So there might be a change to the schedule from what I mentioned yesterday. There’s a chance that episode 3 of the “He Said, She Said” podcast with myself and Sharleen Joynt will be released tomorrow on Stitcher Premium instead of next week. You’ll know tomorrow morning once I release this week’s podcast with Lace Morris. I think there’s a good chance we can get the HSSS (that’s my short version of the title) podcast in tomorrow. At least I’m hoping to. If not, then next Thursday. But it’s a good one. Two callers, but two very different situations. Plus, we have one positive update from a previous caller and one, well, not so positive update from an episode #2 caller. It happens. But one thing I’ve tried to do with that show is keep the audience updated on some of these people’s stories. Because in that format, it’s not just an email you see on a “Dr. Reality Steve” column. Most of the calls have been between 15-20 minutes where you feel you know these people a lot better, so you’d like to know what eventually happened with them. I’ll let you know tomorrow for sure, so keep your eyes and ears open for that. Podcast #39 with Lace Morris is definitely going up tomorrow and that’s one you don’t want to miss either. Very candid about her relationship with Grant and where it all went wrong, along with how happy she is in her current relationship.
Thoughts on last night’s show:
-Make no mistake, there is a pecking order when it comes to couples from this show:
Marcus & Lacey met on Paradise and got a wedding the following season in Mexico that was maybe 15 minutes long, and frankly, embarrassing. Embarrassing compared to previous weddings this show has televised.
Tanner & Jade met on Paradise and got a wedding at Monarch Beach in CA that made Marcus & Lacey’s look like a two year olds birthday party. They got the treatment like some of the other weddings the show has done.
Evan & Carly last night? Somewhere in the middle. The whole thing took up the first 45-50 minutes of the show. So at least they got that. But was it the over-the-top type like some of the others have gotten? Not at all. So yeah, I guess you take what you can get if it’s all paid for. But anyone with two eyes can see which weddings got more attention and which ones look like they got thrown together in a week.
-I’m still trying to wrap my head around the “fireside chat” the cast had with Chris Harrison once they returned. A part of me thinks it was somewhat productive and broke down a 4th wall we don’t really see on this show. Another part of me thinks a lot of them just said what they thought the audience wanted to hear and it was a bad PSA. We talked about the DeMario/Corinne situation ad nauseum in June when everything went down. And reading articles recently by execs, it’s clear to me that the producers, WHO NEVER EVEN WITNESSED DEMARIO AND CORINNE WITH THEIR OWN EYES, should never have filed a complaint. But they did, the show had to act accordingly, they did a 10 day investigation, found nothing out of the ordinary happened, and they resumed. We haven’t heard direct quotes from Corinne’s mouth yet, but we’ll get that in her sit down with Chris Harrison which I believe is coming next week. Based on everything we’ve gathered, Corinne isn’t still coming after DeMario and accusing him of any sort of assault or whatever. So if the girl in question is satisfied with the investigation and still isn’t pursuing legal action against DeMario, it certainly seems like this situation was blown out of proportion.
-Some of these contestants sucking up to producers calling them their friends and they never interfere or tell them what to do is laughable. Yes, some contestants do remain friends with producers post-show. I’m not saying that doesn’t happen because it does. But that’s the exception rather than the norm. There are PLENTY who despise some of the producers and what they’ve done. So to hear a lot of them last night chime in and defend them was kinda bizarre. And the vote they took to continue or stop the show? Please. That was laughable. Like did we really think they brought them all back to only have them turn right back around and go home? And pass up all the social media opportunities? Uh huh.
-The rest of the show only had 1 date, and that was Derek and Taylor’s. And honestly, I fast forwarded through it. I think Derek is pretty phony and the two of them together bore me to tears. I’ve got no problem with Taylor and I’m glad she got the redemption she was looking for after what happened on Nick’s season, but as a character on this show, I don’t find her that interesting.
-So far through two episodes, I think it’s safe to say Jasmine and Raven have been the stars. Jasmine is everywhere. Probably more screen time than anyone else. I don’t know what happened to Matt after production shut down, but it certainly looked like he came back to Paradise in a completely different mindset than when he left. Jasmine sensed it and is now about to go off on him. Raven just seems like the cock of the walk out there. How many guys want her? The fact she came back saying she didn’t want to give either Robby or Ben Z. a rose was interesting. And knowing Adam is about to show up, maybe that had something to do with it.
-The Dean/Kristina relationship is already crumbling. Interesting to see them admit that while filming was shut down, Dean went to Kentucky and Chicago with Kristina. Of course when this was all happening, I had spoiled that he was with her, not to mention there were social media pics of them together. But again, once he gets back to the island, you see the way he acted, and it basically sets up his storyline for the rest of the season. Dude isn’t interested in any serious relationship with anyone. He’s loving the fact he can ride out the attention he’s getting from this show and is bedding as many as he can. He isn’t the first guy to do it, and won’t be the last, but the fact he’s doing it at the expense of Kristina (who the audience seems to love), is not helping his case.
-Next week things will start ramping up as we get more into the dates and drama. I think the Corinne/DeMario sit downs with Chris Harrison are coming next week as well. It’ll really be our first time to hear directly from Corinne since everything went down. Only quotes we’ve gotten from her were written statements prepared by lawyers. I wanna see what she finally says about this.
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