RS,
In regards to your post yesterday about Rachel and Vanessa, THAT’S what we waited for? SeriouslY? That wasn’t even a fight. The girls didn’t like her because of that? She didn’t do anything…what a bunch of whiners. I don’t see why they couldn’t like her. She’s so real, she’s super sweet, and look what she does for kids. If anything, that story made Vanessa look better and Rachel look worse! How disgusting those women are.
Comment: (shaking my head). The girls aren’t allowed to not like her because they thought she was two-faced? I’d say that’s a perfectly good reason not to be buddies with someone. Again, it’s obvious you’re a Vanessa fan so nothing you read is going to paint her in a bad light, but if she was running to Nick telling him things that other girls she was friends with would say, then go back to those same friends and pretend everything was great, then yeah, I’d say that’s a reason to be leery of the girl. Also, Vanessa having a job with special needs kids has exactly NOTHING to do with how she acted on the show. They are completely separate entities. If you can’t see that, then there’s truly no hope for you to be objective.
Saw this response coming a mile away.
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Steve!
Your podcast is amazing. I have truly enjoyed it. Especially, and I never thought I’d say this, but JJ. He is so self aware and *ahem* emotionally intelligent ? in the way he is processing the addiction of these people to an iota of fame on social media and how he is trying to break that in his own life. Kudos to him.
Okay so about this season:
What in the literal hell is going on? This season is unlike any other on social media and it’s kinda blowing my mind and annoying the hell out of me. It was overly OBVIOUS which two were not at the WTA festivities. Everyone else was posting a thousand pictures and videos of each other. My guess is because Rachel is already announced as Bachelorette so they don’t care if people know Raven and Vanessa were the only two there? Corinne was still on the show when it was taped, too, but they did not care if it was known that she was there. What’s your name take on all this? After throwing lawsuits in your face for so long, now they are spoiling it themselves? Bizarre. This has been the case in the past though. The final 3 girl is always at the WTA and it gets out. The show has just become more lenient with social media because they have to be. They’d look foolish otherwise.
Last night with raven was … um… horrifying. How long had she been 1-on-1 with a producer before that date? That has to be the only way that came out of her mouth, right? Like, she was alone with a producer for so long that they convinced her it was normal to talk about orgasms on tv? I’m thinking, she could’ve told him in private when they left. Sheesh. She is quickly becoming a classic over sharer. You know the type. We don’t need to know that you’ve never had an orgasm and that you know what another woman’s vagina looks like.
Comment: Maybe it was in private, they told her it’d never be aired, then they did. I don’t know. I’ve heard they’ve used that tactic in the past. And you know what if they did? Too bad. The contestants contract specifically states the show can do whatever they want, surprise, manipulate, manufacture, etc and there’s nothing you can do about it. I have no idea why Raven said what she did. My guess is it was a combination of things: alcohol, producers, etc.
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Aaaaaaaaaand another one…
Mr. Reality…you say you know more than 99% of the people watching the show but you really don’t know anything. Especially about women. Vanessa was trying to confront the situation head on by telling Rachel what she didn’t like, and Rachel basically turned her back and told her she didn’t want to talk to her. How is that Vanessa’s fault?
Is there something you have against her and Nick? I think they’re a great couple and will be one that actually makes it through this show. I’ve always been skeptical but I see that something special with them…it just works. I don’t think anything your sources had make Vanessa out to be a horrible person. You need to quit building up things bigger than they are that never deliver.
Comment: Thank you for reading.
1) At absolutely no point did I ever say Vanessa was a horrible person. In fact, I made it a point to say each time this was just what took place during those two months of filming. Does not reflect on her as a person before or after the show. What I reported is what happened between Sept. 24th and Nov. 18th, and I made that perfectly clear.
2) When I first reported the incident happened back on Jan. 2nd, I personally labeled it as the “Blowup in Bimini” because it got pretty heated. And it did. I also said I didn’t know the details behind it. And all season long, when I referenced this fight I’d say the same thing over and over and over again. I did not know the details of the fight other than Vanessa wasn’t the most well liked in the house. You telling me I built it up is based off your own perception. Please cut and paste for me the exact articles and sentences I used where you say I “built this up bigger than they are.” Unfortunately, you’re gonna have a hard time doing that because I didn’t. Hell, I figured I was never going to find out the details. They didn’t come til recently. So it’s not like for two months I was baiting you with, “Wait til you hear this story that I’m saving til the end of the season.” I assumed I was never going to find out. I said the same thing every time in that I didn’t know details, other than they had an argument in Bimini. Yesterday I finally gave you those details. In no point over the weekend or in Monday’s column did I ever hype this as something major, oh my god you’re never gonna believe this, explosive fight, etc. Never said any of that. All I said was I finally have your details, I’ll lay them out, and do with it what you want.
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Hi Steve,
You may have talked about this and I missed it, but as much as I knew Andi’s visit would be pointless, I was annoyed that last week’s teaser with Andi had her saying “You have to be honest, Nick!” and we never saw her say that last night.
I’m assuming this is the fine-tune editing on the producers part?
Comment: Yep.
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UGHHHHHH I am so sad that Nick is partnered with Peta L I had hopes that it was not true when I read the article yesterday but now that you’ve said it-I gotta believe it!
I know this is only reality tv and I should get over it but DWTS is more of my guilty pleasure than the Bachelor series and I cannot stand Nick! I have kind of a fan girl crush on Peta (and Maks) so I will be sick if tabloids do start reporting that there’s trouble in paradise. I mean Maks and Peta are in such a happy time in their lives with a new baby and both coming back to compete together. I realllllly hope gossip mags stay away from starting those rumors. I know you’re going to be right though-it just makes me sad because Maks and Peta (even though they are reality tv stars) obviously do have a real relationship-not one built off a show for fame hungry millennials!
I feel gross for saying this but I am actually going to have to root for Nick if I want Peta to make it to the finals….yuck!
Anyways-thank you for making this season bearable to watch. I feel like its hands down been the worst for me and I am only watching now so I can tell all my friends who won’t read your site because they don’t believe the spoilers told you so (for how many times in a row now)!!!
Comment: Yeah, I hope people didn’t take what I said yesterday about the tabloids and insinuating that anything would ACTUALLY be happening with Nick and Peta. That’s not what I’m saying at all. I’m just saying the tabloids don’t care and their stories will make it seem like something’s there that isn’t. That’s how they stay business unfortunately.
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Hey Steve!
This is more of a comment, not a question…
I just found it ironic that Raven told Nick that her ex only said “I love you” when he was drunk, and yet while she was working up to saying the big “I love you” to Nick for the first time, she kept grabbing her wine glass. Kind of hypocritical.
Comment: Yeah, she was definitely hammered when she said it. Noted.
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Hi Reality Steve,
First off I’m a big bachelor fan and have appreciated getting the full back story from your column for years. I’ve never really had a burning question, but I was watching a video on YouTube last night when an advertisement came on and it was a man offering Corinne ten million dollars to find a husband from a group of well educated men… I was just wondering what was up with that and your thoughts on it. Thanks and happy spoiling for Rachel’s season!
Comment: No idea what video you’re talking about. First I’ve ever heard of this.
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Hi Steve!
I’ve been reading your site for years and like so many, you are the only reason I can even tolerate this show. I no longer watch it for content, primarily scrolling through after I’ve read your column only to see first hand something you referenced. I can’t for the life of me figure out how people can actually take this show seriously; the only way I can handle it is with a healthy side of sarcasm, so thanks for that! In fact yours is the first, and only, podcast I’ve ever listened to and I am thoroughly enjoying the edition to your site.
Not sure if these have been mentioned, but a couple of questions/comments I’ve been wanting to run by you.
First, do you think that the early release of Rachel’s name as the next bachelorette is an indirect acknowledgement that spoilers exist? I know you’ve said that the number of people who actually believe in the premise of finding true love via a television show are greater than those of us who are dialed in to RealitySteve, and I can’t imagine that Fleiss & Co wouldn’t have explored the possibility that this announcement would flip some of those believers over to the “other side.” Not just those who think the show happens in real time, but also those who were ignorant to the existence of spoilers in the first place. I would think that with the early announcement would also come a new wave of watchers seeking out spoilers. Nothing like an unprecedented event to get people on search engines. I think it’s their first major acknowledgement of the spoilers, yeah, you could say that. Or maybe second behind the Nick as “Bachelor” announcement before he was off BIP.
Second, correct me if I am wrong, but wasn’t this whole Raven storyline played out before during both of Trista’s seasons? It’s been a long time, but I thought it was mentioned that she had never had an orgasm before, never had one during the fantasy suites with Alex, and brought up during her season during fantasy suites with Charlie and Ryan and again during ATFR? I don’t remember how many people she had slept with before, or if it was even mentioned, but I definitely remember her not having the Big O. Do you think there is a chance Raven played this angle up thinking it might tip the Bachelorette scales in her favor? I have a hard time seeing why in the world Raven would have unilaterally brought it up, unless it was presented to her as a future storyline, and a way to secure the role. Yes, I was reminded of that on Twitter. But that was over 10 years ago. The amount of people that watched Trista’s season that are still watching now? I’d say less than 10%.
Concurrently, I also wonder if this was a ploy to make Nick look better in bed, considering Andi and Kaitlyn both dumped him after having sex with him- and he’s since gotten a lot of negativity in the press regarding his performance because of it. This seems to fit in line with Nick’s ego, and everything he is doing to make himself look better.
Thoughts?
Comment: It’s possible. But whatever the case, that may be short lived if either of them address what really happened on the ATFR.
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Hello Steve,
I just wanted to quickly thank you for what you do! I have never actually watched the Bachelor/Bachelorette, but I’ve still been reading your spoilers faithfully every week since Jason’s season. I just find the behind-the-scenes machinations fascinating – it’s so manipulative, but I don’t want to suffer through a fake reality show – unreal, on the other hand, is fun.I did end up watching a few seasons of Bachelor Pad (the game show format was much more tolerable for me!), so the Bachelor team did end up getting one more viewer at some point from your spoilers. J It’s ridiculous that they ever claimed you’re bad for business (and it’s even more plainly obvious now how much BS that was, as they’re spoiling their own show). Thanks. I find it amazing that someone reads my column weekly that doesn’t watch the show and hasn’t since 2009. Are you sure about that?
Extra kudos for the FNL recommendation! My husband and I ate that up. Add another one to your tally. It’s been added.
I have never had a reason to write seeing as I uh… don’t actually watch the show… but I figure if there’s anyone else like he who is more intrigued by the drama behind the curtain, they might enjoy the story shared with me this last Friday. However, this is in regards to another show – America’s Got Talent.
I saw a show from The Dirty Cellos this weekend, and the guitarist, Jason, shared his experience from when the Cellist, Rebecca, was on America’s Got talent quite a few years back. She had competed in a local city’s “Got Talent” competition, where she started by performing a classic piece before unexpectedly launching into a cover of Rock You Like a Hurricane. She won, and was promptly scouted by the America’s Got Talent Producers. As we know, reality shows like to cast types, so she was pegged as the eccentric/weird Cello player from San Francisco (despite living hours from SF). The big line of contestants out front was all for show – which is not surprising. They hand-select who they’re casting for the year, and they enter the building through a completely different entrance. They snuck out to see filming the day before, and anything you could possibly think was spontaneous was completely scripted and re-shot multiple times from every angle. The producers, of course, encouraged audience members to boo as loudly as possible, promising prizes in the forms of t-shirts.
When it came time for her actual audition, she was stuck performing an obscure piece they selected for her that she’d never heard of before. The reasoning they gave is that they didn’t want to pay to clear anything she wanted to use, but I have a feeling they really wanted to drive home the “eccentric” type, given she was supposed to be a joke audition. However, when she actually performed, the audience was into it – she’s classically trained, so even if they hadn’t heard the piece, she played it beautifully, I’m sure. The judges seemed to be enjoying it as well, but then a producer ran out and handed them cards, and suddenly, she was getting Xs from all the judges. Seemingly, the producers weren’t getting the response they expected out of a “joke” audition, and needed to fix that – I’m guessing the cards may have given the judges an idea of what to say. Sharon Osbourne said she imaged this is what hell would sound like (paraphrasing); Howie Mandel questioned how she could make a career out of playing the Cello solo. As she’s successful, she said it wasn’t a problem. He apparently tried to drive home that a cello by itself wasn’t desirable, and she just pleasantly disagreed.
Afterwards, the Producer’s interviewed her and did anything they could to get a rise out of her or some sort of emotional reaction. (“You must feel horrible,” to which she told them she was fine. “But you must be ashamed of that performance,” to which she stated she wasn’t – she played well). Clearly exasperated from the lack of reaction shot they wanted, they finally let her off the hook, and she went home. The reason Jason was telling the story is apparently because Rebecca still isn’t allowed to talk about it, due to the agreements she signed.
Even though we all know how fake these shows are, I just thought that insight was interesting and worth sharing! It’s definitely not just the Bachelor that’s guilty of this kind of thing. I can’t help myself but still hold out a bit of hope myself that my favorite reality tv show (Survivor) is slightly less scripted given it’s already dramatic nature, but I take everything with a grain (or ten) of salt.
Comment: Reality TV for ya’.
