Another blast from the past this week as we dip back into Juan Pablo’s season for a great conversation with Kat Hurd. Kat’s someone I always knew I wanted to get on the podcast at some point and figured now would be a good time to do it. A lot of good stories she tells from her season including being courted by the show to come on (with a phone call and flowers from Fleiss himself), to her spats with Nikki, to her bizarre 1-on-1 with Juan Pablo. A lot of good stuff in there. And as I mentioned on Tuesday, I really appreciate Kat opening up about the struggles she had with bulimia over the years. A really important topic that I’m sure wasn’t the easiest thing to talk about, but I applaud her for doing so. Can’t be an easy thing to discuss. I know it’s something she’s passionate about and had briefly mentioned it before, but I don’t know how many people truly knew the extent of what she’s been through. As always, if you want to respond to the interview, please include Kat’s Twitter handle (@KatHurd) in your replies. I’m sure she would appreciate hearing from anyone who maybe has gone through what she has, so don’t be afraid to let her know. Really enjoyed talking to Kat and I hope you enjoy the podcast.
You can listen to today’s podcast on a number of platforms, but you can also tune in by clicking the player below:
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts, RSS, Stitcher, Spotify
Music written by Jimmer Podrasky
(B’Jingo Songs/Machia Music/Bug Music BMI)
(SPOILERS) Kat joins me to talk about how big of a fan she was before coming on the show, getting named to the Phoenix Suns dance team the same time she was accepted on the “Bachelor” and her decision to do the show (7:42), her limo entrance and first night impressions of the women (17:13), how she handled her dressed for the season (21:13), her first 1-on-1 with Juan Pablo for their Electric Run (24:43), international travel in South Korea & when her problems started with Nikki (31:08), the Vietnam group date (36:34), did she think she was going home in New Zealand (38:11), her overall experience (47:00), why she never did Paradise (50:46), her struggles with bulimia (52:16), her charity work post-show (59:27), her boyfriend Matt (1:03:14), and we end with the Final 10 (1:09:30).
Twitter – @KatHurd
Instagram – kathurd
I’m sure a lot of you by now saw my tweet yesterday regarding the next “Bachelor” announcement. I’m very well aware of what the show has done the past two seasons pulling Nick and Arie out of their ass at the last minute for shock value. So I get that there will always be skepticism in regards to the “Bachelor” announcement since it’s really the only thing this show can keep a secret about anymore. They interview multiple people, lie to multiple people to make them believe it’s them, then pick one and others are surprised. With that said, all I can do is report to you what I’m hearing, and the latest is that they’re gonna go with Colton.
To say the reaction on Twitter yesterday on my post was negative would be an understatement. I’d say it was running 95% in the camp of “Noooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!” And within that 95% of negativity, most people were almost mad at the fact that they Tia will show again on his season and we’ll have the Tia/Colton show yet again. That’s not happening. Assuming this information is true, and I don’t have any reason to believe it’s not, and Colton is the next “Bachelor,” Tia is not gonna appear on his season as a contestant. It’s just not gonna happen so you can rule that out.
I get that not a lot of people are happy, which is standard every time there’s a “Bachelor” announcement. Uhhhhh, may I take you back to Sept. 7th last year when Arie was announced and the uproar that caused? Look, I don’t care that Colton is the “Bachelor.” Whatever. Do I think it’s a great choice? No. But it’s not my choice to make and I kinda see why they did it. I just don’t think he’s great TV. But again, this show is made by the casting of the women, not the lead, so they’ll be fine no matter how many people bitch about it. They bitched about Nick, they bitched about Arie, they’re bitching about Colton. It’s par for the course. If you ask why, the only thing I could come up with is the fact that Sean Lowe has been their only “successful” Bachelor story being the only guy who married the final girl he chose. The optics on the outside of Colton as the “Bachelor” is the closest thing they have to Sean. The whole virgin thing, former football player, no scandals in his past, morals, etc. For as much sh** as this franchise took the past year for their casting of questionable men, I kinda see why they’re going with Colton.
Look, he’s no more an opportunist than all the ones before him. This was his ultimate goal from the second he applied for Becca’s season. And he was always on their radar as a potential candidate because he screams “Middle America.” Am I surprised they went with him after all the Tia stuff and now we’re gonna have him on 3 consecutive seasons? Absolutely. The questions about “why not Blake” or “why not Jason,” I don’t know how I’m supposed to answer that. If it were Blake, you would’ve been asking “Why not Jason?” or “Why not Colton?” And vice versa if Jason was named. Everyone’s got their favorites, and Colton is certainly drawing a strong reaction from the audience, regardless of how negative it is. And that’s EXACTLY what they want. Frankly, all I care is that there’s a season, I already have 12 women (actually 13 now) I’m pretty sure will get cast, and I’m ready to spoil their season again. Expect the “official” announcement of Colton to happen on GMA sometime next week is what I’m hearing.
pugmom
August 30, 2018 at 8:39 AM
I super hope Colton is not the next bachelor. He was the only one I did not want. I will take anyone else. He doesn’t strike me as being sincere although I don’t have any real proof other than that’s the vibe I get from him. He doesn’t really know what he wants. I will definitely give him a chance and I will watch the next season regardless. Just hoping for Jason or Blake instead.
shenanigans
August 30, 2018 at 9:02 AM
To writer #1: this guy seems to be pulling away. Under the circumstances, you should let him. If he has doubts this early in the game, it wasn’t meant to be.
To writer #2: don’t speak to the guy’s mother again until you have the DNA results. You will open yourself to a world of heartache that you don’t need to take on. Once paternity is established, you can work out some sort of schedule for her to see the baby. But, other than that, you need to take care of yourself first.
pdxkg
August 30, 2018 at 9:18 AM
I don’t understand producers and their picks for the male leads. They seem to be picking their personal friends and not who make good TV. I am definitely in the NO camp with this news, and won’t watch if Colton is the Bachelor. He is not Sean 2.0, he is Nick 2.0. What a waste of time Nick’s season was. For me Nick was the worst bachelor, because, IMO, he had no personality and could not even fake feelings for the girls on his season. It is the same with Colton. I’m sure he is a nice guy, but he is lacking any screen presence, doesn’t really say much, seems defensive and immature, and it is so obvious he has no interest in Tia.
For me it does matter who is the Bachelor and I want some one who is intelligent, engaging and is at least trying to meet someone. I want to “believe in their love story” even if it is a brief, only for TV affair.
I was really hoping it was Jason. He may be polished and positioning for the gig, but this is what Ben did and his season was my favorite so far.
They really need to get a new story editor. Both the Bachelor and BIP have become hot messes with no real story lines and no understanding of how any relationships are progressing. The ratings are starting to decline and will only decline further if the producers can’t cast good male leads and have a watchable story.
rob22
August 30, 2018 at 9:56 AM
1st emailer: I say this often. In the first several months, you have the honeymoon period. That’s where people are gaga about each other. I’m noting that this is not what you’ve described. If a guy’s not smiling ear to ear at this point, it’s not a good sign at all. I’ll allow for the possibility that the guy had a bad weekend, or maybe had something on his mind. The trouble is that it’s likely that he had someone else on his mind. Now…. you claim to be wanting to have fun and see where it goes. If that’s truly where your head is at, then just move past it and see if you guys can have more fun. But if you’re really hoping this thing turns into something…. which is where think you’re at…. then you should absolutely bring it up. Have an actual conversation that starts with, “you didn’t seem yourself this weekend. you were very quiet, especially during the car rides. What’s up?” And then just be quiet and see what he says & go from there. I’m really not thinking this is going anywhere long term. Chalk it up, as they say, to just another guy who’s not the one.
Emailer #2- I do want to give the Mom somewhat of a break. Her son just died. Her son just died and she just heard she might have a grandchild from her dead son. Her dead son that died of a drug OD. So, from her perspective, not only has she lost a child, but she’s a complete failure of a Mom. Her son got into drugs and essentially killed himself AND he got someone pregnant whom he’s not married to. She may be trying to minimize the damage to her guilt by trying to will the situation into being different…. where there isn’t a kid, from a woman he’s not married to, that will be born without a father, because…. her father was a drug addict who died. Do you see that? Now, that doesn’t mean that you have to put up with this. You have rights too. I would suggest you minimize contact, though not eliminate it entirely. Just keep contact more on your terms. After a bit of time has passed, and maybe after the DNA test confirms her worst fears, maybe you can sit down with her and draw some boundaries. But you’re going to be a single Mom. Having supportive grandparents can be a real help to you and VERY good for your child IF Mom can get it together and be that grandparent. I don’t know if that will happen. But, understand where she’s coming from, allow time for her to grieve and accept the truth. Then see what happens. I could see a scenario where you guys work it out and are both good positive role models for your child. I realize this is very optimistic. But, for the kids sake, I hope it can play out that way.
tinyred500
August 30, 2018 at 10:29 AM
I’m definitely not sold on Colton being the new Bachelor, if the franchise picks him. He’s far too immature to get engaged. We’ve had 2 rough season’s, let’s not have a 3rd! Blake and Jason are men who at least show both integrity and maturity, both great choices there.
Colton is no Sean 2.0, remember when Chris Harrison said Chris Soules was the most sincere bachelor they had when his season first aired?!…even he seemly forgot the sincerity of Sean!
dogmomma
August 30, 2018 at 10:58 AM
I was hoping for Jason to be the next Bachelor. He just seems mature and ready for the process. Colton will be in the category of “going through the motions but not able to make a commitment”. I know that this show is extremely manipulated and staged, but it is much more fun to watch when the person in the lead is believable in wanting to find someone special who might be their match for life. If they do in fact choose Colton, it will be interesting to see if Tia comes back at some point to stir up trouble for him because the show loves their drama. UGH! I just want to see the romance 😉
rob22
August 30, 2018 at 11:30 AM
It was pretty transparent that Colton went on BIP to drum up interest for his being the Bachelor. This is much like what they did with Nick. The difference is that Nick was portrayed as the sage of the beach after not getting a great edit on Kaitlyn’s season. He mostly helped others out during BIP and didn’t get too much into the drama himself. It was a total image rehab to set him up to be The Bachelor.
Honestly, after commenting that Colton was getting his audition on an earlier post, I also said that I thought he botched it. The whole Colton/Tia thing was excruciating to watch. And his coming around to try things with Tia after a conversation with Bibiana was NOT BELIEVABLE AT ALL!! I wasn’t buying and I don’t think many were. That was totally a producer setup scene. I hope Bibiana got a little somethin/somethin in her checking account for being a good soldier. Add to the fact that, as someone else noted, Colton was supposedly in love with Becca… then he somehow got over that after talking to Bibiana so he could now be with Tia…. and NOW, he’s the Bachelor. Come on!
But I think RS is right on here. The show only cares about exposure, social media followers and building an audience for their leads. Colton checks those boxes better than anyone else, so he gets the gig. They’re not after the best lead. They’re not even after the most popular lead. They’re after the guy who’s the most well known whether that’s favorable or unfavorable. Colton hasn’t done anything illegal or immoral to disqualify him. So, he’s it. It’s not any deeper than that. We’ll see how that goes. I’ve been predicting the demise of this show for a while… and ratings are down. But I don’t think Colton has the power to kill this show. That’s just happening gradually as people get tired of watching and as younger people don’t get on board with the show in the first place. The show can’t be murdered (there’s not likely to be a jump the shark moment), but it’s dying of cancer…. or probably just of old age.
adelina
August 30, 2018 at 11:55 AM
I agree @Rob. It has nothing to do with Colton’s sincerity. It’s his ability to elicit a reaction from the audience whether that is positive or negative. People will watch to confirm:
1). He has no actual personality
2). Awww….he’s going to find someone.
3). Cool….I think he’s going to lose his V card on the overnights.
4). Yum, he’s nice to look at.
5). I knew it, he can’t make up his mind about anything.
6). Yup, called it. I knew he was gay.
ctrealitygirl
August 30, 2018 at 12:40 PM
Fingers crossed that they change their minds at the last hour like they did with Caila. I am so disappointed that they’re making Colton the Bachelor. He is beyond boring…and way too young to be serious about getting engaged. What the heck are they thinking? So many good choices and they go with the absolute worst as far as we viewers are concerned. It really irks me that they could care less about pleasing their fans.
ctrealitygirl
August 30, 2018 at 12:43 PM
PS…I’m starting to see a pattern here. Every time Reality Steve swears up and down that someone will NOT be named the next Bach/ette, that’s exactly who they pick! Maybe producers do that on purpose to show that he’s often wrong! It happened with Juan Pablo, and Kaitlyn, Nick…etc, etc. In all those cases, Steve insisted they would NOT be picked.
tinyred500
August 30, 2018 at 12:46 PM
Did you notice RS comment about him
being grateful there’s another season (despite the lead choice)? Even he knows the show is in its demise. A lot is down to the producers refusal to change the format as well (and the fact it’s an old and tired show). When viewers are being cynical because they know the well worn format, surely you’d think the producer’s would realise it’s time to change things up a bit?! Either arrogance or stupidity is marring the producers creative thinking.
kayakguy
August 30, 2018 at 2:52 PM
Am I the only one who is happy Colton is the bachelor? Those other two finalist guys from Becca’s season are so forgettable (I can’t even remember their names)…
avp2123
August 30, 2018 at 7:24 PM
Ok I understand people get mad about the bachelor contestant each time… but not this mad. Sure I was confused when they chose Arie, annoyed when they picked Nick. But LITERALLY I’m FUMING about Colton. Will not watch and I hope other also boycot. Not only is he fake and fame hungry, but he tries to portray this image that he is sweet and means no harm. Just like Cady from Mean Girls —stop pretending like you’re some innocent girl from Africa! He’s not even interesting. I think I’m mainly mad though because I actually love Grocery Joe
tamara
August 31, 2018 at 5:13 PM
This show is going down the tubes. I could barely make it through BIP. Now, I won’t watch if it’s Colton. Think Reality Steve had better explore other careers, as I’m not sure how much longer they can keep an audience with the fake drama.
karen
September 1, 2018 at 12:03 PM
I really don’t understand all the negativity about Colton. What makes him more “fake and fame-hungry” than any other contestant? I think his biggest mistake was the date he went on with Tia back in January. He obviously wasn’t into her then or now, but for some strange reason she’s become the darling of Bachelor Nation, and the producers keep trying to forge a storyline there.
I think he’ll be fine as the bachelor, especially with predecessors like Arie, Nick, Juan Pablo, Jake, the navy guy, Ben F, Prince Lorenzo, etc. You honestly think he’ll be worse than any of them? Of course not. Besides, he’s easy on the eyes, seemed well-liked by the other guys on Becca’s season (excluding the perfume guy) and generally has an upbeat personality. We already know that he has a good family and you can’t scoff at the fact that he founded a charity to help kids with cystic fibrosis wayyyy before the Bachelorette was on the radar.
Just give the guy a chance. Then if he bombs you can continue legit with your fuming and raging and boycotting.
tamara
September 1, 2018 at 4:09 PM
no one is fuming or raging. just expressing our opinions, as you did. glad you are happy.
realitynyc12
September 1, 2018 at 11:17 PM
I completely agree. Glad to c see there’s somebody that isn’t anti Colton for Bachelor. It will be great if its Colton, I think he’s way more charismatic than either Jason or Blake, that seem too “regular guy” to be the lead. After that cry fest he put on on Paradise when Becca showed up, seemingly out of nowhere, I realized this was his “moment” in the sun to audition for Bachelor. Sucks for Tia but she never should’ve gotten so hung up over someone that’s that wishy washy on her. Heres hoping she’ll just move on. But you know, I also wouldn’t be surprised if she’s not nearly as obsessed with him in real life as she is on the show and this was all an exaggerated story arc they played into. There are 2 types of people in Bachelor nation- ones that are already characters enough in real life that all they have to do is play that up to make good tv (see: Jordan and a few others) and ones that don’t mind to fully put on their acting chops for the producers to help push forward a storyline. Case in point: Annaliese. On Aries season she was made fun of for all these supposed phobias she had, including dogs. If anyone does a quick scroll through her Instagram (which I usually never do, I don’t follow any of these ppl but somehow I ended up on hers and got curious) there are several pics of her pre Bachelor cuddling with dogs and one where she said she’s volunteered at an animal rescue shelter) and surprise surprise, she’s been a working actor for years, as multiple pics indicate.
And then on paradise, her character is a super thirsty desperate girl that wants to be the next Jade or Carly. Its so obvious. I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s one that’s completely acting 100% of the time. And everyone fell right for it, including RS if his recap is of any indication.
I long suspected that they hire aspiring actors or full on working actors on this show and this is a perfect example. At the very least they sprinkle the cast with ppl like this to make things interesting. I hope RS has Annaliese on his podcast someday and asks her point blank how much of it was her completely playing a character, I’d be interested to know.
So getting back to Colton, I feel the whole Tia/Colton thing kinda sorta has a bit of a made-up feel to it as well. I mean, the guy can cry on command pretty easily, is all im saying. I think Colton fits the mold of what they’re looking for in a lead better than anyone else that was up in the running. I admit, I was eating it all up on his storyline on paradise, he’s def easy on the eyes, he’ll be a great lead. We’ll see when the announcement will come…
tinyred500
September 2, 2018 at 1:39 AM
No one is raging or fuming or otherwise, that’s just childish . As Tamara pointed out, people just expressing an opinion. Will I still watch? I might, and some others just won’t. That happens every season. However, the franchise has made some dodgy choices over the last two seasons and the ratings are getting lower and with each season now. So if the franchise continues to pick an unpopular person (with a majority of the viewers) it’s not going to help ratings etc..