A lot of “Reader Emails” this week. Probably our biggest batch of the season I believe, which I guess I expected since we’re at the end, and a lot was thrown at you in yesterday’s column in regards to the spoilers on next week’s episode, along with your WTA spoilers. However, the #1 question I got this week, and I’m stunned that this came up repeatedly, was some form of, “How did Cassie’s dad get to Portugal? Like, did producers set that up?” I’m still surprised after 17 years and 37 seasons on the air that people have questions like this. I guess maybe I shouldn’t be. Easily that question came across in at least 10 emails this week, so I took a lot of them out. Just know that nothing on this show happens organically. Of course it was set up by production. Did people really think The Matt Daddy just booked his own plane ticket, walked on set, and just asked around, “Hey, where’s my daughter? I need to talk to her.” It’s no different than when Becca’s ex showed up in Thailand last season to talk to her. It’s all arranged by production. They clearly saw after hometown dates he had an issue with her getting engaged at the end of this, so they decided to keep that narrative going. Who suggested it to who I don’t think is all that important. We know why it was done and you’ll see it play out next week.
Great news. In case you missed my tweet yesterday, here was the press release announcing that “Temptation Island” has been picked up for a 2nd season:
(EXCLUSIVE): Great news. I can officially announce that “Temptation Island” has been renewed for a second season, and will begin filming later this year. pic.twitter.com/CqrOd4l3Fq
— RealitySteve (@RealitySteve) February 26, 2019
Awesome. Can’t wait. This season has really been interesting television and I’m looking forward to seeing how everything plays out. With this show coming back for a second season, and “Paradise Hotel” being brought back by Fox, I think these networks may be on to something. And that something is “people love their dating reality shows.” As a cable show, “Temptation Island” is doing pretty well, so to already get a second season is huge for them. And to already secure an extra episode which will be a reunion episode next season, you know they aren’t messing around. As I mentioned, once this season is over, I want to have as many people from this season on the podcast to go into more detail of what went down. They’ll definitely be able to speak a little more free once this is all said and done.
Last night’s episode was an emotional roller coaster for some (I’m speaking about John and Kaci of course) and Nell Kalter has your Episode 7 recap for you. To say that was a few daggers to the heart would be an understatement. Man, parts of that were rough to watch. I know a lot of you have an opinion of Evan on the podcast last week and maybe weren’t buying what he was selling, but watching him last night and seeing how much it was tearing him up inside to what he was doing to Kaci, goes to what I brought up last week. I think deep down Evan is a good guy. He’s also a flawed guy that’s been through stuff in his life a majority of us never have, and it has scarred him pretty deeply. I wanna see how it all plays out, what is said at the end, and have him on the podcast again when this is over before I pass judgment. Because he’s the one I’m most looking forward to talking to once this is over. I think we’ll get a deeper perspective from him once we see it play out. And here’s a sneak peek to next week’s episode where Evan feels like he’s a monster for what he’s done:
Ratings are in from last night, and the “Bachelor” drew their highest viewing audience of the season with 6.74 million viewers. Their 1.8 rating is .1 behind the 1.9 they drew the last two weeks, which were season highs. But again, the pattern continues to remain the same with this show. It gains in audience every week as the number of women dwindles down. This is when Joe Casual Fan usually starts tuning in. But for 8 consecutive weeks now, the show’s audience has grown. People can say whatever they want about Colton, and trust me I have and they have, and yet the same concept remains true: the lead of the show doesn’t matter. It’s the formula that works. I’ve had one of my highest traffic and highest grossing “Bachelor” seasons these last two months. Just goes to show, no matter who they put in that role, people are watching.
Your “Reader Emails” begin on page 2…
