airing it. I would like them too because that's like actually interesting. Yeah.

opposed to Danielle M. being scared of ghost and playing Ouija. What was the best date that you went on when you were on the show? Well, you'd think that I would say with Jared, we went like car, whatever, like that mud riding car. That was fun. So you just really liked Paradise a lot. Oh, yeah. But my best state romantically on the show is definitely with Wells. Where did you guys go again?

We did tacos. Oh, right. And we met a doggy. And then we sent a wish up to the sky. I remember in Wells' bio that he said he was a big taco fan. Yes. So that's like a thing. he's into. Yeah. We were both into dogs and tacos and it was pretty well known. So that's why the date

card said something like pick a girl who shares your interests. Interesting. Would you have gone on, if you could go on Paradise without having to be on The Bachelor, would you have done that? No. Okay. Because I loved The Bachelor as well. I just think I got more romantic experience out of Paradise. Like it was actually like better for practicing dating. It was so much better for practicing dating for sure. I actually interacted with those men off camera. Sure. Interesting. How long is a day?

When you're on a group date, how long is that day? On a group date, probably nine hours. That's long. Yeah, it is long, but that doesn't mean you're with The Bachelor for nine hours. Right. You're probably in his presence, three, three tops. What do you do, like, in between the activity and, like, the cock, party?

I was really only on one group date where there was like a, there was a break. And I don't know if you don't want to talk about the exact one. We got on white rotter rafting. That's fun. Then we took a break and got ready at the hotel for like two hours. I see. And then we had like a little snacky poo. And then we got and then we went downstairs for a cocktail party.

I see. How much like heads up to give you like what you should be wearing or like what you should bring with you for the evening or whatever. They tell you as you're packing for the day, you know, bring all your makeup, bring a different pair of shoes, bring a cocktail outfit, sports, whatever. Got it. So they give you a fair amount of warning because on the group date at the beginning of the episode when they had the cocktail party was freezing.

It was like so cold. Yeah, I had one of those. They were bad or evil. What do they give you like blankets? They had blankets. They give you like a jacket, any extra layers? No. Do they do it?

I guess you might not be able to answer this. They do it so that you're uncomfortable or just like that kind of happen? No, they do it for the shot. It looks pretty. Just like can't control it. It just kept saying like to us, when you see this on air, you'll know why we did this. It's a really, really pretty background. Interesting. What about you and Jared? What's the state of your friendship? The state of our friendship is that we're super close as friends. Does Jared have a girlfriend? No. Are you dating anyone? No. Do you guys hook up? No. Oh, interesting. Yeah. So really just friends. Have you hooked up? You have, right?

But like a year ago. Okay. So it's way in the past. Oh, yeah. I say. I see. Who's like the person in Bachelor Nation that you've never met and you really like to? There's not, there's not anybody now. So you've met everyone. Yeah. Got it.

Have you met these girls yet? Are they like in the mix? Nope. Haven't met any of these girls. Do you want to? Yeah, I mean, Karina's in L.A. today. I really like to meet her. Really?

Yeah. Are you going to tweet at her and be like, hit me up, girl? I was thinking about it. Oh, what's she in L.A. for? She's doing Ellen today. Oh, she is? Yeah. Okay.

The Bachelor is just so much more popular than it's ever been before. I was driving into work today. And I had AMP 971 on and they were having a Bachelor segment. And then I switched to Kits FM and they were having a Bachelor segment. Chris Harrison was on Ryan Seacrest's show. Constantly. There's always somebody on something. Tuesdays are a big days.

I guess so. It's like it's just, it's crazy because it says season 21 of The Bachelor. It gets bigger and bigger. Yeah. Way more popular and way more saturated in the media. So the Bachelor's just like way more popular than it has been like maybe ever. And I don't completely understand how we got here. Do you have any theories about that?

I totally have a theory. There's more entertainment. media now than ever before, especially if you think back on like 10, 15 years ago. The show started, was it 13 years, 15, 15 years ago, 2002. Yeah. With Alex, what's his face? Right. And not only that, now we have social media, so you get to follow all the stars during

the show in their real lives as well as keeping up with the lives of past contestants. I think of a good point. It's sort of like it's constant. Like Bachelor Nation didn't exist even like five years ago in the same way. Oh, totally not. Not even, they weren't as clicky. and if they were, you would never know that they still had close relationships. And now everybody bugs out and we're all hanging out together.

Right. I mean, it is funny, like, just to track it. I don't really, like, follow a ton of people, but I check in. Like, I'll be like, what's up with so-and-so? Let's check out their Instagram. I'm like, whatever. And just see, like, what everyone's up to. And it is kind of fun.

It's, like, sort of, like, with athletes. I like when they're friends off the court. Oh, my God, I love that stuff. Yeah. Yeah. So it's quite similar to see, like, who's in, who's out, who stays in L.A., who moves, all that. You can tell a lot by who hangs out with who.

Oh, yeah. And how the storyline unfolded on TV? And you're like, wait, how can... Like, nobody understands how Jared and I can be so close. I kind of get it. Yeah? I do. Okay.

I do. Because I'm so... What they show you is me being awkward around him and me being, like, a stalker. Like, oh, my God, Ashley's a stalker. I'm like, oh, yeah, I'm a stalker. He flew out of here and stayed with me. Like, no. I mean, also, like, once you pass a certain Rubicon of, like, into, like, kind of, like, the crazy

zone or like you've like kind of like embarrassed yourself to such an extent. Not to say that you have. Yeah. But like just my own experience. Like once you sort of like, oh totally. Struck out, you're like, well, there's nothing left to lose. You can just be friends now. I am so completely and totally myself with him. Right. It's because I can't embarrass myself anymore. Sure. It's met the utmost. Actually one day last December after we hooked up when I thought we were finally going to maybe start dating soon. I threw up in his car. with him. Jeez.

Yeah. Like into a bag or just like on the car? On the car door. So like you're like the worst kind of Uber passenger who just throws up. Yeah. So like after that I was like I can probably tell you anything. I can probably react to anything as outright as least as I want. Wow.

Yeah, it's true. It's like almost like it's like comfortable. Yeah. Yeah. I actually completely get that. I really do. Let's final thoughts in this week's episode. So what do you predict happens with Taylor next week?

It left on a to be continued. Oh, okay. So I think Taylor probably comes into that dinner and Nick's like, come on, Taylor. Just thank you. Thank you for airing this out to me. I'm sure you needed to get it off your chest for your own sake, but I don't really care. You can go now. And then there was some stuff in the teaser about how Jasmine was saying, oh my gosh, never

thought two people would be eliminated on a one on one, on a two-on-one one. Alluding to the fact that Corinne also leaves and the rest of the teaser also doesn't show Corinne. Very suspicious, right? Then what about that part when Corinne is like, I'm going to go have sex with Nick in his room now? Where's Nick's room? He needs to go meet my platinum Vigene.

Right. There's no way they're both going home. No, no way. I agree that they're not both leaving. It's actually relatively early right now. We're only in episode five. Right, they haven't left the country. I left Crystal season at the end of episode six.

Right. Right. Yeah, they're probably in week four or five right of typing. Yeah. Is it really, do they follow the week by week structure? Is that accurate? Each week is different lengths. Got it.

The first couple weeks are four days tops. Got it. And these weeks, once you start traveling, it's longer. I hope we see Taylor of the summer in paradise. I bet she'll be there for like a with Gren. It would be amazing.

I don't know. The first second I saw Gron, I was like, well, she'll be in Mexico this summer. We'll see a lot more of her. There's no way she wins, but I don't think she's going home yet either. Ashley, thanks so much for coming on this podcast.

Thank you for having me, Julia. I'm definitely going to have you back since I now know that you have so much information. Yeah, seriously. And thanks to SunBasket and to Simply Safe. And as always, thanks for listening. I'll be back next week. And once again, thanks to SunBasket. SunBasket delivers healthy recipes and pre-measured fresh ingredients straight to your door

so you can prepare a meal you're proud up in just 30 minutes or less. And with paleo, gluten-free, vegetarian, and even breakfast options, there's something for everyone. So go to sunbasket.com slash Bachelor to get your first three meals for free. Sunbasket.com slash Bachelor. Come on, just do it.