Podcast #20 originally was to have AshLee Frazier as a guest. After yesterday’s events, I asked AshLee if she wouldn’t mind being pushed back a week and she had no problem with it. AshLee is newly married and has pretty much distanced herself from everything, she didn’t even know who Luke was or what was going on yesterday. Good AshLee, probably better that you didn’t. I know a lot of you are expecting some pipe bomb today and all this dirt and juice on Josh and Amanda, but if you read the first paragraph of yesterday’s column, I never said that. So I’m sorry if you’re gonna be disappointed, but that wasn’t the intention of sharing what I do today on the podcast. It’s an update on where everything stands, how my role came to be, the sh** I’ve had to deal with, and what the plan is moving forward. Yes, I was pretty fired up when I recorded this podcast last night. You’ll most certainly be able to tell in my voice. The previous 72 hours kinda got to me. I’m very direct in what needs to happen in that situation and you’ll hear that today. I know we all have such an insatiable thirst for dirt and gossip, as the reaction to yesterday’s column proves. However, not this. You don’t want any part of this. This doesn’t need to be out there. I’ve told both parties. It’s ugly. It doesn’t make anyone look good. Hopefully this ends and ends soon.
As for the Luke stuff, lets just say I certainly don’t hold back on that either. I’ve been somewhat tame on the cursing in all previous podcasts. Lets just say the “E” for “Explicit” that I have on every podcast gets more use today. He’s a fraud, a liar, a manipulator, and he better hope he doesn’t try and discredit any of those women. I’ve got more. I don’t want to use it, but I will if I have to. The fact that Luke is already deleting his tweets from yesterday, maybe that’s a sign he’s backing away. For his sake, lets hope so. It’s a battle he will not and cannot win. In the court of public opinion, he is cooked right now. Don’t fight it. You will lose. But if you do, I highly suggest you tread carefully, Mr. Pell. There’s more where that came from.
You can listen to today’s podcast on a number of platforms, but you can also tune in by clicking the player below:
Subscribe: iTunes, RSS, Stitcher
Music written by Jimmer Podrasky
(B’Jingo Songs/Machia Music/Bug Music BMI)
(SPOILERS) I begin by talking about how my role in the Josh/Amanda feud came to be, what I’ve been told will be happening moving forward (7:30), why I will not be releasing any of the information/texts/dirt/gossip that I have (14:45), and how I was not going to present one side of the story in the podcast (17:50). The last 20 minutes or so (22:46) is a mini recap of yesterday’s column, my thoughts on Luke Pell, and my plea to him to back away from this before it gets worse for him.
Our very own Nell Kalter is back with herVanderpump Rules recap from reunion episode #1 of 457. Just know Nell was on time with her recap Tuesday morning, but I didn’t have a column up Tuesday. Was all set to be up yesterday until that sh**storm hit. So here it is today in all its glory. Enjoy.
Here are all your “Survivor” goodies this week from EW.com, People.com, and Reality Blurred.com. Our “Survivor” recapper Bryan Fischer will have his recap posted tomorrow.
EW.com – Dalton Ross’ recap
EW.com – Probst Q & A
People.com – Stephen Fishbach’s blog
Reality Blurred – Andy Dehnart’s recap
And finally an awesome moment yesterday at the Masters. If you listened to either of my podcasts with Michelle Money, you remember the talk about how she was going to caddy for her boyfriend Mike Weir during the annual Par 3 tournament held on Wednesday’s. Well, Mike got a hole-in-one and pretty much gave Michelle the credit for it as his good luck charm. Awesome to see her get to experience that.
2003 #themasters champion @MikeWeir made a hole-in-one on No. 4 before weather caused the Par 3 Contest to be canceled. pic.twitter.com/ULssErcboW
— Masters Tournament (@TheMasters) April 5, 2017
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 next week.
kimmyfromdablock
April 6, 2017 at 9:58 AM
Stevie, you had me then you lost me.
I get the reporting of Luke Pell and helping to put the pieces together to out him as a manipulative womanizer….but for the life of me….the life of me, I can’t figure out why you are getting in between Josh Murray, his Mom and Amanda Stanton.
I listened to your podcast where you basically relayed how you inserted yourself in their feud and went back and forth on phone calls with Amanda and Josh’s overly involved mother. I don’t want the information about why their relationship went down in flames, I don’t care. Why are you involved with this? It certainly makes you look like the troll in the basement that Luke Pell is now calling you.
mysonkale
April 6, 2017 at 10:38 AM
oh jeez, 20 minutes of you driving home that you are in close touch with these people without any information? just seemed like a 20 minute plug of your involvement in the situation. v self-important. usually love your bach coverage but wow. also, i knew luke pell was an ass from the moment i saw him, and confirmed when he used his friend’s death to gain viewers and jojo’s empathy. “i served my country” is not a free pass to act like douchebag for the rest of your life.
bombedpop
April 6, 2017 at 11:41 AM
“I can’t figure out why you are getting in between Josh Murray, his Mom and Amanda Stanton. ”
^^^Ditto – this podcast was just bizarro-land. And being so worked up on their behalf? Who cares if they want to air dirty laundry and act like scorn teens, let them give the rest of us a laugh.
The threats to the country douche were kinda weird too. Yeah, he’s a tool, but the ranting of threats and shizz – errr, ok. This whole podcast suffered from not-your-best-look syndrome.
rob22
April 6, 2017 at 11:44 AM
This reminds me of listening to an old girlfriend talk 30 minutes nonstop about nothing. That’s 30 minutes I’ll never get back. Since the premise was “Stop talking about it”, I’m not sure why Steve took 30 minutes to talk about not talking about it. I’m not even sure what that was. That was what I’d expect if RS had meth binge and hadn’t slept for 48 hours.
rob22
April 6, 2017 at 11:51 AM
I don’t get the interest in the Luke Pell thing either. Since when is it a surprise that a guy from this show is a douche that uses his “fame” to seduce as many women as possible? We just had another guy of that same ilk as the lead in this last season. Very few seemed to be too mad at him for his shagging a bunch of girls, including at least 5-6 on the actual show. This blog is taking a turn towards The National Enquirer.
jackie101
April 6, 2017 at 12:49 PM
As strange as the involvement with Amanda and Josh’s mother is, the threats against Luke are even more off the rails. A little too obsessed with Bachelor Land. Truly bizarre.
gramps
April 6, 2017 at 2:17 PM
cannot believe I wasted my time listening to this podcast.
either give the info you promised or don’t; you really don’t need to spend 20 minutes bragging about how involved you are and then explain nothing. boring.
finalrose
April 6, 2017 at 2:42 PM
ugh Steve is such a self-important ass. I hate his writing and the couple podcasts I’ve listened to are in the same vein. Yet I still come here because he gets the scoop…
He reminds me of the WENDY show. No one cares what you think about things, just tell us the dirt!
picklesmcgee
April 6, 2017 at 3:22 PM
“I know we all have such an insatiable thirst for dirt and gossip, as the reaction to yesterday’s column proves. However, not this. You don’t want any part of this. This doesn’t need to be out there. I’ve told both parties. It’s ugly. It doesn’t make anyone look good.” Uhh seriously? Since when don’t you report dirt? You certainly had no problem reporting every detail of the Luke situation (which honestly who cares I never liked him anyway) But what’s up with the loyalty to Josh and Amanda? And if you weren’t going to tell us anything, then why even bring it up? So weird, Steve. ANd super disappointing. Give the people what they come here for, give us the deets!! 😉
picklesmcgee
April 6, 2017 at 4:17 PM
Okay so now that Ive actually listened to (some of) the podcast I can’t help but wonder wtf happened to you? Why the heck are you mediating with these people?? And why on earth are you sticking up for someone who put her life in the public eye and continues to do so? She could easily make her social media private, but she won’t, you know why? She gets paid to endorse bullsht. And you feel bad for her because…? No one wants to hear about how you think it’s such a shame that poor Amanda might get contacted by E while in Figi. Uhhhh shes in fkin Figi! Haha who gives a sht if someone calls her phone to interrupt her “super busy life” *rolls eyes so hard gives self headache* who are you and what have you done with Steve?!
katieottawa
April 6, 2017 at 5:48 PM
steve. i like you but seriously…i dont understand why this is something you have been dealing with for 72 hours back and forth with one stupid girl and the dbags MOM of all people???. cmon. youre 40 years old man..this is middle school level immature bs. i think that being immersed in bachelor nation, instagram and twitter is causing all these people to be completely disconnected with reality and real life problems and giving them a way overestimated sense of importance than what they really are.
1. this girl was warned by everyone to not get involved with him yet she did anyways…well too bad now.
2. if she doesnt like having her life made public, she shouldnt have gotten engaged to him, closed her instagram and twitter and not set up fake paparazzi couple photoshoots to sell to magazines. now she doesnt want to be hassled by reporters while she is traveling for a modeling gig that she got primarily due to the publicity she got because she was couple up with this guy on the show?? …again its always a double edged sword. they like the perks and money/fame that comes with the show and being on social media but dont want to deal with the negative aspects of it.
also threatening the luke guy wasnt your finest moment either. i get its your podcast and you want to vent a bit but i dont know what the big deal is. whats the difference with him and nick or any other guy from that franchise for that matter?? seriously you might want for your own sanity to take a bit of a twitter and instagram break and come back join us in real life.
you can spoil the show and write a recap on it but at the end of the day, no one from this show is worth to really get all worked up about. if you are someone that spends your day following what any of these useless people say or do you should really question your life goals.
hcope
April 6, 2017 at 8:11 PM
Loooong time reader, first time poster. I usually love your work but this was literally the strangest podcast.
weird
April 6, 2017 at 9:22 PM
Ditto all the comments…first time poster here. I too am wondering WHY Steve is in the middle of this…and not saying a word. Something’s fishy
texashugs
April 6, 2017 at 9:40 PM
In yesterday’s column, Steve stated “I’m going to tell you everything I know about the Josh and Amanda situation”. Obviously something change does that caused Steve to go back on his word and make it seem like that is not what he intended. Maybe Amanda promised to go on a date with him idk
I’ve never liked Steve’s writing. It is so long winded, repetitive, defensive at times, and I can’t stand the “in your face booya” attitude when he feels the need to be validated. I just come for the scoop too. He is such a drama queen as well. Not sure why getting so worked up over Luke and Amanda and Josh. He always tells us “you really shouldn’t be that into these people’s lives” when ppl email him about certain ppl
langpla
April 7, 2017 at 12:54 AM
I don’t see what was so bad about the podcast. I listened to the whole thing and never thought it was strange. He isn’t going to spill the beans because he’s a decent human being. While I wish I knew every last detail, I certainly respect the fact that he is so trustworthy- that’s a rare quality to find in people these days. I realize this is an unpopular opinion in the comments section, but I didn’t mind it at all. I do think that his original intent was to give us the full story (or at least most of it). If he gave Amanda and Josh’s mom his word that he wouldn’t, then I commend him for that. Keep it coming, Reality Steve!
katieottawa
April 7, 2017 at 4:45 AM
maybe im in the minority but ive been coming to this site for about 10 years mainly because i loved steves snarky recaps. they were funny, unbiased and he made fun of these people. these useless vapid people who think theyre hot s**t to go on this show.
i never cared about the spoilers or behind the scene dirt because i simply dont care about any of these people and seriously i forget all about them 5 minutes after they are off my tv screen. we all know steve has gossip info about these people. heck most of the past exes the first thing they do is come to him with their dirt about so and so, never mind that these people are feuding on social media but think its an appropriate platform to air their dirty laundry for their “followers” to see. steve needs to stay out of these peoples fake lives. steve seems like a good guy but he needs to stop cuddling the women who have been “burned by these horndogs”. these women are not victims, they are famehwore girls who were pretending to like a guy and share in the spotlight in the hope to get noticed. thats it. these are image obsessed grown adults who are living their lives on social media on the account of what preteens and teenagers with zero life experience think of them. they offer nothing of importance, no talent, not an ounce of intelligence. hopefully these people dont start using your podcast as a way to come and “tell their side of the story” and pollute your airwaves with their high school drama.
to all the horndog mid 30 year old meatheads that try and date immature dimwits 10-15 years their junior. this is what happens. high school drama plastered over social media.
rob22
April 7, 2017 at 6:59 AM
@langpla: I agree that it was decent to not spill the beans. That’s fine if he made that decision. But don’t promise to “tell all” the day before…. and then spend 20 minutes talking about not talking about it. If he decided to not dish the dirt, simply say “I decided not to talk about it”. That’s it. Not this Podcast. This was some stupid, boring crap. As the prior poster said, this was middle school stuff.
ashleigh11
April 7, 2017 at 8:51 AM
Steve, stop defending and white-knighting these ridiculous girls! Amanda is “at her breaking point and wants it all to go away”… and yet she’s now writing a tell-all book. She’s doesn’t want it out right now because she wants to sell her book and needs the material to be fresh. You are not being a hero, you’re being used for pre-promotions and to pump up interest. *facepalm*
gm222
April 7, 2017 at 2:22 PM
First time poster, long time reader. Have to say, I totally agree with the comments above. Love reading the blog for the spoilers and the snark. This pod cast was just bizarre, and almost a little alarming. It sounds like someone who’s completely unhinged. Why so worked up about Amanda/Josh and Luke? I think it’s time to take a step back. Keep doing what you usually do – the readers love your writing, but it’s not necessary to play mediator in these people’s lives.
valadega
April 7, 2017 at 3:02 PM
What’s the point of Amanda writing a “tell all” book anyway? Evan Bass and bunch of other people told her Josh was “bad news.”
poster123
April 8, 2017 at 8:59 AM
Another long time reader and now podcast listener. I find your site addictive and a fun distraction from a long work day.
I have to say that your podcast was a turn off. Sharing your side of the Amanda/Josh stuff and the dirt on Luke is fine. But threatening them came across as petty and aggressive. I was surprised to hear that from you.
I’ll give you another chance and listen to a few more podcasts and read your site because I’ve really enjoyed your work and I get that everyone has off days. I just wanted to give you some feedback. I hope the anger towards them doesn’t stick with you. You’re better than that.
Cheers
peace
April 8, 2017 at 10:04 AM
Long time reader.
This is unfortunate for Steve in several ways as I discern it…
Short term…have you seen his twitter war with Luke? Hypocrisy.
Long term…how would a future employer, be it TV, radio, e magazine view this? It’s troubling.
Ego.
healthyphoenician
April 8, 2017 at 10:39 AM
I emailed you Steve but you need to check out the E&G Podcast released yesterday with Luke “telling all”. He discusses you at length! He claims he is a person of integrity and Steve is an idiot.
evalee
April 9, 2017 at 1:59 AM
I hate to say this but I think Amanda is using Steve to keep everything he found out under wraps so she can be the one to release it in her tell all book. Obviously she doesn’t want Steve to tell everyone the details because then no one would need to buy her book. The odd thing about this situation is that the whole point of this website is to post spoilers and information. I get the idea of feeling like its inappropriate to post people’s personal business out there but in that case it would need to apply to everyone else too. I wonder if he is getting out of the gossip business. On a sidenote, I always have to wonder why is this website still so difficult? I would think after becoming well known enough to be talked about in major magazines that there would be enough money coming in to get off this format and onto a real website. It doesn’t make sense. Just my 2 cents 🙂
madsm
April 9, 2017 at 8:52 AM
seriously such a weird podcast. You are so self-important talking non-stop about how involved you are. I had to tune out once you said you made them promise you they wouldnt do any sit down interviews or go public anymore. Who do you think you are? their manager? You told us in your last column you would tell us the drama. ok, so you went back on that, fine. But instead of leaving it at that, you had to go on a huge rant about how involved you are in their petty drama? steve REALITY check, we don’t care. you’ve ALWAYS stated how you dont care about their lives because your only job is to get the spoilers…well this proves otherwise. you are sucked up into this bachelor instagram world and you can’t ever claim that “you dont care” again after this.
anita82
April 9, 2017 at 1:41 PM
I hate to agree with the negative posts here but Steve you really spent most of this entire podcast bragging about how much you know about the situation and in a way almost taunting your listeners that we will never all the interesting information that you were so “privileged” to hear. Normally your podcasts are informative and enjoyable but i found this one to be a complete waste of time. If you have information that you cannot/do not want to share for whatever reason why even bother bringing it up let alone spending 30 minutes telling your loyal audience that you have no plans to share what you know? It is so bizarre and comes across as very self righteous and self important which i am sure wasn’t your intention. And if you truly wanted to tell us your role in the whole mediation why not say it and wrap that up in 1 minute and get on with your guest or regularly scheduled podcast agenda.. this just felt cruel.
braveo900
April 9, 2017 at 6:00 PM
Long-time reader here, ever since Sean’s season. I have to agree with everyone else – that podcast was painful to listen to.
Steve, get a grip on yourself. The Amanda/Josh stuff was terrible enough, but your comments on Luke sounded unhinged. Most of us don’t find him any worse than any other random contestant. I mean, what’s the worst that he did, lie to a few girls? Why don’t you save your public anger and outrage for something that actually matters? There are plenty of things to choose from in today’s political climate.
I know people always comment on this, but just to add on, please stop overestimating your importance to these useless people on this stupid show, and to us, your readers. We don’t care if you were right or wrong. We don’t care how much information you know if you’re not going to tell us. We don’t care that you’re being the “good guy” and not airing out some people’s especially dirty laundry. All we care about, and the only reason we’re even drawn to this site despite its unprofessional design and annoying ads, is the scoop. And, for some, your entertaining comments on it.
And you know what? If you don’t have the spoilers and inside info, our lives still go on. I hope you’re not too sucked into the Bachelor bubble of self-importance and narcissism to say the same.
braveo900
April 9, 2017 at 6:22 PM
I’m worried I sounded too harsh in my last comment, so I’ll point out something that I think you were absolutely right about, Steve. I thought your comments regarding Taylor vs Corinne were spot on. Thanks for that.
supersparklyday
April 9, 2017 at 9:33 PM
Geez, Steve – why are you inserting yourself in the Amanda/Josh situation? I find that weird. You always sat you don’t care about these people, but you apparently do! We come here to read spoilers and get deets on these people, not to hear you mediating between two warring factions. I’m almost thinking you’ve got a thing for Amanda. Anyways, please don’t do a podcast like that ever again. Your listeners would be thanking you on advance. And if you never mention this crap again – good! Just stay out of it and get back to spoilers, please. Seriously.
elemenope
April 10, 2017 at 12:35 AM
Wow that was so odd
I have managed to ignore the strangeness & smugness of your advice column (a single man in his 40s is not my definition of a relationship expert anymore than I think the Pope should give out advice on birth control!)
I (just) managed to ignore the blatant hypocrisy of you slamming Bachelor Nation contestants for selling things on instagram like teeth whitening & tea while your podcast was sponsored by a gambling company. Well if you can sleep at night knowing you might cause someone to become addicted to gambling then fine. Your choice. One I don’t support & feel is morally wrong but your choice.
But this?! What on earth was this crazy. Clearly high on your own self importance this was a total mess of a podcast with all your worst qualities on display.
You are a middle age man, grow up!
sarahe
April 10, 2017 at 2:43 PM
Hi Steve,
I am a long-time reader of this site. I started reading it around Jillian Harris’s season, so pretty much towards the beginning. I appreciate how much time and energy you dedicate to getting scoop and coverage on news surrounding the show.
I agree with a lot of other people in these comments about your podcast this week. I am sure a lack of sleep did not help matters, and that you were both tired and irritated by some of the back and forth. I have to say, though, that I was surprised by the threatening tone towards Luke in particular. I can actually see how you got involved in the Josh and Amanda stuff. You saw the comments on Instagram coming from people in the franchise, you followed up with both parties to get more intel, and somehow wound up playing mediator in the process. I don’t blame you for not spilling on the podcast about the drama, but then why bring it up at all? With regards to the Luke stuff, yeah, he’s clearly a douche. I don’t think anyone will argue with you there. But the threats to expose him did not come off well. He will have to do a lot more than deny these allegations to discredit you. I think you’re a bit think-skinned sometimes, Steve. Everyone in this fandom knows you know more than everyone else. So be confident in that. Don’t let naysayers get to you so much.
One thing I do have to say is that I agree with a few other commenters on here: stop white-knighting these women. Amanda in particular. She was warned by several people about Josh and chose to stay. Further, she has not deactivated social media, continues to ingratiate herself in the Bachelor world, and recently has publicly been commenting on her relationship with Josh. If she truly wanted her privacy, she should and would distance herself from anything related to this show. Further, she would not write a tell-all book about her time with him and piggyback off of Andi’s idea. My sympathy and pity for her are minimal. As much as I hate if she was abused, because no one deserves that, I do not feel sorry that this issue continues to plague her, because she in a way invites it to. These other girls who talked to/dated Luke are also just attention-seeking, image-obsessed women who wanted desperately to find love on or related to this show. Please don’t act like you have to speak on their behalf. Yes, Luke is a huge jerk. That’s apparent. But these women should not act like they lost the love of their life here.