I know this is a “Bachelor” column, but anyone who knows me and what I like, knows that the news coming down yesterday of Luke Perry’s passing had to know what a blow that was to me. In a couple weeks, I’m going to do the podcast with Tara Ariano and Sarah D. Bunting from the “Again With This” podcast to talk all things “Beverly Hills 90210.” They were the ones I recorded with back in January and I accidentally deleted it. Still pissed about that, but we’re re-recording next week, so you should hear that soon. Anyway, I guess we have one more, if not terribly tragic, topic to discuss. Millennials probably can’t comprehend how important Luke Perry was in early to mid 90’s. He’s what every HS kid aspired to be. Sideburns became a thing in the 90’s BECAUSE of him and Jason Priestly rocking them during the show. The dude was who we all wanted to be. Personified cool. That show had a huge impact on my high school and college years (mostly my college years), because their college years coincided exactly with mine. From 93-97, I was in college, then watching them navigate through college every Thursday night. And yes, not afraid to admit we actually had 90210 watch parties. Everyone did. It was the thing to do. To hear of his stroke last week and then his passing yesterday at age 52 is gut wrenching. Even seeing the video montages of his career and video tributes on the entertainment shows last night was damn near impossible to watch. I’m not ready yet. The guy was admired by many and will no doubt be missed. RIP Dylan McKay.
The big news in “Bachelor” land yesterday was that I exclusively confirmed that Hannah B. will be your “Bachelorette” next season. It will be announced next Tuesday on the “After the Final Rose” and the season begins filming next Thursday. The last two seasons, we’ve seen on the ATFR (with Rachel and then Becca), they brought out five of their guys so they can meet them early. So it wouldn’t be a surprise if they did that a third time and Hannah gets to meet some of her guys next Tuesday night. I know the discussion now turns to either “Great! I love her!” or “Ugh, why her? I’m done with this franchise.” It’s the same song and dance every season. No matter who they name, there will always be an outcry from fans who hate the choice. And as I say every single season, I’ll say it again this season: no one cares if you don’t like who their choice is. The more you rant about it on social media, the more we know you’re still gonna watch. There’s no point in asking why they chose Hannah over so-and-so. Or did so-and-so almost get it. It’s irrelevant. The show decides who they want based on whatever criteria they decide on. Plenty of people will love the choice, and plenty of people wanna throw up at the choice. All you gotta do is read the responses underneath my tweet yesterday. Ran the gamut of emotions. And that’s the exact reason why the show isn’t going anywhere. Very rarely have they ever made a decision on a lead for this show and their audience was apathetic to it. So you’ll either watch because you love them, or you’ll hate watch.
What this announcement does do is give us our first “Bachelorette” who finished outside the top 4 in 15 seasons. And Hannah even finished 7th. But that’s kind of a technicality. I mean, she did make it to the episode before hometowns, she just happened to be the first one who got sent home that episode, so that makes her technically 7th. Heather and Kirpa went home after her in the episode. But we now know we have that option open for future seasons of them choosing someone outside the top 4. They’ve broken the seal for “Bachelorette.” Only done it twice in “Bachelor” history with Jake and Juan Pablo, so it’s still very rare to have it done only 3 times in 38 total seasons.
I’m actually fine with Hannah B. as “Bachelorette.” You know who is SUPER fine with it? My friend whose message I copy and pasted into the column two weeks ago who made a very compelling case for her. Hannah B. was never on my radar until my friend wrote me that and lets just say, she is gloating like no other and wants a parade for herself. Hey, she deserves it. Because lets be honest, ZERO people were talking about Hannah B. until I posted that from my friend two weeks ago, then all the sudden there was this giant Hannah B. sentiment online. It was weird. It all made sense. And once I saw Hannah B. and Caelynn’s backstage interviews at the WTA with Mrs. Chris Harrison that got released last week, you could almost see either Hannah knew it’d be her, or was at least pretty confident she was a finalist. I mean, these answers were straight out of the “Bachelorette 101.” They were perfect for someone wanting the role. Here was the ETOnline interview:
You compare that with how Caelynn reacted when asked about it, it’s like night and day:
So yeah, once I saw that last week, to me, Caelynn was done and it was definitely looking more and more like Hannah B. It’ll become official next week. They aren’t gonna pull the rug out from under her like they have in the past. I have the utmost confidence in this one. The wheels are already in motion for her, so expect that announcement at the ATFR.
I actually got some “Dr. Reality Steve” emails for this week. Hey, how about that? First ones in a while. But I can always do more. Also, send in any “Reader Emails” you have for tomorrow. If you can keep the “I like/don’t like Hannah B.” as the Bachelorette ones to a minimum, that’d be great. Why? Because I don’t know what I’m supposed to say to them. She’s gonna be the “Bachelorette” and, well, whether you’re going to choose to watch or not watch because you may or may not like her doesn’t change anything. I think it’s a solid pick, I have no issues with her as the lead, and it’ll be just like any other season.
lmarie
March 5, 2019 at 9:47 AM
Seemed alittle staged last night but who knows
crushonspivey
March 5, 2019 at 9:57 AM
Love your commentary Steve. I come for the snark and spoilers. Think your relationship takes are usually off. 40 year old non-married guy. Let’s be real. Women are still a huge mystery to you.
Last night was the most real episode this franchise has ever had. It was pretty intense. But I totally get Colton still wanting to pursue Cassie and to end it with the other girls. Because it was real, and was no longer about a TV show to Colton. So that part was done. His life was taking over and I respect him for having the steel to handle it the right way.
I think Colton and Cassie have a chance simply because they are doing it the right way. No fake pretense now. No bogus and contrived engagement. Just dating like normal people. I still only give it a 50% chance at most, but at least it is real. And a better chance than most of the other Bachelors get in this franchise.
As to WTA, wow there are some ridiculous people on this show this year. So much immaturity. Some girls are gonna embarrass themselves. For real, not just Kardashian style.
justsaying
March 5, 2019 at 10:51 AM
Cassie’s confusion is all her dad’s fault. She’s a daddy’s girl. She was fine until Colton told her about her dad not giving permission. Her dad planted a seed of doubt in her and Cassie is highly impressionable by her dad. Same thing happened to Arie. His parents confused him thus what happened.
I want to hear from Cassie’s mom. I don’t believe her dad that her mom knew her dad’s the one right away. Did Cassie’s mom ask him out on their first date?? Did Cassie’s mom say you’re the one upon meeting him?? Let’s hear it from Cassie’s mom!
tinyred500
March 5, 2019 at 12:22 PM
I’ve listened to a couple of podcasts about last nights episode and from the comments I’ve read, there doesn’t seem to be very much of Team Cassie about. For the entire season she’s been pretty undecided and needing to defend herself why she’s there, and whilst I have zero problem with her not wanting to be engaged this soon (this is so refreshingly normal), but her to reject Colton even when said he’ll be patient and they don’t need to be engaged comes off as disingenuous on her part, and did she just stay as long as she could in hope of being the Bachelorette after all? Colton appeared the most real and genuine, but after last nights episode it’s clear he really can’t pick one of the other two girls. I wonder whether Cassie goes back to Colton just to save her reputation? I think she’s very immature for her age and I don’t see them getting married even in the long run. They don’t appear to be on the same page, and that at least would solidify a start of their relationship. We’ll have to see.
As a side note. We had the 1st episode of Bachelor UK last night. It’s on for 10 episodes and on every single weekday (so it ends next Friday). There were 17 women (all Brits apart from one from New York) to start with, who were all at one house together, so they all saw each other before meeting the bachelor. The ages range from 21 to 35 years old, most are mid 20s to early 30s. They all had to give a speech as to why they were deserving to be there, the women then had to vote and decide which 2 women were the least deserving, those 2 had to leave immediately. It was filmed in South Africa and it airs from 10.00 pm (anything shown after 9.00 pm is considered for adult viewing). Most of the 15 women arrive individually in a vintage Rolls Royce. There’s humour, swearing (and it looks like there’s an actual fight in a later episode! Lol) and it doesn’t come across quite as staged (very few of the usual lines spoken) compared to the USA version and not quite as cheesy, but it had (mostly) the usual ‘type’ of females, which you see on most British reality programmes. The women meet the 32 year old, 6’6 Alex who owns his own business. There is no first impression rose, instead a white rose which means the recipient can ask the bachelor on a date of their choice and timing. Two women were set home on the first night.
corn29
March 5, 2019 at 12:47 PM
@crushonspivey
> So much immaturity.
Yep. Especially Demi. She’s the worst. She thinks swearing and using street talk makes her a strong and independent woman. Sigh. So much for that one to learn.
@justsaying
> Let’s hear it from Cassie’s mom!
+1.
Disclaimer. I love Cassie. She looked amazing last night in that solver dress too!
Cassie is talking a lot of crap in social media for being fake and not there for the right reasons (whatever that means). But I did NOT see Cassie get in to the catty b**tch-fest that was this season, Cassie never said “no” — she just wants more time. That seems like a well-reasoned, mature, response to me.
Caroll
March 5, 2019 at 1:47 PM
On Youngonce.ca and on The Bachelor the main thing I see with Cassie’s personality is that she’s INDECISIVE!
Caroll
March 5, 2019 at 1:51 PM
Never able to make a decision! With both
“Boyfriends “. That’s her character flaw.
justsaying
March 5, 2019 at 2:00 PM
@Caroll
Maybe it’s because her dad keep planting his seeds of doubt in her
justa_viewer
March 5, 2019 at 2:15 PM
I think Cassie is *less* indecisive than some of us are giving her credit for. If they were on Paradise, for example, and a hotter guy/better-seeming catch arrived a couple of days in, I firmly believe she’d have had a much easier time dumping Colton.
As others have pointed out, one of the issues here was that she likely did not want to come off badly on TV. (Got a show biz career to consider, right?) And I imagine she was perhaps not quite prepared for Colton’s determined resistance to her dumping him–for example, when he stated that he was willing to give her more time, they did not need to get engaged right away, etc. She should have thought of these possibilities ahead of time and scripted a reply for each one, since she’s apparently not much good at improvising beyond “I’m confused…I don’t know…”
JMO
tinyred500
March 5, 2019 at 2:15 PM
Her Dad was trying to make her see sense etc., but surely she should know whether she actually wants to be ‘with’ someone, without her Dad being able to completely put her off? Even when Colton begged her to stay without a proposal, she still left. She’s either unsure about him, or left for some other reason. Let’s hope we find out next week.
crushonspivey
March 5, 2019 at 2:42 PM
Well, we know Cassie has only been YoungOnce twice. Poor girl. 23 and not capable of knowing her own mind as to men. So her daddy has to remind her what it is.
ebonyiman
March 5, 2019 at 3:17 PM
I’m with you. I think her dad was just the perfect scapegoat for what she already knew. I can see her being on Paradise in the future. While they gave her a great edit, she still has some maturing to do.
Hannah B has been my pick for over a month now. Once she stopped talking about Caelynn (as we were allowed to see who she truly was anyway), I felt like she would be a good pick (or Danielle M) and would be interesting as the Bachelorette (and unpredictable which could be entertaining). I have to find this article now about what was said a week or so ago as to why she’s a good pick.
jlal
March 5, 2019 at 6:27 PM
I got the impression Cassie is just not that into Colton. I do respect that she didn’t fall into the “I’m falling in love” trap like they all, icluding Colton, seem to do. She saying “I love you, but I’m not in love with you”, said it all.
notimpressed
March 5, 2019 at 7:58 PM
I feel horrible for this poor guy, honestly. Cassie dresses up in her hottest outfit to leave him on that night and leads him on to think that they are about to have a normal nice evening. Its really low. All this little girl “I’m confused” stuff she did was absurd and honestly, Colton is a really nice, sweet and good hearted guy. Just feel bad for him. There are a million Cassie types out there who will happily take him and he doesn’t need that garbage.
Colton should be the bachelor again next season.
notimpressed
March 5, 2019 at 8:20 PM
At the end of the day, Cassies dad wants her with a good hearted guy I would imagine….Colton is about as innocent, pure and sweet as they come.
Hopefully Cassie meets some California playboy who is a real ladies man. That’s who she will be “sure” about until he cheats on her 30 times
notimpressed
March 5, 2019 at 8:31 PM
Couldn’t agree w you more….wtf does the dad want her to end up with anyway? This guy actually loves her and proved it by dumping the others. There is no doubt. They want her to continue having sex with whoever until she is 35 or something? I would want my daughter to marry a guy with the integrity of a Colton, and I think he does have a good sense of loyalty and commitment which he proved to me here at the very least.
justa_viewer
March 6, 2019 at 5:51 AM
I will never feel sorry for Colton.
In my opinion, he campaigned to be the Bachelor in a distastefully calculated manner. I believe he cultivated his initial “relationship” with Tia primarily so he could be on the show when she was the Bachelorette (but then she wasn’t). I think on BIP he then re-cultivated a (mainly fake, on his side) relationship with Tia as an audition for The Bachelor, trying to show a sensitive, caring side that really wanted to find love. Never believed his act for a second.
I did not watch almost any of his season because I felt him to be *that* disingenuous and obviously a fame hound and someone who hoped TB would lead to like financial opportunities that have so far escaped him. Plus he is dull.
Colton, Karma’s a bitch. I admit I watched the episode where I heard Cassie was going to give you the heave-ho. I enjoyed seeing that, not gonna lie.
However, I’m sure Colton will end up just fine in the long run. I imagine TB is, long term, going to do for him what he was hoping: provide new sources of income, some sort of celebrity status, etc. And assuming he’s straight (hey, apparently I was wrong, I really thought he was gay), I’m sure if it’s not Cassie (though I kind of those two nitwits deserve each other), it’ll be some other hot babe, thanks to all the publicity he’s garnered.
jp22
March 6, 2019 at 7:44 AM
Caelyn the beauty pageant contestant has waayyy more of a potty mouth than Demi.