I’m so glad this season is basically over. And now onto paradise…
Which brings me to my first question,
1. When do they start filming and have you heard who’s going? Hearing Chris Harrison say that Bekah might be gone for 2 weeks this summer really reminded me of an engagement at the end of that show is crazy. We know it’s two weeks from you but to have Chris say that, was it a slip up or do they not care that we know it’s only two weeks long? It’s begun filming the same exact time for it’s first 4 seasons: first week of June. Maybe it was a slip by Chris, but it’s definitely known filming is only about 2 ½ weeks long.
2. I think what Ashley wants with Kevin is that whole bachelor nation couple reputation and is willing to overlook what she probably knows what is true: that he wants the fame. It’s easy to tell who’s looking for it by their Instagram. Overwhelming number of selfies, ads, and an email for inquiries. Aka Robby, Luke, etc. I wanna be sad/concerned for her, but it’s hard. If she didn’t know before, she should by now. He’s after her IG followers and it’s clear as day.
3. Since the turnaround for the bachelorette is much shorter, do you think they’ll still go with Becca even though this breakup kind of just happened as opposed to Tia who’s had more time to “get over” it? Do you think Becca would even be interested in being the bachelorette?
Comment: Well, this email was obviously sent before last night’s episode.
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Hey Steve!
Love reading your spoilers! I love watching the bachelor but I love the drama that comes after the season even more! Are there any recent feuds between bachelor contestants that have happened after the show has ended? Thanks!
Comment: Not that I know of. Most of Arie’s girls all seem to get along. Well, except Krystal.
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Hey Steve! Greetings from VA (close to Lauren B’s home…no I don’t know exactly where it is and don’t care)
Thanks for being my Tuesday lunch date every week!! I think you might agree with me that Arie’s (YAWN!) season is the worst! The man has zero personality and seemingly zero interest in finding anything other than more fame. For the record, I love Baby Bekah and hope she is on BIP. Also for the record, I am glad Boring Boy dumped Tia, Kendall and Becca. I liked all of them and think they are much better off with him out of their lives!
Do you find that the men are bigger fame whores than the women on recent seasons or do you think the men just get a taste of fame and lots of women and they turn into losers? I don’t think it’s possible to put a number or percentage of who’s more of fame whore. Women can certainly benefit more post show from the IG shilling. But men can absolutely increase their brand awareness if they go on the show and last long enough.
Also, in the beginning I thought the leads were forbidden (??) to say “I love you” to the girls/guys on the show. Seems like now they say it all the time. Do you think the producers encourage it now whereas before they told them not to?
Thanks again…your brutal honestly and humor make my day!
Comment: I wouldn’t say “all the time.” Only Ben and Arie have done it in recent seasons. They just happen to be 2 of the last 3. I would say producers certainly don’t DIScourage it.
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Hi Steve,
Have you seen the premiere episode of season 3 of Unreal yet? What did you think of it? I only got interested in this show because of you and was wondering what your take is if the new season. I assume we’re getting another season of 10 episodes before fall because they already filmed the next season, or is that inaccurate? I liked it. Haven’t watched this past Monday night’s yet because, ummm, it’s been a little crazy these last couple days. But I will get to it. And yes, season 4 is already in the can. They haven’t announced when it’s airing, but my guess is it’ll be sometime in 2018.
Thanks for all you do. You kept this season entertaining because Arie was horrid. Now, onto the Bachelorette and BIP!!
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Hi Steve
I’ve always loved your columns & as a new stay at home Mom, reading your columns and listening to your podcasts get me thru some long days and I really appreciate them! Some days your podcasts are the only other human voices I hear during the day time, aside from my husband. (Currently I listened to Jenn’s podcast & I’m only halfway thru the Sharleen podcast due to a needy baby, lol, but I hope to finish today during afternoon naptime!) I have some questions. I already read today’s column and wish I sent in yesterday so hopefully they’re not too late for next weeks reader questions.
1. When the women have 1:1 time with the bachelor during cocktail parties before rose ceremonies, do you know why some women walk way from the bachelor when another woman interrupts them? Can’t they say, leave me alone and come back later? Is there an unspoken rule that they have to walk away? No, but it’s essentially up to what the lead says. If he’s like, “Sure, come on in” then the person they’re talking to has their clue to leave. Some do put up a fight and say “gimmie more time” or whatever, but all depending on who it is, what their storyline is, at what point in the show it happens, etc will determine how it plays out.
2. After reading the news you exclusively broke about the Arie/Becca breakup and how Becca is lead to believe the production team is filming an update on their relationship as opposed to Arie breaking up with her, do you think she was angry at not only Arie, but the production company as well? If I was in her shoes and they did that to me, I’d have a really hard time working with them to film Bachelorette bc I’d think I’d always foster resentment, anger. Obviously this makes good tv, but morally, this is just really tough to fathom for me at least. But I do think most of the women come on this show for Bachelorette consideration anyway so it’s a win for her in the end, I guess?
Thanks, Steve!
Comment: Yes. Ultimately what happened of her getting ambushed was on Arie, and production is just doing a job. Of course a part of her knows this was for television but when it’s happening in the moment and you had no idea it was coming, you lashing out is probably going to make it worse. I think she realizes that because she did fall in love, and was with someone she thought she was gonna marry, it’s much easier to convince herself this does work and she can find someone on her season.
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Hi Steve –
Love and anxiously await reading your spoilers & recaps, and love how you keep it fresh and funny even after so many years.
Do you know if there is a way to watch Bachelor Canada or any of the places represented in Winter Games?
Thanks!!
Comment: That I’m not sure of. I have zero interest in watching any of them so I haven’t tried to look.
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Hey Steve, please explain why Bachelor Nation embraces that annoying (fake) Burikko demeanor that Yuki employs (which is a persona Japanese women created for Japanese men who like school girlishness – sounds creepy, but then again, Japan has vending machines dispensing underwear “worn by virgin school girls”). The Burikko persona I think was originally developed by Japanese celebrities.
And how does a 21-yr-old Yuki portraying a helpless, submissive, young girl with a high pitched baby voice (i.e. Burikko) mesh with the sexuality of Bachelor in Paradise? Watching her is painful. I kept hoping she would drop the facade and act like a normal woman. If she did, she actually might fit in, somewhat, with Bachelor in Paradise
I can see Asian-born guys being attracted to her but I cannot see that particular brand of shtick attracting Bachelor in Paradise contestants. It’s not just the language barrier – she acts like a 15-year-old. Like I said, creepy.
Comment: She’s not going to start dating someone from the US franchise. That’ll never happen. Kinda hard to have a relationship with someone that doesn’t speak your language.
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Hi Reality Steve,
Long time reader and lurker of your site. I thought you should be nice to Lauren and share with her some tips when moving to a new place since she won’t know anyone in AZ. I have personally moved to a new place where I knew no one and thank goodness for social media and technology, you can still thrive and have a life outside of just your partner.
“She will entering Arie’s world once she moves to Arizona, the only person she knows will be him, and her life will revolve around what Arie wants.”
Join lots of MeetUp.com groups i.e. if she likes yoga, you can easily find a safe group setting via Meetups and meet with new people in a safe, daytime park to make new friends.
Get a job. Being employed is definitely great to keep your mind busy, as well as getting to know new people
Take classes from community colleges. There are always after-work classes to keep her occupied and make new friends.
Before she knows it, she’ll have lots of new friends and lots of things to keep her occupied. Just some ideas for her.
Keep up the good work, Steve. You deserve being able to just work from home and have the best work schedule and getting paid for it! You’re very very lucky.
Comment: There you go Lauren. Now go make all new friends in AZ so the only people you don’t hang out with are Arie’s inner circle. I’m sure that’ll get old real fast. Ask around.
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Hi Steve,
My first question is about former leads and their picks at the end of their seasons, aside from Jojo who I remember you mentioning that she and Jordan have had contact before the show started their respective season (and Kaitlyn and Nick), were there any others who have had contact BEFORE their seasons? As we found out during the finale, Arie & Lauren did meet in Dallas once. She took a picture with him at one of his races, but he didn’t remember it. So there was contact, but did they know each other? No. I’m sure others have randomly met, but outside of Nick and Kaitlyn like you mentioned, nobody’s ever known somebody really well. But crossing paths? I’m sure it’s happened a few times.
My next question is about the show UnReal (I finally started watching and it’s SO good!), do you know if the Bachelor/Bachelorette executives were super pissed about it because it paints the producers in such a negative light in how they manipulate the contestants to make good TV? Did they try to stop the show being made or anything like that? I don’t think they can prevent a TV show from being made because UnReal was clever enough not to use any of the language the “Bachelor” uses, not even say the word “Bachelor” anywhere, or other things like that. It’s pretty genius. We all KNOW what they’re referring to on that show without directly being told. And of course “Bachelor” producers don’t like the show. It exposes the seedy underbelly of reality TV production which, at its best, is just a level above “scum of the earth.”
I think I’ve heard you mentioning the show before (I apologize if I’m wrong) but do you like the show? And how true do you think some of it is in how it portrays the producers?
Thanks!
Comment: Show is great. And considering the executive producer of the show used to work on the “Bachelor” for nine seasons, I think it’s safe to say that she’s speaking from experience.
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Hello, as Bachelor season wraps up next week, which will actually be very gratifying for Chris Harrison this year, clearly the most dramatic finale (and post finale) ever, I know you will be working hard on getting your news for the new Bachelorette season. However, last night was the premier of one of our favorite unspoiled shows Survivor. I was wondering if you plan on having any former Survivor contestants on your podcast in the next couple of months especially with the theme of this season “Ghost Island?” I also want to know your thoughts on the premier last night. I have been a fan since the first season and I am old enough to remember it (41 years young). My husband and I now watch it with our 3 children and on occasion have pulled up some old seasons of Survivor featuring some of our favorite cast members. I like the theme this year so far even though it reminds me of Exile Island. I like that there is a choice (a gamble per se) for the exiled castaway to make. However, I was very disappointed in the new cast this year. Though easy on the eyes for the most part, I could not believe how many “beauties” they casted this time. I understood Jacob’s sentiment on his tribe feeling he had a disadvantage. I feel like the Sandra’s and Cirie’s of the past would not “survive” in this six-pack ab environment and is discouraging to the average American even considering trying out for the show. Of course, Jacob took the wrong approach, spending hours looking for an idol rather than spending his time getting to know his tribe mates. He inevitably isolated himself and got voted out whereas Donathan did not focus on his lack of brute strength and Adonis looks (not that he is bad looking or anything) and become endearing to the other tribemates and a trusted/loyal player.
Also, as far as production goes, I was also shaking my head and questioning how easily Dominick found a hidden immunity idol in the pitch black middle of the night. Typically that would be impossible. Clearly he is using the lights from the cameras, etc. Anyone in the jungle/forest would not go scavenging in the middle of the night to look for something without the assistance of even a flashlight. The amount of critters you could run into, things you could step on….I digress. It was so unbelievable…..
I would love to hear your thoughts on this as well as any former contestant you may be able to get on your show. I’m keeping my fingers crossed in the weeks to come for someone from Survivor. It will be refreshing to hear about something other than the Bachelor. Thanks!
Comment: All I can say is there will be “Survivor” contestants on in the future. Who and when I don’t know, because I’m booking my podcast guests usually weekly. I don’t have them planned out much farther ahead. Amy Kaufman is next week’s guest and that’s about as far out as I plan ha ha.
As for the premiere, it’s early so it’s kinda hard to say how I feel about the season. Although the “mistakes from season’s past” and everything that comes along with Ghost Island I think is a bit much. So many twists and rules changes and stuff being thrown in last minute, it’s almost too much for me. But I’m gonna gonna kill it just yet. Lets see how this plays out.
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What do you think the chances are that Becca won’t get engaged as bachelorette??
Chances any old bachelorette contestants come back this season?
Comment: Won’t get engaged? 0%. 19 of the last 20 seasons have ended in an engagement. Becca will absolutely get engaged.
It’s always a possibility going into any season a former contestant is cast? Will they do it for Becca? I don’t know. I don’t have the full cast yet.
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Hey Steverooni. I figured if I call you a nickname it’s like we’re friends and will make me feel better about emailing every week.. sometimes twice, oof.
Let’s talk The Challenge.
1) Does Natalie remind you as much of Jojo as she does for me? First she looks just like her to me. But then her voice is almost a dead ringer. If I closed my eyes and didn’t know the context, I’d assume it was Jojo talking. I actually texted this exact same thing to someone last week. Looks and her voice are almost identical. It’s scary.
2) We always hear your top 5 most attractive bachelor girls each season— what is your ranking for the challenge girls? Out of any repeat or recent season contestants (excluding Melissa/Kayleigh since I don’t quite consider them part of the group quite yet). Ugh, there are so many. Off the top of my head, two of my podcasts guests for sure – Cara Maria and Tori – would be on that list. Others? Who’s Danny’s ex wife from Austin? Melinda? She’s up there. Svetlana is attractive. There’s others I’m just forgetting now.
3) Which challenge vets do you think could be cast for the Bachelor/ette based on their standard casting patterns? Even if you don’t think anyone would be a fit, who do you think would make it the furthest if they were a contestant? Too tough to answer since there’s so many factors involved.
4) Are Banana’s and Cara the only challenge people you’ve requested for your podcast? Good for you for getting basically the best ones and most relevant guy/girl. They were both awesome listens. There will be one coming up in the next month or so I’d say.
5) Do you think Banana’s will win another challenge? He hasn’t won since Rivals and essentially he got to that position because he had a brilliant partner who crushed every puzzle. Not saying he didn’t also earn it, but basically the two of them together were unstoppable. Well he did win Season 2 of Champs vs Stars, but we all know winning that show is much, much easier than the Challenge. That final Challenge he ran with CT and Emily was a joke compared to other finals he’s had to run on the other show. Even he would admit that.
He is obviously still up there in the top guys in terms of actual performance, but definitely not a standout like he used to be. I’m sure he is the best in finals still, but he hasn’t been able to get there lately because he doesn’t have the numbers behind him anymore to make it all the way to the end without ever having to face an elimination. He’s the best in the biz with politics, but that may not do him much if they continue bringing in newbies from other networks. I’m thinking he may have cashed out with 6 challenge wins, but hope he’ll still be there until he needs a cane. It’s going to get harder and harder for him and I think he knows that. But any title from this point on will be even that much more impressive.
6) I had never heard of any of the rookies from other networks before this and was shocked to read that Kyle has gotten a nose job, chin and jaw contouring surgery, hair AND beard transplants, and veneers since he was on his original show. Holy sh** I never would have guessed that. Doesn’t even look like the same person and it kinda weirds me out and definitely thwarted my crush on him.
Comment: Yeah, he’s certainly work done that’s for sure.
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1. How has Arie received any race car endorsements or major changes to his career status in racing since being the Bachelor? He has but I don’t follow racing so I don’t know which ones.
2. How would Fleiss, ABC, or whoever the powers that be rank Ben F, Juan Pablo, and Arie? My guess would be from best to worst out of those three: Juan Pablo, Arie, and Ben F.
3. There is talk about Bachelor leads they didn’t like. Are there any Bachelorette leads that have a similar persona non gratta status with ABC? Never heard of any.
4. I saw another reader question ask about why Sean doesn’t talk about Arie on twitter. He was doing so a lot before the season. My guess is that he started in attempt to promote Arie but because Arie doesn’t seem to be particularly popular Sean stopped. Even though you don’t know, do you have a speculation? No. Maybe he’s still bitter at him for writing that load of sh** column about finding God when he was campaigning for Bachelor before Chris Soules season. Talk about being phony. Yeah, the same guy who wrote that whole BS story about finding God years ago when he wanted to be the Bachelor told Tia this season he’s not religious at all. Gee, which one is it Arie?
5. On Season 2 of Unreal, Quinn had a date that was based on fan vote. However, she confessed she’s the real fan vote and was going to choose the girl who goes out with Darius. How much do you think that happens on shows that incorporate fan votes? Hard to say. I don’t really know.
6. This is more a comment because on this past podcast, you spoke about Celebrity Big Brother, and I wanted to offer possible clarification to ‘bitter jury.’ Part of the game is making it to the final 2, but part of it is also eliminating people along the way that will allow you to sit next to someone the jury will vote for, to make a compelling speech, and to answer the questions well. If either finalist owned up to his or her lies in the speech and questioning rather than remain only positive with phrases like “pivot” or “you’re the best player” then the jury might have felt more foolish in playing the bitter jury vote. Admittedly, it’s hard to confess to manipulative behavior on live TV—-it doesn’t make for a good long-term sound bite. The risk with his game was that he overplayed—he made too many alliances. Often the other players will sense that and it blows up. In this case, that didn’t happen, so it helped avoid evictions. Nonetheless, when you go after an alliance member without a clear reason, that creates a bitter jury, so it’s important to make alliance members understand that decision. He played a good game in the house but a bad jury game, so either outcome wasn’t surprising as it was happening live. I’ll take that into consideration when watching the next CBB edition, assuming they have one. I have no interest in following a regular season over 3 ½ months.
7. On a follow up, there was something strange about the ‘America’s Favorite Choice.’ The votes for the top 2 finalists have always been discarded . Conspiracy theories have run afloat about many twists and outcomes for years to push for certain production-favorites like a Corinne. However, this show runs on the motto ‘expect the unexpected’, so changes to the rules are effectively part of the rules.
Comment: So in a normal season, Ross wouldn’t have be eligible to receive the “America’s Favorite Choice” vote? I guess in a condensed version they basically do what they want.
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Hey Steve,
Big fan of your site and have been reading your spoilers for years! My question involves the casting. I’ve always been so intrigued by the casting process for this show and something that I’ve noticed throughout the years is that there’s ALWAYS a few girls/guys on every season from certain cities.
For example, this year I think there were three girls from Dallas? In the past seasons I’ve always noticed a couple of Dallas girls. Another one is Fort Lauderdale (Or surrounding Florida cities.) Obviously there’s always girls from the LA area but that makes more sense to me (probably much easier to get to the casting interview, finals weekend, etc)
Do you think there’s any reason behind this or just coincidence?
Sincerely, a very bored person at work today.
Comment: It varies. Seattle was a big market for a while. Dallas has been one like you said. Nashville was big for a while too. New York and LA just because of sheer numbers. But there’s no rhyme or reason really.
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Hi Steve!
Love your site. I really think that they will bring Yuki to paradise and have her be the bartender. Pure comedy since she can’t communicate well enough to form a relationship probably. What do you think?
Comment: I think we haven’t seen the last of her appearing in some capacity somewhere in this franchise. Where and when though is anyone’s guess. A bartender for the whole season? That’d be a bit much. But I could see her doing something.
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Hi Steve!
I was watching your most recent podcast and you guys talked about how choosing Arie was such a bad decision form the producers, and I agree that Arie couldn’t be more boring. But considering that Peter refused the gig, and production couldn’t have had him, who do you think would have been a better choice? In my opinion, Dean and Eric don’t fit the role in my opinion, and Luke, Chase or Josh are even bigger douches than Arie… Couldn’t think of anyone else…
Also I was wondering if you still like watching the show haha, you seem to really despise it… If you do what do you like about it? If you don’t, when did it start losing its appeal to you?
Love reading your recaps!
Comment: They were screwed the minute things didn’t work out with Peter, although you know my feelings on that guy. For their fans, he’s who people wanted. They were behind the 8 ball with Arie from the second they announced him.
The more I learn about the show, the inner workings, the contestant stories, etc, the less appealing it becomes to me. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE spoiling it accurately and making fun of it. But everything else that goes along with it does start to grate on you after a while.
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Hi Steve,
Hope you have a wonderful week! Wanted to get this email to you before the inevitable tidal wave of emails you’ll have to answer after the finale.
1. If Kevin breaks up with Ashley before BIP starts filming, do you think she’d be part of the BIP cast again? No. But I think he would be in a heartbeat.
2. What are the chances that Ashley goes all “girl power” on Kevin and dumps him? I say zero, unfortunately. I agree.
3. Does Bob Guiney still hold the record for a lead having slept with the most contestants during filming? Seems so.
4. If Arie and Lauren do get married for some crazy reason, do you think we would be on the road to the first ever Bachelor Nation divorce? I can’t think that far ahead because I don’t believe they’ll ever get married.
5. Have any former contestants ever “slid into your DMs” (and I mean in the non-platonic way)? Whether they did or didn’t, I’d never share something like that.
Susan
March 7, 2018 at 9:08 AM
If you haven’t seen the clip of Arie and Lauren on Kelly and Ryan today, check it out. Kelly laid into Arie, it was amazing. Why did you film it? Why couldn’t it have only been 5 minutes instead of 40? You could tell by the look on her face she was disgusted with him. Lauren just looked shell shocked, like she was about to cry. Arie kept fumbling over his words trying to explain himself.
I was just appalled that they thought it was appropriate for him to propose, with Becca in the next room. Then to say in People they’re wouldn’t mind a TV wedding. Yeah, don’t see that happening.
I’m just so glad the Arie S**t show is over and we can now start talking about Becca!
crushonspivey
March 7, 2018 at 9:20 AM
I can think of AT LEAST $250,000 reasons why Becca didn’t lay into production and took the new gig. Because she is now business partners with Fleiss and got into bed with him businesswise. So she had to go easy on how it went down. That is showbiz people.
The fact after all of these years that people still don;t see this for what it is–scripted TV–is hilarious. Did you all not learn anything from the show UNREAL? And honestly, not sure what thast show can do to top the real thing now, it has gotten so ridiculous.
RS–keep doing what you do and make good coin off this nonsense. Makes it more entertaining in the right way. The show itself is now dull and stale.
crushonspivey
March 7, 2018 at 9:23 AM
Also, Becca was engaged mere weeks ago, and got dumped on TV, and now we’re supposed to believe she is in a good place to actually pursue a new relationship? This show doesn’t even try to hide the farce anymore. Love is not its goal. Contrived TV drama is.
marcommom
March 7, 2018 at 9:25 AM
One thing I noticed – Lauren barely looked at the ring when he proposed and when they were with their families. That makes me think she’d already had it for a while.
akblondee
March 7, 2018 at 9:39 AM
I am so glad someone asked about Kendall crying on Bekah’s shoulder, I thought it was perplexing. SO glad this season is over and of course, kudos to Steve for spoiling it all for us. It’s what makes the show great for me.
tinyred500
March 7, 2018 at 10:32 AM
I agree with both of your comments. That’s why I now think the wider audience should now be able to see just how produced and yes, contrived this show really is…by what we’ve seen on our screens this season. The producers aren’t hiding their dirty work anymore. If they can get any stupid puppet to play along, throw money at them and give people air time, they are like pigs in mud. I was always very cynical of the show when I first started watching, but that’s all on another level now. It’s become an even more twisted show in so many ways.
It will be interesting to see whether the previous contestants who tweeted their displeasure (of how this season played out), will now have anything further to do with the franchise, or whether it will be forgiven and their tweets really meant little or nothing at all.
leighleighleigh
March 7, 2018 at 11:03 AM
AGREED! I said this to my husband last night. Lauren didn’t look at the ring, and neither did Arie’s mom or Lauren’s mom. There is zero chance that would have happened unless they’d all seen the ring before.
sarahe
March 7, 2018 at 11:39 AM
I was also perplexed by Lauren’s comment last night that Arie “couldn’t have handled things better.” Really? Even if I was blindly in love with someone, and I’ve been there, I feel that I would still have the ability to see that the way he handled this was so far from okay. It’s almost like she’s afraid to defy him in any way. But this shouldn’t surprise anyone because Arie seems like the type of guy who would be vastly insecure being with someone like Becca, who has a great job, exudes confidence, and doesn’t NEED him. I think the reason why he went running to Lauren is because she is the type of girl who will definitely be deferential to her man and make him feel like the more dominant force in the relationship. With Becca, he would have had more of a partner and teammate and less of a damsel in distress.
It’s sad that many men say they want someone strong willed, independent, and who has their stuff together, but don’t then ACTUALLY want those things. It’s not all men, but many.
shenanigans
March 7, 2018 at 12:05 PM
My conclusions from watching the finale: Arie and Lauren are selfish, insensitive, and totally oblivious to how they are perceived. If either of them had a brain in their head, they would have known that last night was not the time or place for a public proposal. This will NOT end well for her.
ladyjane747
March 7, 2018 at 1:03 PM
Still believe the filmed break-up occurred with everyone’s knowledge beforehand. It’s not a “conspiracy theory,” just an understanding of how scripted the show is, and it supports how easy it was for Becca to move on from broken engagement to Bachelorette. And yes, Caroline is annoying and probably auditioning for BIP. I think Becca will make a good lead, but I hope the quality of her guys is better than what was on display last night! Of course, we only know Lauren from what we saw on our TV screens, but we don’t “know” her. She’s obviously not great in front of a camera and doesn’t make for good TV and wouldn’t have been a good lead, but to attack her for being dumb, boring, submissive, etc. is a little overboard. We don’t know these people at all. They’re characters on a TV show. And I just have to comment about one person’s praise of Steve’s grammar. Really? At least I wish he could correct “lets” because he uses it a lot. It should have an apostrophe because let’s is a contraction for let us.
shenanigans
March 7, 2018 at 1:38 PM
Lady Jane, on Kelly & Ryan today, Lauren admitted that she didn’t watch the Becca breakup scenes, which means that she is basing her opinion on Arie’s word. To me, that explains a lot. She isn’t viewing this situation through a critical lens – she is simply making a leap of faith and believing in her man. That only ends well if the man is worthy of the trust you have placed in him. Based on Arie’s track record, it is naive and short-sighted for Lauren to take this approach. This will not end well for her.
LynnS
March 7, 2018 at 2:22 PM
Thank you for commenting on Steve’s grammar. It’s hard to understand how someone who writes for a living can’t (or doesn’t want to) learn basic grammar.
And, yes, it is his ‘lets’ that gets to me the most. He writes this word multiple times in each column, and most of the time it should be ‘let’s’ because it is a contraction for let us as you said.
I have noticed, though, that he is getting better with some things. But come on, Steve, this is so basic!
LM111
March 7, 2018 at 4:02 PM
I thought it was weird that Lauren and Arie were so cheerful on the after, almost as if he had picked her to begin with. Completely insensitive and inappropriate. And – proposing on live TV after everything with Becca? So tacky. Obviously he did that to appease Lauren (despite their “everything is perfect” act, I’m sure she needed a public proposal to take him seriously, and he complied because he knew he had to prove himself). I also think that the same outcome would’ve happened if he proposed to Lauren in the finale, he’d have dumped her for Becca. The guy wants what’s unavailable to him. Not uncommon.
The worst part was when he told Lauren he was 1000% over Becca. Really dude? That’s the kind of thing you say when a girl treats you poorly and you’ve had enough, NOT when a girl is super sweet to you like Becca was.
I thought Becca handled things as best she could under the circumstances.
On a side note – am I the only person that watched one episode of “winter games” and thought it was the stupidest, most boring show ever? Then add in the annoying Yuki and her school girl squeal of a voice. WTF?! Ben Higgins was on podcast talking about how much he loved Yuki? Seriously guy? That’s it. He should be destined to a life of listening to that voice forever!! Like nails on a chalkboard. HATE that chick.
bachfan02
March 7, 2018 at 5:51 PM
I think he told Lauren he was “1000 percent” over Becca because he was trying to prove he won’t flip-flop again. The public proposal was to make Lauren feel secure. She probably felt as if she got “cheated” out of her televised-on-bended-knee proposal on the Bachelor finale. He said he had to do a lot reassuring with Lauren. Clearly he loves that. Maybe they will beat the odds. Stranger things have happened. LOL
atleast4characters
March 7, 2018 at 9:46 PM
Here’s a theory, for which I have no evidence, and it probably isn’t true. However, I would not be shocked if it were true and I think neither would you. To keep it brief: Arie knew he wanted to pick Lauren, but producers convinced him otherwise with the intent of a twist at the end.
One might object with, “yeah, but he wouldn’t have been certain Lauren would give him a 2nd chance.” To which I say, “so what?” And then you slap yourself, exclaiming, “you’re right, it’s Arie we’re talking about.” Either way, Chris Harrison still gets to blabber about it being the most dramatic ending.
Another variant is that, leading up to the finale, Arie told producers he didn’t care who he picked, which led to the concocted ending we saw.
Is it true? I’m in no position to know. Is it plausible? I’d say certainly more so than some of the nonsense we see on this show.
katieharris
March 7, 2018 at 10:34 PM
I cannot with last nights episode. Change your mind, sure, but have some respect for Becca & show some freakin emotion. also… are all those guys on her season seriously private?
tinyred500
March 8, 2018 at 4:24 AM
I think what we’ve seen from this franchise, is really any narrative could fit. I’m sure RS does get it right for most of the time…but I do also wonder whether some of the stuff and ideas that goes into ‘planning’ the storyline for each lead/season is kept somewhat more secretive. So yes, I think the narrative’s you’ve mentioned could all be plausible.
jlal
March 8, 2018 at 4:37 AM
Of course Lauren knew about the engagement and ring, duh. I still can’t believe they thought getting engaged on air, right after he and Becca talking it out, was a good idea. It was so unnecessary, uncool, classless, and tone deaf to anyone else’s feelings. Get engaged if you want, but don’t rub Becca’s face in it, just weird.
To those commenting on RS’s grammar I totally agree. It has been driving me crazy for years and I’ve commented on it a few times. He used to be really bad with pronouns, but has gotten a tad better. It has always been excruciating for me to watch the show, because even the college grads don’t seem to know which pronoun to use. I would then come to this site and RS was just as bad.
As distasteful as this season was, I will watch Becca’s season. I have been watching since the very first one. Some seasons I do more reading a book than watching, but have at least tuned in every single season. It is mindless TV, which is my guilty pleasure for Monday nights. Dancing with the Stars next!
bugsmeany
March 8, 2018 at 7:30 AM
There was no ‘conspiracy.’ Arie got the whole thing started by contacting Lauren on new year’s eve: before the premiere and three weeks before they had a sense of what the ratings would be. (The first two eps went up against college football.) They didn’t know the ratings needed saving.
tamz171926
March 8, 2018 at 9:08 AM
Sarahe – I bet Lauren wouldn’t think Arie “couldn’t have handled things better” if the situation was reversed!
beapancake
March 8, 2018 at 5:06 PM
Thank you! Like who cares what’s real or not – I watch unReal & Bachelor nation as pure entertainment not to believe in “true love” .
beapancake
March 8, 2018 at 5:10 PM
Yes and she is not some innocent wallflower in all this. I’m sure she encouraged him to act like a jackass and call off the engagement.
beapancake
March 8, 2018 at 5:15 PM
I kind of felt that too (regarding producers) as a sort of “revenge / throw under the bus” for the worst received / viewed (gag inducing) Seasons ever. Genius actually!!!!
nycstar03
March 9, 2018 at 10:25 AM
Trying to leave a comment on the Courtney Robertson podcast post.. not working.. Steve, You should all Courtney out on lying about a lot of things.. She first said once he got back from filming, Arie told her everything, that he proposed to becca and had regrets and was sad.. blah blah.. but then later she said when he posted the bike riding pic, that she told him “I know who you picked” from seeing the pic. Soooo which is it.. did he tell her as soon as he got back orrr did she guess from the pic…?!
qtontv
March 31, 2018 at 4:56 PM
Wow I think I am actually completely done with this franchise. I started drifting off during Ben H’s boring af season, and then quit with the latest round of f**** boys (Nick, Arie). Now I have no idea who this poor girl is and nor do I care to find out. At least I left on a high note with Rachel’s season, although Kaitlyn’s is the only season I’ve ever watched every episode of.