I saw on refinery that Vanessa has an IMDb page (you may have already mention this on the blog and I missed it). Do you think that makes it more or less likely that her and Nick go the distance? Like it seems like sometimes when couples try and stretch their 15 minutes it can hold them together longer (example: jojo and Aaron Rodgers brother whose name I refuse to learn).
Comment: Wow. A little late to the party on that one. Vanessa has had an IMDB page since the day I spoiled her as a contestant 3 months ago. They’re just writing about that now? Did they even look at her page? She was in like 3 things, and most of them were years ago. I don’t think that has anything to do with whether her and Nick succeed. They won’t make it because Nick was never going to marry anyone from this show.
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Hi Steve,
Long time reader, first time writer. Love your site, your columns, your podcasts.. the whole 9. I wish my very first email was more thought provoking, but they’re spur of the moment questions.
Two questions..
Knowing all you know about Nick and how much he’s willing to be a puppet for this show, do you think his breakdown last week / this week (questioning the process, etc) was even remotely genuine or was it completely for the show? Maybe a little of both? It’s tough for me to believe anything that comes out of his mouth…I didn’t buy any of it.
Do you know any details about the reactions of the girls that get eliminated in the top 4? I must admit, I’m hoping Corinne has a freak out only because she’s been such a pompous mean girl… I know it’s next week, but who knows what they’ll show, so I’m wondering if you have any details.
Thanks for all you do!
Comment: No. Haven’t heard anything along those lines. I don’t think there’s anything overly dramatic though.
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Hey reality Steve!
You have mentioned that the predicted winner is Vanessa, however Nick and her are both on social media so much through snapchat, Instagram and so on that it doesn’t ever seem like they would be at the same place at the same time at the hideouts that are provided for them to spend some time together. Vanessa did go on a trip with the girls. It almost seems like whoever he ended up with it didn’t work out. No matter who it does seem like he may or may have no chose, he makes it clear on where he is basically every day. This could also mean nothing and they’re getting really good at covering up when the couple could potentially be together. What are your thoughts on this?
Comment: I think you’re reading too much into it.
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Sorry for the non-sequitur from your usual emails, but while I was watching tonight all I could think about was Nick playing the part of George Costanza, from Seinfeld, after his fiance Susan dies. Where he’s loving the attention and sympathy from all the women he interacts with, realizing Susan’s death was the best thing for his love life. Nick’s totally loving the “rejected twice, all I wanted was love but no one wanted me” back story, because he’s going to get laid for as long as he works that. Nick, the Jerk Store called, and they’re running out of YOU!
Comment: Yeah Nick. Return the Jerk Store’s phone call.
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Hi Steve,
Do you know when exactly the election results were conveyed to the contestants? How did it line up with filming? Any chance that could be the cause of heightened emotions from some?
Thanks for everything you do!
Comment: Nick actually was asked this on Juliet Litman’s Channel 33 podcast yesterday. He found out through some news channel he was able to view when overseas. It was never brought up with the girls.
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Hi, Steve! A few random questions for you!
1. What do you know about the Ben & Lauren situation? That I won’t have to buy them a wedding gift.
2. If you had to pick one couple you’d guess would make it to the altar, who would it be? (Bachelor, Bachelorette, BIP) We have what, 4 couples from this franchise together but not married yet? Shawn and Kaitlyn, Evan and Carly, JoJo and Jordan, and Ben and Lauren. If you’re forcing me to guess, I’ll go Evan and Carly. But remember, you’re asking the guy who doesn’t believe any of them until I see them walk down aisle.
3. If you had to pick ONE couple you’d say is least likely to make it to the altar, who would it be? JoJo and Jordan, followed closely by Ben and Lauren.
4. Have you heard any new information about the woman from Chicago who was on your podcast regarding her recent and sudden breakup with her fiancé? Did her ex-fiancé ever come back to her? No, but thank you for reminding me. I’ll email her.
5. Is there any former contestant you would NOT want on your podcast? (example: Josh Murray, Nick, etc.)
Thanks for your time!
Comment: There’s plenty I wouldn’t want on because I’m just not interested in talking to them. Nick? Hell yeah I’d put him on the podcast in a heartbeat. But he’d never do it so there’s no point in asking. He knows I would call him out on all his BS. I can’t see that ever happening. But if it does, I’ll be ready. I have no interest in talking to someone like Josh because I think he’s a major bullsh***er and I wouldn’t buy anything he was selling. But with over 800 contestants in the franchise, yeah, there’s plenty I’m not interested in. Probably 90% actually. Maybe more.
I mean, I could interview ANYONE from this show and at least try to make it interesting. I just don’t think many of them have much of a story to tell or would be someone the listeners would want to hear from. Lets face it, there is a pecking order when it comes to this show. There are contestants that are infinitely more popular and have a better story than others. Those are the ones I’m interested in talking to. Could I try and put on a night one eliminatee from 3 seasons ago and ask if they want on? Sure. But I doubt you’d find that interesting so I have no use for it.
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Hey Steve,
Not sure why I’m taking time out to email this, maybe to just vent, and because I’m now a former fan of Bachlor season 21.
I remember reading one of your posts a few months back, about how Nick is fake and just doing this to get his own show and to be famous, but I gave Nick the benefit of the doubt, because I’m a fan, and fans usually don’t like to be disappointed or face reality, but you were so right.
Nick came into my work place, a couple of months ago, (not going to name the place because of confidentiality), I wasn’t there, but I was told by my co-worker that he was an a**hole. My co-worker didn’t even know who he was, until afterwards. Nick was basically complaining about the price-point (it was under $20 and doesn’t he make a lot of money now?!) and was just being mean.
I still gave Nick a chance, and just thought, maybe my coworker was overreacting.
Anyway- so tonight, he comes into my work place again, I noticed him immediately, when he walked in- he had his head down the entire time, and went straight to the corner with his friend, and they were doing something. I didn’t approach him, because he looked like he didn’t want anyone to. (This happened at the hours the bachelor show was on, so yep, he wasn’t watching). I was holding the door open for guests who were leaving, then Nick and his friend come, I smiled and said “have a good night!” Nick just ignored us, had his head down and walked out- not even an eye contact!
Like really? Who does he think he is? He’s definitely not that emotional and sweet guy he shows us, on the show! He’s not even a proper celebrity! We get loads of big celebrities, and all of them have been pleasant and respectful!
Dude needs to get down from his high cloud.
-Former Bachelor season 21 fan
Comment: I mean, a story like that while it may be 100% true, I’m not gonna kill the guy over it. For all I know, he didn’t hear you. And saying “have a good night” to someone and not getting a response I wouldn’t say are grounds for someone being the worst person in the world. You just have no idea about something like that. Then you relayed a friends story that happened when you weren’t there. Again, could it have happened? Sure. Exactly how they say it did? We don’t know the whole story. So while I appreciate you sharing, it’s kinda hard to read it and be like, “Yeah, totally. What an a**hole.” Trust me, there are plenty of worse stories I’ve heard about Nick from reliable sources, not to mention things I’ve seen myself, that make me form my opinion about him. But your story is duly noted.
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Hi Steve,
Thanks so much for your spoilers this and every season! I’m sure you’re getting inundated with emails about Rachel, so apologies if this is redundant!
Do you think there was discussions between Nick and the producers about Rachel being the bachelorette? Something along the lines of ‘if you’re not going to pick her, let her go third so we can make her bachelorette”? I would assume yes. Do you think there was any discussion between Nick and Rachel about it during the fantasy suite or anything? Pure speculation and zero chance it can ever be proven.
My theory for why they announced it this early is that they a. wanted to ‘shock’ everyone by doing it now, and b. they didn’t want viewers to rally behind someone else for bachelorette, so now they have even more time to do positive press for/with Rachel.
Thoughts?
Comment: Could be something to that. They definitely like the shock factor, but that went out the window when it was spoiled before Kimmel aired. They will promote Rachel heavily coming up. We’ll see if it pays off.
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Hey Steve!
I know you have a lot of reader e-mails for this week already, but I
First off, I wanted to say how excited I am for Rachel to be the Bachelorette. I do think she’s a great contender, regardless of her race. I was wondering how things would shake out, because Raven does have an overwhelming lead as far as social media goes. But I agree with you that isn’t always a factor for producers, as you need to also consider “quality” following. While Raven did have a lot of support, let’s be honest in that a lot of her support did not seem to be from quality people. Also, I liked her but I’m from the South and I can’t handle her accent. Plus, she’s young (not that that has matted in seasons past). Any white people who may stop watching because of a black lead, I guarantee they will make-up for it in new viewership. People who think having a black lead will make the series ratings drop need to consider that the Real Housewives of Atlanta is not only the highest ranked show in the franchise in regards to ratings; it is also the highest ranked show on the network. I don’t think Rachel’s rating will suffer because she’s black. It’s too easy to make a statement like that and I just don’t see it. This show is too popular and the formula they use works enough to have 14 years and 33 seasons already aired. I don’t think a black bachelorette is all the sudden going to change the dynamic of the show. If the producers and editors do a hatchet job and make a bunch of race storylines, then yeah, I think people might get sick of it. But still, I think they’d watch to see what the next trainwreck is.
As for Raven, I have no idea what you mean by her support doesn’t come from quality people. You’re basing this on what exactly? Seems like an awfully broad statement to make with essentially zero evidence.
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Most people on social media seem to be upset that they spoiled the show. I guess these are the few people who don’t follow spoilers and did not know Rachel wasn’t going to make it to the end.
So I have two questions for you:
One, is something that I all of a sudden remembered while reading another e-mail recently. I think I read that someone asked if the Bachelors have any say in who gets chosen for them. Didn’t Jen Scheft help pick out her guys? Or at least they made it look like she did in the first episode of her season. Because I remember being frustrated that she didn’t pick anyone in the end and thinking “How could she have helped select these guys and she STILL didn’t pick someone!” I just wanted to check and see if you remember that happening, or maybe it was someone else’s season. I feel like someone early on did have a say in who went on the show, and I remember them looking at headshots. I think she may have, but as you said, may have been for TV. And we saw how that turned out obviously.
Also, I have noticed that A LOT of guys from Jojo’s season are verified on Twitter. How do these guys manage that? In my opinion, Jojo had the worst group of guys I had ever seen in regards to fame-whoring, so maybe that’s why I notice and get annoyed seeing their blue checkmarks on twitter. But seriously, how do practically all of her guys have verified accounts? I thought it was more of a process to do this than I thought, but I guess not!
Anyway, thanks for all you do! I’ve enjoyed your website for a long time and will continue to read everything you put out for us.
Comment: I have no idea how verification works on Twitter. Whereas I’m sure it’s a huge deal to people as self-absorbed as a lot of them are, I could not care less.
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Hi Steve,
I love your columns. So on the date, Vanessa says that it was her first time on a yacht, her first time doing other stuff blah blah. Well when Nick said to her that he really liked her blah blah he also said that when he’s going to say I love you, he wants it to feel like the first time. Now I’m no detective but if that wasn’t a clue to her that he wants her I don’t know what is. Even my boyfriend agreed with me. Maybe I’ll get to see Nick in Montreal…
Take care.
Comment: Maybe you will. Or not.
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Hi Steve!
Thanks for what you do! I’ve written before, and I have a few more thoughts I’d like to share/questions to ask!
First, I’m really happy Rachel is the next bachelorette, as she is seemingly the most mature candidate with a fun, yet no-nonsense attitude. I do wonder what effect this will have on her law career, but I guess we’ll have to wait and see. My hope is that she will go the Ashley H route and just resume her career and not become an instagram wannabe star.
As for my questions…
-Sean Lowe is very critical of the show, and particularly Nick, in his tweets. Does he actually not like Nick, or is he just being funny? Also, he posted yesterday that the producers don’t influence who stays and who goes, which directly contradicts what you’ve said. Thoughts? I think Sean is hiding behind semantics when it comes to that statement. Because when most people bring that up, they imply producers tell you to keep people around. I don’t think they do that. But they certainly nudge in certain directions. And lets face it, Sean was a lead on this show. The only “Bachelor” to marry the final girl he chose in 20 completed seasons so far. Had a wedding paid for by the network. You honestly think he’d admit it if it was? He can’t.
-If the show is all about the drama, why DON’T they show the arguments between Vanessa and the other girls? So what if Vanessa gets a not-so-positive edit? The villain was won before (Vienna, Courtney). I think a lot had to do with it being the episode before hometowns, and from that point on, the women don’t see each other anyway. So it’s not like the Rachel/Vanessa fight could’ve continued past episode 7. I think that played a role.
-I thought when you go on a one-on-one, your bag has to be packed already. Why did Danielle go back home to get her things? Because on the 1-on-1 in the episode before hometowns, roses aren’t up for grabs. You can only either continue on or get eliminated.
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Hey Steve,
Not surprised they made Rachel the Bachelorette. Aside from her being the first African American woman in the role, she seems to have some of the spunk and sass that both Andi and Kaitlyn had, two of my personal favorites.
Just something I was thinking about. I know you said social media does not play a part in the decision, and obviously Rachel’s numbers are much lower than others. However, do you think maybe the reason they made the announcement so early was that they noticed other contestants popularity and they did not want to wait in case the case got stronger to make someone like Raven the lead? I think they wanted Rachel all along, but others were getting more popular and they needed to make the announcement before their popularity continued to beat out Rachel’s.
Thanks!
Comment: Could be. Rachel’s Instagram numbers shot up after last night’s announcement. Almost doubled I think.
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Well, first I want to compliment you on your spoilers, even if that particular magazine does not give you credit. I have recently gotten pretty bored with the show, especially with Mr. Mumbles. I play canasta on my iPad during the show, and will look up when something unusual happens, which is rare. I guess my favorite parts are the girls talking, the newest villain’s IMs and when someone has been asked to leave. But my favorite part is reading Reality Steve’s take on all this….you are hilarious with the comments. We all know this is reality TV, but watching everyone trying to become famous actors is the fun part.
I also noticed no recognition last night with the Adam Friedman dancing spot. It could be that Nick mumbled his name so badly that they would have had to put a subtitle for interpretation. But with all this griping I am doing, I still watch the show! I guess I still hope deep down that 1 in 100 may find romance. I prefer the Bachelorette show more so, as most of the women leads seem to be a little more serious about the outcome.
My questions are: 1) Are all the tears from the lead and contestants for real? I wouldn’t think the girls would be that upset over a 3-week unusual dating experience. And are those really ‘real’ tears from Nick or do the producers give him some kind of drops that will encourage this? There are a variety of factors that play into this, some which being: age, alcohol consumption, lack of sleep, having your sole focus on one guy the entire time you’re there, stir crazy, Stockholm Syndrome, can’t talk to friends and family, etc. So yeah, I see why they do cry, but in the early episodes, yeah, it’s usually more about those factors.
2) Also, do you think perhaps the lead tells his first choice that he will pick her in the end? I’m sure there are some alone times when he could do this privately w/o producers hearing him. That way the chosen one can play along with the charade for the cameras and still be in on the outcome. I’m sure it’s happened, but again, unless one of them comes out and specifically tells an audience who will listen that they did, we’ll never know. And yes, that was one question I wanted to ask Courtney that I completely forgot. One of a few.
And 3) How long has it been since Nick has been working on his so-called profession? He seems to be taking a lot of TV time which is not conducive to making a living.
Thank you Steve! Your insights are most entertaining.
Comment: At least a year or so since he’s been in LA. He’s starting up a men’s grooming website soon. You know, because there aren’t any of those around.
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Hi Steve,
Love your site! Also, the Courtney interview kept me glued to my earbuds. It was more like an effortless conversation between two friends at a bar, and I was the creepy person at the next table listening in. Nicely done! Thanks.
As for Vanessa’s edit. I don’t think it was done to protect Vanessa. This show doesn’t care about throwing the winner under the bus- a la Vienna and Courtney. I think it was 100% to protect Rachel, because they probably had a clue at this point she would make history as this show’s first African American Bachelorette and this is so much bigger than protecting some girl that Nick picks at the end. Case in point, did you notice when Corinne was talking bad about Vanessa last night basically calling her shallow, she was talking to Rachel. They only showed Rachel listening to Corrine and showed nothing about what Rachel actually said. Rachel was most likely talking crap about Vanessa also, but we can’t yet soil the reputation of this history making contestant.
Rachel will be a great Bachelorette no matter what color she is. She has that “it” factor and doesn’t need to talk about how platinum her vagine is. So sick.
Comment: Yeah, I did notice Rachel was kinda just nodding along with what Corinne said. Of course she probably was engaging in a back and forth with Corinne, but of course it wasn’t shown. I think Rachel will do just fine.
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First off, I love that you finally have a podcast. It’s my weekly escape from the grind.
Regarding the Bachelor:
I continually get more and more bored by his conversations with these women. I get that the editing process removes a lot of what was filmed, but I mean COME ON. If I ever went on a date and had the type of conversations these people are having, I’d have to question my own integrity.
My second point of thought: how many times must we hear “it’s really important to me you come from a family with parents still married”. Excuse me? Since when did that become the prerequisite for dating or even a deal breaker?! What if a candidate’s parents had died? Or they were raised by a single parent? “Sorry, but if your parents aren’t together, I just can’t see myself with you”. FACE PALM
Last but not least: if I hear another 22-25 year old say “I’ve never had love and I fear I’ll always be alone” I will punch my television. MY GOD. You’ve barely been alive enough to even know what love and love-loss feels like. Over half their lives are still left for them to find someone. YEESH
Ok, that’s my rant for now. Thank you for taking the time to read my email. Have been a huge fan of yours from the beginning.
Cheers!
Comment: All good points.
