So one correction from yesterday’s column in regards to the reunion show filming this week. I said yesterday that they were filming it tomorrow. Actually, they are filming it today. Not sure when I’ll find out exactly what happened, but I’m sure I will at some point. As I said yesterday, the only legitimate couples are Derek & Taylor and Adam and Raven. Derek and Taylor I could see getting engaged on that show. I’d be pretty surprised if Adam and Raven did, although I bet the show would like them to moreso than Derek and Taylor because, well, frankly not many people care about them. Lets just say they’d fall more into the Marcus & Lacey category and Adam & Raven would be more in the Tanner & Jade category if you know what I mean. The other main thing that I hope comes out of the reunion shows is DLo and Kristina busting Dean’s balls over everything that went on. There really is no way to explain the behavior away, and if they let him off the hook, then frankly he’s gonna keep doing it. It won’t be easy to cut him off since apparently he’s charmed their socks off, but, if either of them think there’s a future with him, they’re sorely mistaken. His actions on the show should be evidence enough. But I don’t know. Lets just hope each of them learned their lesson regarding that guy. Also, with the reunion taping today, I highly doubt we’ll see them make the “Bachelor” announcement since they usually like doing that live and making a bigger deal of it.
Another reminder to get your “Dr. Reality Steve” emails in for tomorrow. I only have one right now. Is it too much to ask for at least one or two more? I don’t think so. So get those in today’s for tomorrow’s column, where you’ll also be getting Part 2 of the Josiah Graham interview.
Some thoughts on last night’s show:
-Daniel entering the show had Lacey all giddy because, even though it was necessarily addressed other than her saying she was waiting for him to come on, they had hooked up before the show. Not sure why they’ve let other people discuss knowing or hooking up with someone before the show or during the shut down, yet not those two. We’ve seen Daniel on back-to-back seasons now and I can’t remember a single guy in the history of this show whose ITM’s are filled with as many sexual references as Daniel’s are. Like, that’s ALL he ever talks about when he’s talking to women. Everything is a sex joke. Total creep. There’s a reason they put him on the show. He gives them what they want. This guy doesn’t give two sh**s about Lacey. Unfortunately, she didn’t realize that and got played like a fiddle.
-Going in to the rose ceremony, there was a bunch of chaos since Matt had just left, Daniel had just arrived and Lacey didn’t know where he his was at. Not to mention Dean and Adam were each deciding between two women. So here’s how the roses played out:
Daniel to Lacey
Jack to Christen
Matt to Jasmine (came back to give his rose, then left again)
Derek to Taylor
Robby to Amanda
Diggy to Dominique
Adam to Raven
Dean to Kristina
Ben Z. to DLo (who made sure to let him know she wouldn’t have said yes to anyone else’s rose)
-After the rose ceremony, they show us a little private time with Kristina and Dean on the bed where, ummmmm, Dean essentially asked her to get him off. That’s the best way I can put it. Then he asked for :20 seconds to think to himself so he could get aroused. And failed. With the camera angle we couldn’t quite tell exactly what Kristina was doing with her hands, but it sure looked like they were where they needed to be to help him. This was the scene I was referring to yesterday in the column. I guess we don’t really know what happened, but the fact they chose to leave this scene in and it aired on network TV before 9:00pm EST was a bit surprising. Like, they didn’t leave a whole hell of a lot to the imagination.
-Daniel and Lacey ended up having a date with Mexican wrestlers all while Jorge was in the stands with a cut out Jorge face on his face. At this point, the wheels were completely off this episode. What the hell was that? The whole thing was completely random and only further solidified the fact that every single date on Paradise sucks. Like, can you remember one date in the 4 years from this show? Outside of date that wasn’t completely bizarre or embarrassing? I sure can’t. Probably why they maybe dedicate 5 minutes an episode to a date.
-As for Christen, now that she’s officially on the show, we see her added to the intro at the beginning, and it’s her eating seafood. So obviously she’s in on that joke. Kinda hard to complain about being bullied by that when you’re in on the joke. I think Christen has much more to be upset about in terms of how she was treated than the scallops thing. I’m told she was aware (and we even see it in the previews for next week), and that’s not what really bothered her. If she claims it is, it’s just hard to buy when it’s clear you went along with the joke.
-She ended up going on a date with Tickle Monster once he showed up. I mean, I don’t even know what to make of Tickle Monster. Everyone’s got their shtick, everyone’s got their gimmick, and obviously this is his. But it’s all he talks about. Hell, the cast don’t even refer to the guy by his name anymore. It’s just “Tickle.” Kind of embarrassing. And yet, this guy doesn’t seem fazed by it all and wears tiny hands on his hands. I don’t get it. Whatever floats your boat I guess. Anyway, on his date with Christen, of course, she’s eating seafood. And they make out a few times. This has Jack worried, but right after Christen comes back from her date with Tickle, Jack steals her away, and they start making out pretty much in full view of everyone, including Tickle. Christen is making quite a name for herself already on this show I tell ya’.
-The Dean/Kristina/DLo drama continued. They show Dean and Kristina waking up the next morning and made sure to put a black box over his crotch. Then of course we get the ITM of Kristina saying everything is great, they spent the night together, and she’s really happy Dean gave her the rose. Which basically meant that we’d get the complete opposite later on…and we did. While Kristina is talking to Robby, Dean is chicken fighting with DLo in the pool and they’re all over each other in full view of Kristina, who’s now crying. Not to mention, in a conversation earlier in the day with one of the other guys, Dean says that Kristina is “interesting, perceptive, and smart” but DLo is “so f***ing hot.” I’m glad the Dean crazies are getting a dose of reality with this guy during BIP.
-Like, I don’t understand how Dean thought treating both of the women this way would be a good thing. The guy is completely clueless. Did he think he was doing the right thing. Yes, he was attracted to both. Understandable. But his actions towards both gives each of them every reason to want to kick him in the nuts. And I hope they both give it to him bad at the reunion taping today. All he can do is apologize at this point, but I hope the apology doesn’t bring one of them running back to him. You know why? Because he’s going to do it again to them. Talk about burning your hand on the stove and not learning. Lets hope for their sake that DLo and Kristina are both done with his manipulative ways. I think Kristina’s good friend Astrid said it best last night with this tweet:
I'll just leave this here #BachelorInParadise pic.twitter.com/WV4Xtguoap
— Astrid Loch (@astrid_loch) August 30, 2017
Which is exactly what Dean is. Preach sister.
-As for the Corinne interview, what a giant disappointment. Now, I did not see her on GMA yesterday but I was told she did clarify her “victim” comment. Remember, this was the first statement that Corinne released through her legal team when the story broke back in June:
“I am a victim and have spent the last week trying to make sense of
what happened the June 4. Although I have little memory of that night,
something bad obviously took place, which I understand is why
production on the show has now been suspended and a producer on the
show has filed a complaint against the production.
As a woman, this is my worst nightmare and it has now become my
reality. As I pursue the details and facts surrounding that night and
the immediate days after, I have retained a group of professionals to
ensure that what happened on June 4 comes to light and I can continue
my life, including hiring an attorney to obtain justice and seeking
therapy to begin dealing with the physical and emotional trauma
stemming from that evening.”
That was probably mistake #1. Why not just clarify then what exactly you meant by the word “victim,” because yes, anyone reading that back in June immediately would conclude that you were talking about being a victim of some sort of physical or sexual assault. Why would anyone immediately think, “Oh, she’s totally talking about being a victim of the media.” Horrible job by legal team to not only release that statement then, but then essentially never clarify, let the flames get fanned even worse, and not til August then come out and say, “Oh, I was saying I was a victim of the media.” Yes, she was. I agree with her. But to let others twist in the wind (namely DeMario) for 3 months without clarifying that surely didn’t help matters.
-Remember, around that time is when stories were being reported that DeMario was having sex with a limp body in the pool who couldn’t even move and ridiculous headlines that made everyone think a sexual assault took place on set. Then Corinne releases her “victim” statement and of course that’s what people are going to assume. I can’t believe her legal team let it stand at that for 2 ½ months. So Corinne (and her legal team) I believe are at major fault for never getting out in front of this and putting an end earlier to the thought of any physical or sexual assault. We can all agree now that that never happened. Corinne and DeMario have now both spoken (DeMario many more times than her), and neither is blaming the other one. Yet, she knew that since June apparently and didn’t bother to clarify.
-Another issue with last night is Corinne cleared nothing up really. I mean, she actually had the audacity to answer a Chris Harrison question about what she thought of the whole ordeal and she said it was…“annoying.” You know why it might’ve been annoying? Because you kept quiet for 2 ½ months. That’s certainly a big reason. DeMario tried to clear his name to every outlet out there and you gave everyone nothing, which wasn’t helping matters. Again, everything seems to be all about Corinne. This could’ve been squashed much earlier if she would’ve spoken out.
-And finally, how through all this the show never even dove into exactly WHY a complaint was filed by those producers in the first place, what they were even complaining about, etc boggles my mind. Or how about bringing up to Corinne, “Hey, DeMario said some pretty detailed stuff of what went on that day in the pool. Like, he said you took your bathing suit down and shoved your lady bits in his face. Are you telling us you remember none of this whatsoever?” The interview was so filled with softball questions and we really don’t know any more than we did before. I don’t suspect we’ll ever hear from these producers, but can you at least address the how and the why this all came about with something more than “a third party filed a complaint.” Over what? Why? What’s become of them since? The whole story is missing so many pieces. We do know now that no assault ever took place on set, so that’s good. And I’m glad this thing is finally over and we can stop talking about it. But are we ever gonna get all the answers we’re looking for? Probably not.
