another question…..
you said usually only the bachelorette is allowed to send her #2 guy home before the rose ceremony… do you think rachel asked to be able to send him home? it aired as if she made a decision and went with it. not sure if she asked beforehand or how that works…. usually they show up at their door to break up with them but this was mid date.
Comment: I mean, I don’t think it matters if they broke up during the day portion or the night portion. She knew she was choosing Bryan and ending it with Peter that day. I don’t really think going on a day date made anything all that much of a difference to her. She knew and producers knew Peter was #2.
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Hi Steve, long-time reader — love your site… I have been thinking about the Finale last night and have a few observations/questions for you:
1) I feel like Rachel ‘settled’ for Bryan since he was willing to propose. I’m not a “Peter Crazy” as you might suspect, but either there were real feelings there between him and Rachel, or they are both terrific actors. What are your thoughts? That the Challenge was excellent last night. Jemmaye throwing Jenna in the Presidio was savage.
2) Rachel and Peter’s confrontation during the live show was odd. It started out civil, and then it was like she felt the need to take him down in some way. Was that to make Bryan feel better about being her default choice? Was she pissed because of what Peter said about Bryan? It was almost like she was trying to ruin his chance of being the next Bachelor. She exhibited petty behavior that we had not seen from her before, which was a bit surprising. So she got engaged to a guy by default and is gonna choose to move in and carry on a relationship with him for however long by default? Seems like an awful lot of commitment to carry a storyline. She has said that’s not the case and has stated why. I guess there are some that can’t take people at their word.
3) Rachel and Bryan mentioned (3) potential locations for them to start their lives together — the Dallas and Miami made sense, but what was with the LA option?
I think that’s all I have for now — Appreciate all that you do to keep us entertained each week.
Comment: With these couples, anything is possible post-show.
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Hi Steve,
Long time reader, first time writing in. I’ll get straight to it:
Overall I enjoyed watching Rachel’s season and I think she is hands down one of the best bachelorettes they’ve ever had. But some of the live segments during the finale left a bad taste in my mouth. Specifically, I thought she came across as spiteful and maybe even a little bitter during the sit down between her and Peter. Between the “best life” comment, refusing to accept what at least appeared to a heartfelt apology, and the obvious attempt to sabotage his chances for becoming the bachelor (by repeatedly stating “this process isn’t for you”), all I can say is that for someone who is supposed to be over it and totally happy with her fiancé, it was not a good look.
Having read your site for so long, I know how much editing plays a factor in who the audience roots for, so I’m not one of those people that thinks she made a mistake in her final choice. I’m not a huge fan of Bryan but I’m not invested in Peter either (my faves were Eric and Kenny). She is obviously a very intelligent woman and I wouldn’t insult her decision by suggesting the attitude last night came from a place of regret. But the way she acted with Peter did leave me confused and trying to figure out why she seemed to be harboring resentment toward him.
So, I can’t help but wonder if watching the season back and hearing all the talk about how Peter just wasn’t that into her and/or was just trying to position himself to be the next bachelor left her feeling manipulated? Seems possible that’s where the bitterness is coming from. Though, you’d have to admit it would be a little hypocritical if that were the case, because are we really supposed to believe she made it to the final three last season with the full intention of marrying Nick Viall? Pshh. It’s certainly possible she really saw/heard/read about the real Peter during the months it was airing and that’s where that came from. Will we ever know for sure? I doubt it.
Then I think, could she be embarrassed that one of her final two refused to propose? I can’t remember that ever happening on the bachelorette before, and I could see how that would hurt her pride. But assuming she already knew Bryan was her final choice, then if all she wanted was a proposal from the last two guys why choose Peter over Eric when he already made it clear where he stood? It doesn’t really make sense (unless you drop the assumption that Bryan was her first choice… but then you’re back to the “she obviously wanted Peter and Bryan was the consolation prize!” narrative and I refuse to be one of those crazies.) Why’d she choose Peter over Eric? That’s the easiest one to answer. Because it’s a television show.
Oh well. I know what you’ll say – It’s all pointless speculation! I guess I just wish she had handled herself a little differently last night and had come across as more “over it” where Peter is concerned. I am curious to at least get your thoughts on her attempt to derail his bachelor campaign!
Thanks for your spoilers and making this dumb show fun to watch!
Comment: Nothing Rachel said on the ATFR will have any effect whatsoever on whether Peter will be the next “Bachelor” or not. She isn’t the head of ABC. She doesn’t produce this show. They want him. If he wants it in return, he’s going to be the “Bachelor.”
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Hi RS
3 questions:
-Do you think your spoilers/ what you reveal about the winning contestants has weight on their success as a couple, or at least the first few weeks while the show is airing? Rachel and Bryan seemed genuinely happy, and you didn’t reveal anything very bad about him/ex’s. With everything you revealed about Jordan it would make sense that would cause rifts in their relationship, esp when all the tabloids room with your stories. If I do have stuff like that and reveal it, I’m sure it’s discussed. You’ll hear a little bit of that on next week’s podcast when I talk to Lace.
-Rachel was throwing shade at Peter saying the show is not for him. Do you think she did not want him to be the bachelor? Seemed very deliberate and I have to wonder what producers thought. Since it was a live taping they can’t edit it out. It definitely was shade, but I think everyone is making it a lot bigger than it was because ultimately it doesn’t matter what she says.
– I follow Ali occasionally because I like her fashion. It seems almost embarrassing that in her recaps she acts clueless. Shes really connected in the franchise to not know winners. She will say things like “I’m sure it was an accident that Rachel bright the group date w when she sent so and so home.” Does she really think her readers are that oblivious. Do you think she is trying to throw people off?
Thanks for another great season of spoiling!
Comment: I mean, that’s for Ali to answer. I’ve read her stuff a couple times, and yeah, it’s pretty much why I don’t read recaps of this show. I barely can tolerate reading my own. And any recap that doesn’t acknowledge spoilers by either not having read them, or read them but don’t want to acknowledge they have, just isn’t interesting reading for me because all their opinions are being formed by just what’s being shown on TV. And since my recaps are completely opposite, those types just don’t do anything for me.
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Hello,
So I’ve been of the firm belief that Peter wasn’t that into Rachel and was more so interested in being the next Bachelor until last night. From Spain to the painfully awkward on stage reunion, it seemed like there were genuine feelings there which kind of threw me off. Obviously you’re not in Peter’s brain so you don’t know what he feels or felt, but you do have some insider knowledge we aren’t privy to, so I’d be interested to know how you felt about it. Do you think he genuinely had feelings for Rachel? Like why reach out post show to a girl it felt like you weren’t sincerely in love with? Yes, he tried to reach out post-show but we didn’t know what that was for. She was engaged. I doubt it was to try and get her back. Maybe it was to apologize. But she had every right to say no, and move on. Which is apparently what she did according to what I read.
When you mentioned the words you’ve heard describe Peter, they really did seem spot on. He said that conversation in the hotel was 3 hours long and we saw what, 10 minutes of it? And in those minutes we saw all those things you mentioned. Have you heard anything about Bryan? Obviously the backlash has been pretty brutal and it’s not helping that he’s already selling merchandise, but I’m just curious what you’ve heard.
Thanks!
Comment: Rachel and/or Bryan have already posted two sponsored IG photos in two days. That’s what this show has become. Every couple does it. Doesn’t make them any better or worse than previous couples. If people are tired of it, I’m telling you it’s not going away. I haven’t heard much about Bryan to be honest. Only thing I had on him before the season was that he once dated Jubilee.
Here’s how I look at it: Some people are just impossible. Yes, Bryan’s lines were cheesy all season. But since episode 1, was there any doubt in anyone’s mind what Bryan was there for. He said the right things, they had great chemistry, you always knew where he stood, they’re engaged and seem happy now. But yet, some people can’t accept that. I don’t get it. He can’t win. If he were to be the bad boy all season and aloof and she picked him, you know what the response would be? “It’ll never work. He’s a player. He’s not into her.” So what’s he supposed to do? While he may have been over the top, he didn’t play games, and Rachel knew how he felt literally from the time he stepped out of the limo. And STILL that’s not good enough for some people.
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Hi Steve!
Congrats on another season well-spoiled. I tweeted last night that I get more excited for you on finale night than I do for the leads! A few questions:
1) Per your little tidbit at the end of your recap column, were you alluding that a “credible” source perhaps intentionally gave you the wrong spoiler? No. It wasn’t intentional. That I know. It was a honest mistake where they just didn’t have the right info. I’m positive of that.
2) Not a question, just an opinion. I am so happy for the evolution of your site and podcasts! While I miss seeing your mom and niece/nephew on the Thursday video chats (seems so long ago!), you just flourish in a podcast setting. You make the line of interview questions flow so effortlessly.
I was at first wary of you departing from bachelor(ette) related guests, but I’m finding I am enjoying the other celebrities as much/more. I can tell you’re enjoying yourself, and my thought is that you will have plenty of job security doing that should this formulaic show ever retires. I’m sure Tori Spelling’s team of psychics would agree (haha!).
Comment: Thanks. I appreciate it. Podcasts were the best thing I’ve ever added to this site I think. I’m much more in my element than I was on the video chats. I never thought I was any good at those, but I did it because people liked them and it was a way to interact. Honestly, I got anxious sometimes doing those. It’s not me. I’ve never been much of an in-front-of-the-camera guy.
Full disclosure: I was not happy with Psychic Source. That never should have been an ad on my podcast. There was a miscommunication and I even told the people who book my ads I didn’t want to do it. But Psychic Source had already bought the space, so I had to do it. I’m trying to only do ads for products I think would be beneficial to you guys and/or stuff I like. Like, most of my audience is women. So if there’s beauty products or whatever that come up, obviously I can’t use them, but I can still promote it for you guys and give you a discount. But you know me. I’ve made fun of psychics for years on this site. So having them as an ad sponsor didn’t make the least bit of sense and their 4 episode run is over now. You will never hear them again.
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Hey Steve!
Something that I was curious about during the whole Rachel/Peter saga last night was when Peter said he reached out to Rachel post-filming and he said he was denied.
I was curious if you knew what the policy about Bachelor/ettes and their contestants communicating post-filming is? Like would production not allow Peter and Rachel to talk to save the drama for ATFR? According to what I read, it wasn’t production that shot it down, it was Rachel. She had no reason to talk to him.
It made me think about Nick’s letter to Andi before her finale and I’m curious as to what kind of contact eliminated contestants and leads have after filming.
Or hey, maybe it was just added drama for Peter to build up his Bachelor character.
Thanks!
Comment: I don’t think there’s any set rules when it comes to that.
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Thanks, Steve, for another great spoiler season! You are absolutely the only reason I watch the show. You know how boring I find the actual show when I read the credits at the end. I noticed there are a ton of “executive producers”. Why is that? Is the executive producer who’s by himself on the screen more important than the others? And what’s with “co-executive producers”?
Comment: It’s a good question. There are people who read this column that a much better versed in being able to describe stuff like this, so if I can get a little help, that’d be great. Email it to me, and I’ll use it next week to pass along and answer the question.
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Dear Steve,
I haven’t watched the Bachelor shows for a long while and only started tuning in again so I’m hoping you can shed some light.
I read the spoilers and liked both Peter and Bryan for different reasons so either one winning was fine with me. Irrespective of the spoiler, as the show went on I started to really dislike Peter and was happy that Bryan was going to win.
Watching the show last night, my heart completely broke for Bryan. The way that mess was edited played so heavily into the Team Peter frenzy that she really wanted him instead. It really did seem as if Rachel was only chasing the ring and hadn’t chosen Bryan on his own merits (the *gimme gimme gimme* when Rachel saw the ring absolutely didn’t help)
I wanted to know why in the world they would edit it like that? Did the producers hate Bryan or something? It was just brutal. And even though throughout the season I never doubted those two were really into one another, I did last night. I felt as if Bryan was a consolation prize and I’m having a hard time understanding the reason why they’d spin it like that. What are your thoughts?
Thanks!
Comment: Maybe because the way it aired it made it seem like he was a consolation prize? Having the Peter break in Spain happen, then bring him out on stage for 2 segments to talk about it, and THEN having an anti-climactic proposal could’ve added to the way you’ve felt. Rachel and Bryan post show have done exactly what every other couple has done. Both have written public love notes to each other on IG, posted pictures of them traveling to NY, made the media rounds yesterday, tell us how happy they are, etc, yet people still don’t believe it because somehow she’s in love with Peter and wants to be with him. So f***ing stupid. They can’t win.
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Hi, Steve
Thanks for another great season of spoilers. You never fail to entertain. I read your recap of the finale/ATFR and I have to say that I pretty much agree with what you said, including your thoughts on whether Peter will be (or even should be) the next Bachelor. I initially disagreed with you, but after reading what you wrote (and realizing that this is a TV show, not real life), I can totally see them pushing hard for Peter. For the record, I was neither on TeamBryan nor TeamPeter (nor TeamEric, for that matter), so I really didn’t care who she picked in the end. If Peter really is only looking to build his brand, then he’d be stupid not to take the gig.
Here are a few extra thoughts I have on how things played out last night:
1) The way they did the finale/ATFR last night I thought Rachel was going to pull a “Mesnick,” and I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop (even though that would have meant that your spoiler was wrong, and I never doubted you). So, it seemed very anti-climactic when she gave Bryan the rose. It was interesting to hear that Peter said he reached out to producers to say he wanted to talk to Rachel and that he was told No. Was that while they were in Spain, or after the show wrapped production? I’m assuming it meant that Rachel said no, not a producer. Yes, from what I read it was Rachel that said no. She didn’t have anything to say to him.
2) Peter was right when he said that it’s unreasonable to know that he wants to marry someone after just 6-8 weeks. However, Peter is unrealistic and over-romanticizing the act of getting engaged as being the same level of commitment as getting married. This “fear” that he said he had of choosing the wrong person is over-blown. People make mistakes, learn from them and move on. A broken engagement isn’t at the same level as a marriage break-up, so he really needs to get over that romantic notion of “one proposal, one marriage.” Totally agree.
3) People are being unfair when they say that Rachel didn’t care about finding “true love” and that she was only trying to chase a ring/engagement. She said it herself when she talked about past relationship failures being about trying to “fix” relationships that weren’t right to begin with, and always being drawn to the one that needs fixing instead of the one that felt easy. That’s good insight and she was right to follow it. She didn’t want another relationship with a guy who wasn’t sure if he wanted to get married (at all, or to her), so she was right to choose Bryan. Agree.
4) All that said, marriage longevity isn’t so much about “picking the right person” in terms of how deeply you feel about/love that person, but how willing each of you are to work through your challenges/difficulties in a way that’s respectful and loving of the other person. Love isn’t about “not being able to picture your life without that person,” it’s about being willing to do whatever is necessary to make the other person feel loved, and knowing that they’re willing to do the same for you. Clearly, Peter and Rachel were not able to do that (each one locked into their own positions on the issue), so I doubt that either one of them really loved the other. What these people fail to realize is that “love” isn’t a feeling, it’s actions (behaviors). Wow. You’re good. I absolutely 1000% agree.
I’ll keep reading your blog through BIP, but I likely won’t make a point of watching the show (unless I’m home and there’s nothing else on TV that night). That show is a train-wreck of celebrity wannabes and has no entertainment value for me. As if this franchise isn’t incestuous enough! Keep doing what you do! You’ll keep being my go-to guy for spoilers, which makes watching this show far more entertaining.
Comment: Best email of the day by far.
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Hi Steve.
First off I want to apologize for the long email in advanced. I have a lot of questions after this week. That was very interesting finale with the new format they were doing, I still do know how to feel about it. I’m sure you probably getting a million emails today about the finale and the next bachelor possibilities. I’m going to be the same as a lot of people and ask you someone questions about the next bachelor. I’m personally hoping it’s peter and I want it to be peter. I’ve read your columns and I hope your right when it comes to him taking the next lead.
– First off, I wanted to start of with rachel’s comment ” this show isn’t for you” I am personally was very surprised she said that, I think it was very rude because I think she knows that abc wants Peter to be the bachelor and she was trying to sabotage that because she’s upset with how things ended for them. I was wondering if you were surprised by what she said? Also if abc will take that into count or not? Nope. Zero effect.
– I know Amy Kaufman has some inside sources and she said on twitter that she thinks producers are holding out for dean to accept the bachelor gig and if it’s not dean it will be peter. From what you know is there any truth to that? Dean also replied to her on twitter teasing ” who knows, it only takes the right person and I’ll be ready” is he just messing with people because he’s clearly not ready. I have not heard that. No idea where she’s getting that from considering Dean is currently hooking up with DLo.
– You have mentioned multiple times that dean will not be the next bachelor, I’m assuming it’s because you have some info that you can’t share with us. From what your saying it seems like if he is offered the next lead he would never do it? Or maybe abc would never really offer him the lead? Are either of those assumption correct? They could be. Or there could be other reasons.
– Moving on to Eric, after last night a lot of people seemed to love the idea of Eric as the next bachelor, do you think abc will reconsider or highly consider him after last night? I did see rob mills tweet “#ericforbachelor ?” Last night most people said no or said Peter. I personally would not like to watch a season of Eric because does not seem experienced or interesting. I don’t see it being him. Just not believable enough to me.
– Now that everyone wants Peter as the next bachelor and are assuming it will be him, because abc likes the play games and trick people, do you think they will purposely not make it him to surprise people? I don’t think so. Anything is possible of course, but if he wants it, it’ll be his. And I’m pretty sure he does.
– I know we are about a month away from the bachelor announcement. Considering the stuff they have pulled the past 2 season do you think abc could pull a last minute switch from Peter to Dean, Eric or even someone from paradise? I’m just curious to what are the chances they would do that if peter is actually on board to be the bachelor. Of course anything is possible. We’ve seen that happen in recent seasons. But Peter is who they want most. And they know a majority of their fans want him as well. They wouldn’t not go with him just for a surprise.
– This follows my last question, I know that last season you were not aware of the switch from Luke to Nick but the season before you were aware of the Caila to Jojo switch. If there is switch up at all this season do you think you would know about it before the announcement is made? Probably not.
– My last question. I’d be pretty surprised if it isn’t Peter but (Hypothetically speaking) On the day they announce the next bachelor if your not aware of who it is and are not able to spoil who it is like you did with rachel. Will you assume they pulled a switch or it will be someone you really thought wouldn’t do it?
Comment: I’m confused by that question.
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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.
