There were a couple of things that I didn’t hit on in the “Bachelor in Paradise” spoilers yesterday because, well, I don’t know the answer yet. And ABC hasn’t announced anything. One being when the premiere date is. It was set for Tuesday, August 8th, the day after Rachel’s finale. But I don’t know if that is still the working premiere date. I thought I heard it was being pushed back to Monday the 14th, but not sure. Also, still haven’t been told if there’s going to be an “After Paradise” on Tuesday nights. Hell, we don’t even know if the show is going to still be two nights a week yet. So there’s still a few scheduling things that need to be announced that we will most certainly get in the coming weeks, but I know a lot of you had asked yesterday after the post about when certain things are, and we just don’t know yet. If there is no “After Paradise” every Tuesday, I do know there will be a reunion show at the end of the season that will happen right after the last episode airs. I doubt they’d give it their own week. And that’s when I expect we’ll get an engagement from this thing. If not, there’s no climax to the season and they know they have a certain faction of their audience that wants an engagement, regardless of how ridiculous that seems. Although in the case this year, the engagement wouldn’t be coming after 14 days of filming, since they will have been dating for 2 months by the time the reunion show rolls around. I will keep you updated when ABC makes their announcement.
Executive Producer Robert Mills was on Juliet Litman’s Channel 33 “Bachelor Party” podcast yesterday. If you haven’t heard it, you can listen here:
On 'Bachelorette Party,' @julietlitman talks about the 'Bachelor in Paradise' news leaks with ABC exec Rob Mills https://t.co/twywz1WMjn
— The Ringer (@ringer) July 11, 2017
It’s probably because I’m a TV nerd, but I enjoy listening to Mills do interviews. He gives a lot of insight to the pulse of TV. They talk about the BIP scandal, Rachel’s season, next “Bachelor” possibilities (where I totally thought he tipped his hand to who they want). It’s a good listen because Mills is pretty high up at ABC and provides a lot of background depth to the “Bachelor/ette” franchise that you don’t normally hear. Are there obviously some things he can’t/won’t talk about? Yes. He doesn’t want to give anything away. I noticed he even took a back handed shot at one of my former podcast guests without naming her for an interview she did with Vulture. But a lot of the stuff he says is stuff I’ve been telling you for years, especially when it comes to ratings, casting, etc. Take a listen.
Also if you didn’t see me tweet this out last week, I did an interview with the “Just Not Sports” podcast, which focused more on my sports radio background. I know you’ve probably heard enough interviews I’ve done to where you pretty much know what I’m gonna say before I say it. But this interview is different. Outside of the die hards that know my sports radio background, this is a completely different side you may not know about. You can listen here:
#Clones! We talked to @RealitySteve on life in Jungle. Praises icons @mcditolla, @SeanTPendergast & @THEmikeinindy https://t.co/hgAGsFJFJl
— JustNotSports (@JustNotSports) July 8, 2017
A lot of fun going down memory lane from the early 2000’s on that podcast.
Rachel’s blog for People.com is up now where she talks about how hard Switzerland was for her, even though none of the viewers could understand why. Chris Harrison also has his weekly mailed in column for Yahoo TV. I hope they pay him $.13 for writing that weekly.
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Reader Emails
Hi Steve,
Regarding Rachel and Bryan, do you know anything about Bryan preparing to move to Dallas? There’s speculation, he may be trying to get licensed in Texas. I am new to the franchise and maybe you can’t answer my second question, but when you get spoiled the ending of the season, is it that you have pictures/video that kind of thing, like how you were sure Bryan was correct over Peter? Thanks.
Comment: To the first part of your question, I don’t see Rachel moving. So if they’re gonna work, he’s gonna need to move here.
As for the second part, I can’t answer stuff like that.
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Hey Steve,
I’ve been following your site for years now and I can’t imagine watching the bachelor/bachelorette without spoilers so thanks for all you do! I started listening to your podcasts while I’m running, they are perfect for my long training runs and I really enjoy them. That being said it leads me to my question, I also listen to Olivia’s podcast and I subscribed to Katelyns but I haven’t actually listened yet. Do you think that now that there are former contestants doing podcasts it’ll take away potential interviews? Like maybe they feel safer with people who have been there rather than “off limits” Steve? I honestly can’t imagine anyone asking the good objective questions like you do and I love that you seem to get them to not take themselves so seriously. Looking forward to all of your future podcasts! Thanks again!
Comment: Yes, I do. Sucks, but there’s really nothing I can do about it. I ask, and they either say yes or no. It’s pretty simple. There’s no negotiation. They either want to come on or not. But with others from the franchise now having one, is it easier to do theirs over mine? Sure.
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Hey Steve,
So I’m rather new to the world that is Bachelor Nation. I never watched any of these shows regularly until JoJo’s Season (although I did watch a little bit of Andi’s and Kaitlyn’s seasons while they were airing). And because of that, I often find it interesting to look at the past of the franchise and see what had happened during past seasons. And it lead me to the season where Brad Womack did not choose either of his final two contestants in the end. I learned that caused a lot of backlash and was at one point considered the most hated man in America and I just didn’t get it. I mean, what would be better? To have him settle for one of the girls and put up a fake relationship for a couple months to please Bachelor Nation and the media and then stage a tragic breakup? It just seemed silly to me that so man that people were upset about that. I mean if you don’t feel it, you don’t feel it. I think it’s better to just get that off your chest instead of faking it and dragging someone else’s feelings into it.
Comment: It’s because the bored housewives who need to live vicariously through these people won’t accept that as a possible ending. They want a love story. But as I’ve said for years, if you watch this show for a love story, you’re watching for the wrong reasons and will more often than not be disappointed.
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Hey Steve,
Love your column! I love the Bachelor/Bachelorette and my boyfriend doesn’t. But I always tell him about your spoilers and commentary and he thinks you’re cool because you know what you’re talking about when it comes to sports. So I have some non-bachelor questions for you. Which is your favourite basketball team? Who is your all time favourite basketball player (both currently in the NBA and not)? What is your favourite sport to watch on TV?
Thanks!
Comment: I’ve become way more objective over the years when it comes to sports, so I honestly don’t have a favorite team that I live or die by. I have season tickets to the Mavericks living here in Dallas, but am I on the edge of my seat with every game and every move they make? Not at all. Would I like to see them win? Sure. But they don’t affect my mood one way or another.
College football and college basketball will always be my two favorite sports to watch. Then followed by NFL, NBA, and MLB.
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Hey Steve,
I’ve been catching up on your podcasts. They’re all interesting and enjoyable, but my favorite by far has been your interview on Olivia’s podcast. I don’t know if it was the give and take format or if it was just that you and Olivia had tons of chemistry. Anyway, (and I’m sure I’m not the first to say this) I don’t know if either of you are single but I think you sounded great together and you should get married.
Comment: Ha ha, that’s awesome. I love how you went from “you guys had tons of chemistry” to “you should get married.” Not, “Hey, I think you guys would be cute together, maybe you should date.” Nope. Just “you should get married.” Good one.
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Hi Steve,
During Jojo’s season you wrote about Grant, Jordan, & Robby’s shady ways before coming onto the show. I was wondering if you ever had anyone come forward from Luke Pell’s past? (Last year, prior to the whole Airelle/Lauren drama)
Comment: Prior to them? No.
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Hey Steve,
This is random but do you know how Holly knows Seth McFarlane? Every now and then she will post a picture with him. Seems like a random pairing of friends. I remember she told me way back in the day, but now I forgot.
Also, while I’m here, you have alluded to some stuff with Ames in the past that makes me wonder if you think he is gay. I know you would never give an answer to this, but how about if you think he’s gay just say nothing? Well, he married a woman. So there’s that.
Last thing, in that pic you posted of Robby and Amanda on a date, all I can see are his teeth. It’s like they glow in the dark.
Comment: Remember, between the ending of filming of JoJo’s season and appearing on the ATFR, he got new teeth. It’s on his IG if you go back far enough and look.
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Hello,
I’m curious to get your thoughts on the relationship between Rachel and the producers. Rachel seems to see through the BS more than past leads…or at least they are showing her reactions more than they have shown with others.
Do you anticipate her being outspoken about the producers when she is able to or will she put on a smile?
I see her being more outspoken like Kaitlyn.
Thanks for your insight!
Comment: I think she does see through it, but predicting whether or not she’ll be more vocal about it post show is impossible.
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Hello!
If you were tasked with naming 4 or 5 bachelor(ette) contestants who you think were 100% on the show looking for love (as opposed to fame), who would you choose? Or do those people not exist…
Comment: Basically you can eliminate anyone from any season once social media became a thing. I think in the early years, sure, there were quite a few. But hard to say who was that much more sincere than someone else.
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Hi Steve!
Just wanted to share some thoughts and findings I’ve made regarding social media of bachelor(ette) contestants, as I find it kind of interesting, sadly.
I know you’ve mentioned before that you don’t think contestants’ social media following has anything to do with who is cast as the lead, as we all thought Caila was going to be the bachelorette even though she had not even half of the Instagram followers as the others in Ben’s top 4, which I wrote to you about at the time and you said you didn’t think it mattered, which it might not have.
Even though it may not affect who the producers chose, it definitely shows who the fan favorites. Obviously as seasons continue, social media gets bigger.. but I did notice that Rachel still only has 650k followers on Instagram, whereas Jojo had a million before her season even started, and 2 million by the time it finished airing. Which I find it odd that there is this much of a gap considering the number of viewers is about the same, and Rachel seems to be a very well-received bachelorette. Also Kaitlyn had passed a million during her season airing too if I remember correctly.
Lauren B, Amanda and Becca all also have over a million but none of Nick’s girls have hit that number, and overall seem to have a lot less of a following. Which is surprising since Nick’s girls are constantly together in groups and tagging each other in pictures.
I know you’ve said you don’t think social media is important to anything with the show and how it plays out on camera, but I’m curious why you think the numbers are so different especially between Jojo and Rachel. Is it just that she is thaaat much more likeable? Or cause she’s young and like a 10/10? Hmmm. I have no idea. I don’t think there’s any concrete answer to that.
Also, I randomly saw that Jake Pavelka was tagged in Jojo’s 4th of July picture at their family friend gathering, so I clicked on his page and at first thought it was fake since it only had 1,800 followers. Jason who was before him has 75,000 and Juan Pablo who was equally as hated has 500,000. I know Instagram wasn’t around or popular during Jake’s season, but still odd that barely anyone cares to see what he’s up to. Hell, me and most my friends have over 1,000 followers just by people we know / not being famous or posting anything exciting.
Anyway, I just think it’s interesting that even though social media has become a part of the show and current contestants have a larger following in general, there are still so many outliers that show who fans actually like and who producers push on you, but few people actually care to follow outside of the show.
I know you don’t care much about social media, but if you could please at least dignify me with a more than one word response I’d greatly appreciate it and feel less pathetic about analyzing contestants instagrams and writing you about it, haha.
Comment: Ummmm, well, I think you maaaaaaaay be putting too much thought into something that ultimately doesn’t matter too much in the grand scheme of things. I can see how it interests some people, but when there’s really no way to get an answer as to why some gain more than others, it’s tough dissect it.
