Hello Steve!
One thing I have noticed this season in the Bachelor which you have also addressed is the editing. It’s so random! If I hadn’t read your spoilers I would have had no clue that the volleyball game was a challenge. I would have just assumed it was a pick up game. I would say a fun pick up game, but they all seemed pretty miserable. It reminded me of the date on Ben H’s season where they went and swam with pigs.
I feel like this season is all over the place. I wasn’t glued to the television, but I was trying to pay close attention and I kept thinking I completely missed a major storyline or something.
This next part is kind of about Ben and Lauren, who I personally do think they are close to breaking up, but that doesn’t really matter. But I was wondering since their show was canceled and essentially given to the twins, has there been any drama between the Emily, Haley, and Lauren? I’m just curious.
I love your podcast by the way!
Comment: Not that I’ve heard, but I doubt there’s much. They still seem to be pretty close. If I hear anything I’ll let people know.
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Hi Steve.
Great recap as always. A few questions and observations.
1. I’m not trying to be snarky here but I don’t think you reported it correctly about Kristina, or at least, I heard it differently through her thick, James Bond villainess accent. I heard Kristina say that her mom wasn’t kind to her, was mean and erratic and not a good provider. She said that her mom told her not to eat any food and left her home for the day. The mom came home, saw she ate food (was that when she ate the lipstick??), and yelled at her to get out so she went to an orphanage. And she said this was when she was 5 or 6. As odd as this sounds that a 5 year old would walk herself to an orphanage, I think her mom must have died at some later date bc Nick asked her if her mom ever came to see her at the orphanage, Which would be hard to do if she was dead? Could be I totally have this wrong since the editing was so odd but that’s how it sounded. No, you could very well be right. I’d have to go back and listen. She got put into an orphanage at 4 or 5, that was established I believe. I thought she said it was because her mom died, but maybe not. Maybe it was because she wasn’t around and didn’t care for her, then later on her mom died. I’ll go back and listen.
2. While Nick was later reduced to tears by her story, don’t you think its odd that when girls are often telling him serious things, he has that creepy slightly mentally “off” grin on his face? Its like a mental patient’s grin! I have noticed the grin. He did this on Kimmel at the beginning of the season. He’s got this talking while he’s smiling thing that makes him hard to understand at times.
3. What was up with Vanessa during the beach date! Not only did she yell out Christmas on the catamaran (as you mentioned and it was truly cringeworthy, she even stomped her feet like a 3 year old) but she kept yelling a bunch when they played volleyball. She was so obnoxious. Do you think this was her real personality or maybe they were all trashed? Maybe this was part of why she was so unliked? Tough to say, but I’m sure alcohol played a role that day. Not sure why she was screaming the answers when no one else was. But volleyball, they all seemed loopy.
4. I meant to write you about this when she had her 1-on-1 date bc it was most apparent there but have you noticed how Danielle M keeps her eyes closed when she blinks FOREVER. I wasn’t sure if she was bored, stoned or passing out she kept them closed so long during the date. It was weird. Didn’t notice.
5. Danielle M. also has the flattest chest on any adult woman I have ever seen in my life. When she was in that white bikini I thought she looked like a 10 year old girl. Wow! Kind of a brutal body shame there. Yes, we could clearly see that, but there are plenty of women on this earth who aren’t very big.
6. You also mentioned last week that stupid Nick said “absence makes the heart grow stronger.” duh. I heard it even worse, and I played it back a few times. To me he said, “absent” makes the heart grow stronger. Double stupid!! Yeah Nick. Double stupid!!!!
7. What do you think of 24 Legacy? I like it. The format makes the show since we’ve never seen a show do that before for a whole season. And never will in the future since it’d be a blatant rip off. But it’s still just not quite the same without Jack and Chloe. At least we’ll get us some Tony coming up to give us die hards some nostalgia. I like it. We’ve seen variations of all these storylines before, but because it’s so different, it’s good to have it back.
8. And finally, I know you are talking about Bachelor episodes of course but I don’t think you can EVER omit to mention when talking about 2 on 1 dates and how the loser is left alone….the epic all time classic of Casey being left by Ali on the glacier. It will never be topped.
Comment: Yeah, that was probably the worst one. Not only that, he was left there in favor of Rated R Rego, who was basically eliminated the next episode for the whole girlfriend thing back home. Totally bizarre.
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Hi Steve!
I know you’re obviously familiar with Juliet Litman since you had her on the podcast but wasn’t sure if you listened to hers weekly? She had Ashley I. on last week and she got tight lipped about some BIP things and basically said that she wasn’t allowed to talk about it until her contract was up (which we know) but that the BIP contract was only 6 months from the finale date so she’s free to write her recaps more “salaciously” in March. By then Nick’s season is basically over which I’m sure is why the contract stretches until then but why do you think the BIP contract is so short? Aren’t their contracts with their original show whether it be Bach or Bachelorette pretty much lifetime things? Thought that was weird.
Comment: Maybe because BIP filming lasts less than half of the time of “Bachelor” filming? Not exactly sure. I did hear the beginning of Ashley with Juliet, but never finished it. I think I got tired of Ashley continually talking about herself and what she’s doing with her life now that I probably won’t go back and listen. Plus, knowing she’s close with Nick, her opinion isn’t objective whatsoever.
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Hi Steve,
I really enjoy reading your posts, and I am sending you big greetings from one small Balkan country, Serbia. I’m almost sure that I am the only person from my country to watch this franchise. So thank you for your posts.
I was wondering why this year editing is so bad? I’ve been following your blog few seasons back, and I don’t remember that it was so much edited, or better said that they skipped so many things that happened. Also, people seem to think that Corrine may get the Bachelorette gig, what do you think? Is there any chance for her to get it? I would said no but I wouldn’t be totally surprised by it.
And do you know which jobs Chris and Desiree have? To me, they seem as most normal couple in Bachelor world, and I like them together.
Comment: Serbia? Wow. Yeah, first time I can remember anyone from there saying they’re a reader. Thanks for the email.
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Steve
You had another very interesting discussion with Dana on podcast #10. I agree with you that Corrine’s presence on the show has been over saturated. Dana had an excellent point that she was concerned about Taylors career as a therapist. Regardless of the degrees a person has, if a therapist has zero compassion, understanding, empathy, and just basic kindness, they cannot be a success. Taylor didn’t exhibit any of those basic qualities. and like Dana said, I too would not go to Taylor in times of crisis. Taylor spoke to Corrine with such vitriol the entire time, so I think Dana is definitely correct in saying that it could damage Taylor’s career. I don’t think Taylor will need to find a new career. Hell, people will probably book her just so they can talk to her about her time on the show. I highly doubt she’ll have to change professions because of this.
Corrine told Ellen Degeneres that she has talked to Chad Johnson. Can you imagine that Corrine and Chad will end up as the “villain” couple, perhaps on paradise before it’s all said and done?
Thanks
Comment: If Chad and Corinne end up hooking up, dating, etc it’s all for show. Just like him going after Robby and Grant’s ex. The second it wasn’t news anymore, he let them go. They were pawns in his game. I don’t buy a thing Chad is selling. Dude has some issues.
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I have to agree the editing is a muck! It’s been confusing trying to follow their storylines and that’s dominated the group texts I have with friends. Is there a new editing team this year? Seems like either there’s a new team learning the ropes, or the B team is filling in while the A team are on strike? Not that I know of.
Plus it’s apparent everyone hates these to be continued weeks. Sometimes we like cliff hangers, but at this point they’ve jumped shark and it’s not adding to the drama, it’s just annoying viewers. Do you think they’ll do some viewer polls and abandon this concept?
Comment: I remember a couple seasons ago when they did it for the first time, people complained. And I specifically remember a tweet Fleiss sent out about the next season saying that they wouldn’t do it as much, if at all, because they listen to their viewers. Well, here we are this season and they’ve done it again. Every episode. Tells you what he really thinks about viewer feedback. They’re gonna do what they wanna do, regardless of whether people like it or not. They have 33 seasons under their belt, so they just assume people are gonna watch regardless. And they do.
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Steve,
I noticed the majority of former bachelorettes are in LA. Is something being filmed for TV? I haven’t heard anything but that doesn’t mean something isn’t.
Also, I just can’t anymore with this season of the bachelor. Too much Corrine, and not enough development for any other girl. Nick seems completely disinterested in the majority of them, and the editing just seems terrible. At this point I don’t even care who he ends up with. It is clear as day it won’t last past dwts.
To me it seems Raven is getting a lot of ITM time, do you think they do this so we notice her over say Rachel?
Take care!
Comment: I mean, without going back and setting a stopwatch to how much each girl got to the exact minute, I didn’t notice a major discrepancy. We never got any of his alone time with Raven, even though he gave her the group date rose and was even very complimentary towards her in his blog. But they showed his time with Rachel and I do remember a few of her ITM’s. I’d say it was pretty close to the naked eye.
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Dear Reality Steve,
Very recently started watching the Bachelor series and even more recently started reading your blog. So glad I found it, as it’s a joy to read!
I have a few questions that are sort of about last week’s episodes, but they’ve been rolling around my mind.
1. In regards to Taylor and Corinne– Corinne’s attack at Taylor last week felt very sudden to me, and from what they have shown of Taylor on the show so far seemed to be untrue. I’m wondering if you know if Taylor was actually actively disliked around the house, or if Corinne’s claims were actually baseless. Is this reality TV manipulation, like were the producers not showing us everything (like the girls’ opinions of Taylor) to further villainize Corinne? Or was Taylor well-liked and Corinne was truly just messing with her? Not sure if you’ll know or not, but I thought you’d be the best to ask. Before the season, I had tweeted out that Taylor was a mini “villain” just because I’d heard she did psychoanalyze people, and some people didn’t take to that. So I don’t think Corinne was completely making it up, but exaggerating it to make herself look better and put Taylor down? Absolutely.
2. You mentioned in your blog last week that you feel like being on The Bachelor really messed with Taylor’s head. I got that vibe a little bit from last week’s episode, as well, but I’m wondering why you feel that way? Because she seems a little too normal and level headed for this show, was completely thrown off her game by Corinne’s manipulations, and then seeing Bachelor Nation all the sudden turn Team Corinne last week over some of her ITM comments, I just felt if I’m Taylor, and I saw how Corinne was able to manipulate Nick, then seeing America not only think Corinne is turning funny, but also start turning against Taylor, sure I’d be upset if I were her. I bet she never suspected that would be the case when she was eliminated from the show.
Thanks! Can’t wait to keep reading your weekly posts and emails!
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Hi Steve,
Have you heard anything else about the Lauren and Ben situation? I don’t think they’re together – she hasn’t been home in weeks, just hanging with the girls like she’s single. I’m shocked that Ben was pathetic enough to try and pretend they still are together in his Instagram post…And where’s her ring? She posted a small gold ring that had a “B” on it…very strange! I just don’t think she was ready for marriage, he seems old and boring – she wants to still go out. Nothing definitive. They’re still together, but it’s not all rainbows and sunshine that’s for sure. I wouldn’t be surprised by anything at this point.
One more thing – Do you think Rachel could even handle Bachelorette? She seemed very uncomfortable in the last episode saying she was out of her element. I think they should go with Kristina!!!
Comment: It’s certainly a question that was brought up in last week’s podcast and will continue to be, at least in my eyes, going forward. Is how much her job and her unfamiliarity with the show would hurt her in that role.
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Hey Steve!
Sorry for the late question – might have to wait til next week’s column if you’ve already finished.
I’ve been trying to put my finger on what’s off about this season, and based on your columns I’m thinking that it’s Nick’s general awareness of the workings of the show combined with his desire to want to keep the “good guy” image that Paradise gave him. Do you think that Nick’s experience on this show and attempts to seemingly produce himself are backfiring? In the environment they create, it’s hard for the Bachelor himself to create good tv and also come off squeaky clean. Nick’s appeal (or lack thereof for some) has always been that he wasn’t the typical contestant and didn’t buy into the rules. So his attempts to maintain the status quo drama with sudden cuts (dropping both girls on the 2 on 1) or by just keeping the “bad girl” around (Corinne) are coming off very stilted and hokey. Maybe I’m overestimating how obvious it is because I’ve been watching this show for too long, but I think it comes off pretty clear that he has no real connection with most of these girls and is just kind of muscling through to the finale. I feel like this show just doesn’t work when it’s too “meta”. Paradise can get away with being more humorous and self-aware, but The Bachelor itself either has to buy into its own concept 100% or it falls flat. Nick seems to want it both ways. What are your thoughts?
Comment: I could agree with that. It’s basically the problem this show has every season. It takes itself too seriously, and makes it all about “Can this person find their one true love,” when that’s a totally unrealistic expectation. Yet the show harps on it. Just think about it at its core. Nick has zero say in who is on this show. None. He doesn’t see a group of pictures of 50 women, choose 30 of them and say, “These are the ones I’d like to see if we mesh. I want them on the show.” Because then you could actually make the case if it doesn’t work out that, “Man, this guy is just having a rough time finding someone.”
No, the show handpicks 30 random strangers, who happened to apply for their show (some submitted purely to promote themselves), and Nick then is basically forced to decide which one he wants to get engaged to and the end? It’s preposterous. You’re basically just choosing who you like the most out of hand picked women who want to be on TV. It’s nothing more complicated than that. So yeah, Nick has been through this 4 times, he knows what he has to do and say to sell a TV show, and it’s just not believable to someone who understands what really goes on behind the scenes. However, those people are the minority of their audience. Still waaaaaaaaay more people buy this crap and think it’s real than don’t. And that’s why the show remains successful. If you don’t believe me, just go read comments on the Bachelor Facebook Fan Page and when you’re done slapping yourself in the forehead 1,000 times and pick yourself up off the floor from laughing so hard, you’ll realize there are a ton of people out there who just don’t get it.
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Send all links and emails to: steve@realitysteve.com. To follow me on Twitter, it’s: www.twitter.com/RealitySteve. Instagram name is “RealitySteve,” or join my Reality Steve Facebook Fan Page. Talk to you tomorrow.
