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Hi Steve!
What’s the deal with these girls who went on BIP with boyfriends? Did they plan to stay faithful and just told boyfriends they would do nothing more then cuddle the whole time? Given that Corinne didn’t last very long being faithful I would think she either has the most understandable boyfriend ever or never really planned on it working afterwards and just said screw it. Did production plan on these girls hooking up, or was the fact that they have boyfriends not meant to be a storyline? Seems like this will be a bombshell for people who don’t read your blog and didn’t realize Corinne and others have bfs. Makes ABC look silly!
Thanks!!
Comment: It’s such a gray area that it’s hard to know for sure. But ultimately, they do the show to increase their brand. I don’t know why a boyfriend would let them do that. It’s not being supportive, it’s being a moron.
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Hey Steve! In the words of Rachel, thanks for always “Keeping it 100” in your column in regards to honesty in what you know and what you’re not yet able to report.
I’ve been wondering something for a while, we see “squads” form on The Bachelor… do you think Rachel or JoJo really didn’t tell their girls who they picked after filming? And by the same token, do you think that Lauren and Vanessa really hid the fact that they were the winner from the rest of the top four after the finale was filmed? I guess the big question is, are they under contract not to say anything to other finalists?
Thanks!
Comment: You’re technically not supposed to say anything to anyone. But how many “winners” have we heard over the years say after the fact they told their family? Almost all. So it’s like there are rules in place, but are they enforced? Not really.
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Hi Steve!
I’m quite late in saying this, but I’m really enjoying your podcasts! You’ve had some excellent interviews and I appreciate how candid your guests are. No doubt that’s influenced by the way you are so real with them. I know you don’t plan to dig way into the history of the franchise, but at least one person (me) would be intrigued to know what happened to people like Meredith Phillips, and get inside scoop on early seasons.
I don’t use Twitter, so I missed your tweets about BIP and saw a few other media outlets commenting before I read your article. Your commentary addressed most of my concerns. Other outlets seem to be focusing more on the indecency of what went down and less on the lawsuit. And while it’s a bit tacky, I can’t imagine this is the first time someone got a bit too sexual in public view in Paradise, and it seems way more like poor drunken choices than misconduct. And People Magazine went so far as to say they don’t release the name of alleged assault victims (referring to Corinne) but it sure seems like IF anyone was a victim in this situation, it’s DeMario. In this modern age of feminism and equality, we still automatically assume it’s the man who assaults the woman? That women are too weak or modest or composed to sexually assault men? Then again, once you named the producer who is suing and her relationship to the cast, it makes sense that things are being spun the way they are.
All that being said, I’m not sad to see Paradise go. Good timing, really, after the madness of throwaway proposals last season. It’s almost like they had another Bachelor-world show ready to go in case of a situation exactly like this…
Comment: Might be time to get a fresh show in here. Sucks for this cast who was set to do this season, but it is what it is at this point.
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Steve,
I recently started following your blog posts intrigued by the spoilers and your perspective on the show.
This recent development with BIP is confusing me. One of the claims Corienne is making is that she wouldn’t have done what she did with Demario because she has a BF. My question: Why is she coming on a hook up show if she has BF back home? And are the rules not the same for BIP as for Bachelor/ette (as in not being allowed on the show if you have a BF or GF)?
I hope you can provide some insight.
Thanks.
Comment: No one really knows why they’re casting people with boyfriends/significant others/f**kboys back home. But it certainly doesn’t differ from “Bachelor/ette” seasons, because we get plenty of those on that show too.
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Hey Steve –
This is just a random thought, and probably totally wrong, but I was just thinking about your comment on Juliet’s podcast that ABC will have 4 hours of airtime for 6 weeks to fill, and they still plan to air Carly and Evan’s wedding. Maybe they’ll use the time to air weddings for Carly and Evan, finally give Kaitlyn and Shawn a wedding (although it would be a shotgun one to plan at this point) and maybe even do baby updates with Jade and Tanner? While all of that feels like it could fill one week of content, who knows, maybe they could stretch it for a week or two.
(I’ve obviously left out Jojo and Jordan because the expectation of them actually getting married is still zero)
Comment: If Shawn & Kaitlyn haven’t gotten an ABC wedding by now, I find it hard to believe they’ll ever get one.
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Regarding the whole Bachelor in Paradise situation, If it was Corrine’s friend/producer that filed a complaint, Corrine probably confided in her, or she knows what’s normal behavior for her. This is 100% the fault of the producers who coach them into certain behaviors, give them nothing but alcohol all day and film the outcome. They crossed a line valuing ratings over one’s autonomy and its disgusting. I hope Corrine sues.
The amount of criticism Corrine is getting is disgusting. The complaint and everything was after the fact (not in the moment) because she didn’t realize what went down until everyone started telling her what happened. I’m glad the show is cancelled, and I hope the show takes responsibility instead of throwing her under the bus.
So I have a question. She claims she was in a black out stage, yet, apparently everyone says she was fully engaged, moving, talking, among other things. Yet she feels that she has no accountability for her actions according to her”sources” because she doesn’t remember. I think actions show consent. If she wasn’t unconscious, how is anyone to know whether she will or won’t remember in the morning? So if I get drunk and get in a blackout stage and drive around and wreck or kill someone, can I be held not legally accountable if I don’t remember it? It seems there is some personal responsibility that they both need to take for their drinking and whatever they did while drinking. I don’t feel it’s right to blame people watching them for THEIR actions. As far as I know, they aren’t FORCING people to drink till obliteration. It may be encouraged, but again, personal accountability. Should producers have stopped them when certain things happened? I don’t know. They should probably not have filmed it when it reached the genitals, but they had no problem letting her get topless with Nick. Ultimately we are responsible for our own behavior and I’d like to see them take responsibility for theirs. Pretty sure we’ve all done something that we would like to take back while drunk, but if it’s true that she seemed fully concious and was the aggressor, I don’t see how she could blame anyone but herself.
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Hey Steve,
I was going to just leave well enough alone with this Corrine/Demario situation, but after your last tweet about the producer not even seeing the encounter I had to vent.
If Corrine was actually assaulted and feels that production didn’t have her back, then she should absolutely be reacting this way. I know women that have found themselves in the morning after of a “too drunk to consent” situation – I have as well. It’s a violation. It’s a sexual assault. Period. And everyone at fault should pay for putting her in a situation to be taken advantage of.
If that’s not what happened – if she’s just using this situation to get out of trouble with her boyfriend – she should have the fullest extent of the law thrown at her (not sure what that is in a situation like this, maybe ABC files suit against her? it’s probably smart she hasn’t gone to the police and filed a criminal report yet) and the producer should be fired and blackballed from television. Sexual assault should never be played around with. Thousands of women don’t report what happened to them because of shame, guilt, fear no one will believe them, etc. So having this reality television star (that we unfortunately created) possibly falsely accuse someone of that? Unacceptable and actually harmful to those too afraid to speak up.
Look, I watch this show like every other adult with a career/family/life does: mindless, vapid entertainment. Harmless, even. If this all pans out to be true – if Corrine tries to rich girl/victim her way out of falsely accusing someone of sexually assaulting her – how low can you go? And if she tries to weave this into her brand?! Posting about being a survivor and a feminist??? Ugh.
So yeah no question, just wanted to get that out there. Thanks for all you do, and I hope you’re staying sane among this absolutely madness.
I may be too late, but I wanted to email you just in case. My question is, like I’m sure many others’ are, are the contestants angry with Corrine based on what you’ve heard? Many of them have unfollowed her on Instagram. I wondered if they did so to remove themselves from the legal situation. However, some of them still follow Demario. I’m curious if you know anything about the contestants’ take on it & whether or not they’re upset with Corrine, Demario, or both. Thank you!
Comment: I don’t check follows or unfollows, but I’ve had a few people tell me what you just said. Seems to be rather telling. Or a giant coincidence. I haven’t heard specifically though.
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Steve:
I can’t help but think this is all a publicity stunt by Bachelor in Paradise. I think back to your interview with Olivia and how she was left in the dark with casting for Bachelor in Paradise. She seemed a little surprised at the radio silence. Chase acted the same way on the podcast with Ben. Then I remember how you mentioned so many contestants in the first group had boyfriends, Demario was the only one of Rachel’s guys in that first group, and there were a few randoms cast. You also mentioned how some of the contestants you leaked didn’t end up there. Why? Because I now think producers planned this entire thing and allowed the drama to unfold, knowing they’d send everyone home and start over in a week. A new cast will soon emerge with some of the first group contestants like Robby and Raven mixed with bigger names from the franchise.
When I saw Warner Brothers’ statement, this confirmed my theory once I read filming was “suspended” while an investigation takes place; they didn’t say “terminated” for good.
Is this all a publicity stunt for ratings gold? I think the show started filming and realized their cast was garbage. Producers knew the only way out is something drastic, like filing a complaint. There’s been no legal investigation opened or criminal misconduct filed, so toss out lack of consent or rape, etc. From what I’ve read, it’s a civil complaint for third-party misconduct. Demario said the whole thing was scripted in the first place; this show prides itself in operating outside the lines because they know sex sells.
So, let me get this right. Corinne and Demario are given a “storyline” plus unlimited alcohol and go along with it, but are ultimately then fired? Say what?
Bachelor/Bachelorette was in hot water for knowingly casting Lee during Rachel’s historic ABC season and then played dumb. Is this a ploy to make everyone forget about that? I think Demario was duped; Corinne has a boyfriend and agreed to the fling with Demario because she was paid. The show leaked specific things to Amy Kaufman because they wanted Demario’s and Corinne’s names out there. Demario was an easy target because the public mistrusts him after the whole ex situation. He’s not credible. Hey Demario, I hope game recognizes game, fam!
Also – there is no Bachelorette show Monday, so news of this magnitude was conveniently released on a Sunday so we all have something to discuss this week. You’re the only person who will find the dirt and I’m just theorizing one option. I’d love to read in your column if any of your sources noticed anything out of the ordinary to set this entire thing in motion. Even some of Fleiss’ tweets seemed odd to me now. He went overboard to show that filming started with that dorky picture of Harrison.
I think the misconduct investigation will unfold and then filming will resume with the “good” cast. Everyone will tune into BiP bc the show will promise to air what led to the production delay. Then during the 3rd episode we’ll get that cheesy line that producers sent everyone home and started over with people “there for the right reasons and looking for love.” gag me.
Just my random thoughts. 🙂
P.S. love, love, love your podcast
Comment: That’s one hell of a thought out theory. I don’t agree with any of it, but, kudos to you for thinking of a good conspiracy theory.
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Hi Steve:
I don’t know if you’ll publish emails about BIP but Twitter has been killing me so I had to write something, all I hope is that maybe anyone who has so hateful towards her gains a little empathy.
Context for some of the things I’m going to say: I’m halfway through my Master’s in Psychology, and I finished a study on bystander behaviour in sexually aggressive situations on Wednesday. So watching this play out has been interesting (from an academic standpoint) and alarming (from every other standpoint). My best friend is a licensed psychologist and an alcoholic, so that’s where I’ll be drawing my opinions/theories on blackouts etc.
I’m FLOORED how many people are blaming Corinne. The shade from the other girls is shocking. Now obviously we don’t know the whole situation, but I’ll put some puzzle pieces together, which may not fit together but I think as pieces don’t need to fit together to be valid.
Corinne was crazy drunk. Even the girls are essentially saying that on twitter. Whether they think she was capable of giving consent or not is irrelevant. If Corinne was coherent she could also be blackout drunk, as my friend has proved. We would drink together, she would NOT pass out, would be acting normal, would not remember a thing the next morning.
Now, some people say she should be a grown-ass adult and handle her drink. First, there are laws against over serving in Canada (I assume USA even more so due to the litigious nature of the society). So clearly as a society we realize that there are external responsibilities in a situation like this. Second, if she is like my friend, she has a physiological addiction to alcohol. My friend had to quit because if she had one drink, she would be compelled to keep drinking until she finished a couple bottles of wine. Does that mean she should quit drinking? That’s really not any of our decisions to make.
Next, did anyone catch that Elan posted about his three years sober this week?!!! We all know the morals on these people are bad, but to me that’s the worst thing that *I* know of in this franchise. It seems unlikely that he’s NOT involved, so that was pretty disgusting to me. If it’s true that a producer waited a couple days before having an issue, that’s classic bystander guilt as well.
Okay let’s talk about consent! The girls on twitter seem to think she was both “unable to hold her alcohol” yet somehow responsible. The legal establishment is mostly agreeing that drunk does not equal consent. This type of victimization may also not manifest right away. Even if a couple of days went on when she seemed fine, for her to take a few days to process it before realizing that she IS a victim is not unusual. Especially given her age. Hell, it took me nearly a year to come to terms with my own “consent incident”. So it doesn’t automatically mean she’s just trying to take advantage of a situation, as some seem to imply.
If it’s true that cast members saw and thought it was wrong, if they said anything, it was probably really really bad. In a situation like this, where clearly some people are egging them on, some studies have found that NO ONE will say anything. It’s classic bystander behaviour, and is seen over and over again in sexual situations. If even one person is saying “oh, it’s fine”, then it’s been shown time and time again that people will not intervene.
I have hated the character of Corinne we’ve been shown, but even at the worst situation I can think of (she was fine, but changed her mind days later) has legs. The way she’s being crucified is horrendous. Sure I enjoy BIP and hope it airs, but it’s not worth ruining someone’s life like this.
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Hi Steve,
Quick question – you had said in your blog that you had asked Olivia straight up about Derek when you did her podcast. Was that during the podcast or afterwards, because that part wasn’t in the podcast we heard. I also wanted to know if the podcast was edited or cut in any way or we listened to everything. Thanks!
Comment: I asked her straight up off air. And saw all the proof I needed.
Nope. That episode wasn’t edited in any way. That was everything we talked about. I do the same with mine. Hit record to start, and stop to end. I don’t edit anything.
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Answers to the Trivia Contest:
1. True
2. Her ankles/cankles
3. Ali, Jillian, DeAnna, Emily, Desiree, Ashley
4. Courtney
5. Marcus & Lacey, Michelle & Cody
6. Lauren, JoJo, Caila, Amanda
7. Kaitlyn
8. Kacie B. (now Kacie Gaston)
9. Tierra
10. Sean. This was the one that was tricky. The team that won getting 34 out of 35 points missed this one. They thought I was asking from where Juan Pablo was originally from, which was Venezuela and they never filmed there. But I was talking about their hometowns from where they were born/grew up or where the show identified them from. Nick filmed an episode in Milwaukee, Ben filmed an episode in Indiana, Chris filmed an episode in Iowa, Juan Pablo filmed an episode in Miami. Hence, Sean was the last one where they didn’t film an episode in his hometown because they never went to Dallas for his “Bachelor” season.
11. St. Thomas, Bimini, and Finland
12. Olivia
13. Marcus & Lacey, Tanner & Jade, Amanda & Josh, Carly & Evan, Grand & Lace
14. False (it was in St. Lucia)
15. Trista & Ryan, Jason & Molly, Ashley & JP, Sean & Catherine, Tanner & Jade, Marcus & Lacey (they were toughest since it wasn’t as big of a production as the other five and the only ones not to get their own show out of it).
In addition, here were the scores of the 18 people who took the test. 35 points possible:
34, 29, 28, 28, 27, 27, 27, 26, 25, 24, 23, 23, 21, 21, 19, 18, 18, 17.
Two emailers who watched on Periscope took the test and sent me in their results. Here were their emails:
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I took it at home this morning without cheating and calculated my score. I got 28/35 and wanted to know how I rank among all the people who took it?
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Hope you are having a good time in Vegas. I have to come next year, I did well on the quiz! 31/35 – Mainly because I listen to all your podcasts, they are great!
I thought #5 was bachelor pad, so I missed that and a couple locations for nicks season.
I almost forgot about Ashley & JP so if I were there I would probably miss that.
Thanks for sharing on periscope! It was fun following along!
Comment: Well, maybe this person should’ve shown up the party. They would’ve won $50 for finishing in second place.
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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,” join my Reality Steve Facebook Fan Page, or listen to all my podcasts at Apple Podcasts. Talk to you tomorrow.
