“Reader Emails,” Ratings, & Arie’s Blog

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Hi Steve,

Love your site! Who do you think you have received more dirt on: Nick, Arie, or Peter? A tie between Nick and Arie. I think I know more stories about Nick, but the Arie stuff paints him in a worse light.

Did you ever receive anything negative about Bryan?

Comment: I think I did, but it wasn’t horrible. Wasn’t positive either. I can’t even remember now what it was.
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Have you heard anything about Ben Higgins’ interactions with the ladies on Winter Games? Particularly Bibiana? He seems to allude to a liking for her a few times in his podcast this week, but I can’t tell if it’s just based on a friendship they may have struck up on WG.

Comment: As far as I know, Ben didn’t hook up with anyone on Winter Games. Probably a good idea since he’s been dating Lindsay Duke since this summer and for whatever reason has kept it private.
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Hi Reality Steve

Two questions:

I feel like you’ve answered this better but can’t remember. Does the lead have any say in who gets a 1:1? Is there any rhyme or reason to who gets chosen for what dates? Very little. The producers know which girls they like, so they’ll plan the dates accordingly. The lead doesn’t sit down and say, “I want THIS girl to go on THIS date” and it happens.

Does Krystal end up on a 2:1? Krystal vs Chelsea? You’ll get that soon enough.

I’m SO bummed I can’t make your fan party this yr. I’ve been wanting to go for the last 3 yrs but had babies. My girlfriend’s and I were planning to go for the last yr but it’s the weekend of my dtrs dance recital. So disappointed. I suggest a live podcast in MN or WI 🙂

Thanks!

Comment: Kids are still in school then? My niece gets out two weeks before the party this year. But I guess they’re on a different schedule.
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Hi Steve,

I always thought in past seasons that gifts to contestants, like Bryan’s watch, were donated by the brand or purchased by abc. Yesterday my friend told me that she read that Arie actually bought all of that stuff for Becca. Is that true? No.

Also, I know you have already covered all of this but I just wanted to give praise for you podcast with Sydney and Brittany. I think it was really nice for them to be able to share their stories and I don’t think they completely vilified the two men. I was appalled listening to Ben and Ashley bashing those women. It was horribly out of line.

Looking forward to your next column!

Comment: I don’t think they vilified them either. They were two different interviews. I took different things from each one.
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Hi Steve!

I have 3 questions for you.

1. I saw that another reader asked you if Lesley and Dean are still together. I must have missed a post with this information and any other Winter Games spoilers. Can you point me in the direction of this post? It was a tweet I sent out when someone pointed out the fact a couple weeks ago that Dean and Lesley both posted IG stories from Venice Beach within minutes of each other. And then about a week later, they went to the Rose Bowl together. Yes, they were attached at the hip at Winter Games and they’ve been seeing each other post show. What that means for the long run, I have no idea considering Lesley doesn’t lead a normal life considering she’s a world traveler. And Dean a f***boy who lives in LA. My guess is they’re seeing each other when it’s convenient but it’ll never be serious. And no, I have not spoken to Lesley about this. Just my opinion.

2. I noticed you said that Bibiana was kept from Arie on their group date. Producers will really do that just to create drama? What if Arie had wanted to talk to her? I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that they’d do this. We all know the producers are a bag of d**ks, but I guess sometimes I underestimate just how big of bag! Absolutely they will. They’re making TV. They don’t care about your well being.

3. You alluded to the fact that Jenny (I think that’s her name, who can remember all of them?!) has gone on dates with former Bachelor nation contestants, and I’d love to know who!

Thanks for all of your hard work and spoilers!

Comment: Wouldn’t you all. Hey, ask her. Maybe she’ll tell you.
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Hey Steve,

I think I may be your youngest reader at 13. (Yes I have a problem watching these reality shows so much). But my question is, is it really true that the dresses Arie bought for Becca on the 1-on-1, were truly bought by Arie? Or was it just the show trying to make him look good? I have heard reports that he actually did, but have a very hard time believing it.
Thanks for the spoilers!

Comment: Wow, 13 years old. You could’ve told me you’re a Logan Paul worshipper and probably still gotten in “Reader Emails” this week. But lets hope you’re not. He didn’t buy any of that for Becca.
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Hey Steve.

I know with JoJo’s season you heard early on that it was the “Jordan and JoJo Show” and that he was a clear front runner and the same with Kaitlyn and Shawn and Ben and Lauren. Did you hear anything this season that Becca was a clear front runner? No.

During filming before hometowns (I believe when they were in Paris and you posted pics of his date with Lauren B) you did a post talking about the filming schedule. You said you were pretty sure you knew who 2 of the 4 hometowns were. I’m sure you don’t remember that exact post but was just curious if you remember who those 2 were. Becca and Lauren? I thought I actually said three of the 4. Right when hometowns started, I knew Becca, Lauren, and Tia were getting hometowns. Didn’t know who the 4th was, but knew it was being filmed in LA. So based on the list of girls who either lived in LA or had ties there, I couldn’t nail it down to one girl. And at the time back in October, I thought Kendall had been eliminated. Found out she wasn’t and she was the 4th one.

(*** I actually typed this question before listening to your podcast and I just heard you address it on there. Glad I’m not the only one confused***) Was The main reason why Arie sent Bekah home was due to her age? It’s kind of confusing since aren’t there 1 or 2 girls that are 23 on this season? Essentially, yes. But yeah, it makes no sense why they’re making Bekah’s age a big deal when Maquel is 23. It’s not like Bekah is 22 and the next youngest on the show is 26 or 27.

Do you know if Sean and Catherine get paid for doing the “talk/give advice” on the 1st episode? I mean, flight and hotel is covered by the show. But do they get paid on top of it? That I don’t know. If so, I don’t think it’d be much. Maybe give them a per diem. But hey, maybe they are getting thousands of dollars every time they’re used. Not sure.

I know that it is way too early for “serious bachelorette talks” especially since the past few seasons they’re gone in multiple different directions. But with going with what they’ve done it most likely would be either Lauren, Tia or Kendall. Just basing it off of a personal guess do you see Tia and Lauren being more favorable then Kendall? Yes.

I have a couple Survivor and challenge questions for you.

Who are your top 3 all time favorite survivor contestants? Boston Rob, Jeremy, and I’ll say Eliza since I know her ha ha.

If there was one survivor contestant you could interview who would it be? Richard Hatch.

What did you think of Ben winning? He should’ve won. I thought he played the best game. Got some incredible luck at the end, but once he got to the end, he deserved to win.

I loved listening to your interviews you did with Bananas and Cara Maria. So I want to ask you a couple of the questions you asked them:

What 2 contestants (1 male and 1 female) do you think are underrated? I’ve asked this to both of them, but then when I really think about it, you pretty much are what you are on this show. If you never win or get to finals, you can’t be underrated. So the only thing you can really do is pick people who haven’t been on the show long and say, “I think they will eventually do really well on this show.” With that criteria, I’d go with Hunter and Kailah.

What 2 contestants (1 male and 1 female) do you think are overrated? I’ll go with Nelson (only because he talks a bigger game than he plays) and I can’t really think of a female right now.

Out of these girls that haven’t won a challenge yet who could you see winning one first : Jenna, Tori, Britini, Amanda or Kailahh. Tori or Kailah.
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Hi Steve,

I’ve noticed a small change in the epiodes this season. Once in a while we see the camera crew working in the background, this week we heard a producer ask a question during an ITM, and several times you could see that either Arie or the contestants are looking at a producer for feedback or guidance while they are doing something and being filmed. Like for example when Not Peter was watching home movies at his place with Krystal and said “I think it’s enough for today” or something similar he was looking at someone standing beside the camera. Do you think it’s sloppy editing or they do it on purpose to make things look more unscripted? I have noticed this more in recent seasons of people breaking the 4th wall, and sometimes us hearing producer questions, but a lot of shows have adopted this. It’s wanting you to feel more about how the process works and give outsiders of glimpse to kinda what goes on.

I have to say though the cherry on the sundae was the actual re-enactment of the bumper car trauma, with the blur on the little girl’s face and everything. Really? As if the story itself wasn’t pathetic enough, they play it back for us? That is something new as well, so much potential to stoop even lower than before…

2 more questions for you:

– what is the latest on Unreal, is it starting soon? End of February is when season 3 starts. And by the time season 3 starts, they’ll already be done filming season 4. Hopefully they’ll air that this year and not wait til 2019.

– any plans to get Courtney back on your podcast? (I loved the one with the exes by the way)

Comment: I have plans for a lot of people. Whether those plans work out remains to be seen.
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Not Peter is soooo yucky. This isn’t enjoyable. The girls are the best part (which is why you say the lead doesn’t matter), but he’s not cute that I cringe when he kisses someone and feel so awkward when they show him Close up. I want to watch and swoon and be jealous (eye roll)

Comment: You mean you didn’t get all hot and bothered when a 36 year old was tonguing down a 22 year old like they were in the back row at the movie theater on a high school date? Can’t imagine why not.
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Hi Steve, Hope I’m not too late for my questions. You may have already been asked this before, so I apologize if mine are duplicates.

#1. I wonder why, with so many unsuccessful choices from the bachelors (and even bachelorettes), when their engagements fail and they become single again, do they not contact their second choices? Or even third or fourth choices. I mean, there was not enough time to really get to know them, so why not go for it with one of the rejects. For example, why didn’t Emily contact Arie when he claims to have loved her? He was her second choice, so why not see if there is that connection? Emily clearly did not have enough time to get to know any of the bachelors. Well, Arie did contact her but of course, you know, she rejected him. Uh huh. I think they don’t contact them just because it kinda looks desperate. And maybe a fear of rejection since you already rejected her and now you’re asking her back. Good chance she might say “F you.” Yes, it worked with Jason and Molly, but they’re the exception.

Also, a lot of the bachelors claim to love two women and it was so difficult to choose which one they would propose to. Well, why not carry on with the other choices if the first doesn’t work out? Because sometimes I think they just say that so the other girl doesn’t feel like she was used. But in the times where they have really fallen for two women, maybe it’s too hard and their pride is too big to ask for a second chance after essentially embarrassing them on national television.

#2. During the rose ceremony, they always have two women who are clashing. Now the bachelor is ‘supposedly’ not aware of this. Doesn’t he wonder why he has to wait until the end to select a particular contestant? I mean he could pick her first, but seems she is his last choice. Do the producers tell him why they want it structured this way? Do they let him know that particular bachelorette has a problem with the other women? The show has us believe he is totally unaware of all this. Just because that woman is shown getting the rose last, doesn’t mean she actually did. We’ve seen numerous occasions where sloppy editing showed women already received a rose before we actually see them receive it on TV. It’s not until after the fact when the show is being edited do they craft the storylines and sometimes they have to make something out of nothing.

#3. I guess this is more of a statement than a question, but I think them choosing an older (like Arie) bachelor, makes them a it a little more believable on having him want to settle down. At least it might give their show a better success rate than choosing a younger bachelor who still needs to “sow his wild oats”.

Thank you for making the show more interesting. I always like to know the final pick as it gives more time to absorb the little nuisances that occur each week with the final contestant.

Comment: I don’t believe for a nanosecond that Arie is interested in settling down and is done sowing his wild oats. Call me crazy.
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Hi Steve,

I would love to know your opinion on the ESPN report about the Patriots this past week. I thought Bill Simmons had some interesting thoughts on his podcast on January 5th— I enjoy his perspective a lot. My personal thought is that a lot of the details in the article are likely true (Brady’s trainer being too involved with the team, disagreements over whether to trade Garoppolo, etc), but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the end of the Brady-Belichick-Kraft era.

Thanks!

Comment: Bill has his pulse on the Patriots scene almost better than anyone so I agreed with his take. My thing with it is if there isn’t a Kraft/Brady/Belichick split up at the end of the season, what was the point of the article? If they all come back next year, that article kinda becomes moot. Then it’s just “Ok, these people aren’t all on the same page. Great. But they’re still together, so it can’t be THAT bad.”
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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.