Hi Steve
These are more comments, not really reader emails.
I’m going old-school and rewatching season 1 of the bachelor. It would be SO fun of you had Amanda Marsh (now Caldwell) on your podcast. I LOVE her-it’s so refreshing to see a not-stick skinny girl in the show and she was adorable?
Loved your podcast when Vienna. She is so classy . It was refreshing that she didn’t bash Jake when she could have. You do a great job of helping women share their stories and being supportive. Thanks for being an ally for women!!
Thanks for all the great work!
Comment: I never watched that season so I really wouldn’t have much to offer. I’ve seen every season of this show except for seasons 1 & 2 of the “Bachelor.” Seasons 3 thru 23 and all 15 “Bachelorette” seasons I’ve seen and written episode recaps for essentially every single one, except I think one. And I remember it vividly. It was the Vegas episode of Ben Higgins season because the next day I knew I was putting my dog Maddie down and I was in no mood to write.
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Hello Steve,
Thank you for your enlightening podcast with Vienna. I was shocked to hear that Jake was abusive to her and that she didn’t feel like she had the choice to breakup with him before the After the Final Rose.
I am guessing she did have a choice but she was young and felt pressured into staying even though she didn’t want to. Also she felt pressured into having the break up on screen. Do you think she was obligated to stay with him and do the break up on screen because of her contract? That seems highly unlikely to me. No. But production convinces you you are obligated to, and for someone as young as she was, not knowing the TV industry, I can see why she relented and just did it.
What a horrible situation to go through. I really felt for her.
Listening to Vienna, I was wondering about Hannah. You said on your site that she did break up with Jed, but may possibly get back together with him and give him another chance. Do you think she is being pressured to do that? I didn’t say she may get back together with him. I was asked what did I think had a better chance of happening, her being with Tyler post show or her getting back together with Jed. And between those two options, I chose Jed. I don’t think it’s gonna happen, but lets say by some crazy happenstance it did, I can see the narrative they’d roll out, so it wouldn’t be as surprising. Tyler would surprise me.
I am thinking about the couples that fly to Good Morning America the next day. Either way it will be awkward. If she is single, she will fly there alone and explain why she doesn’t have a man with her. If they are together, she will have to defend his lying and cheating ways. I wonder if she will feel like a failure if she flies to GMA alone? I hope not. I know there is a lot of pressure to have the fairly tale ending, but I hope she doesn’t give in to it. It is not always possible to find “the one” amongst 30 guys. She should hold her head up proudly having more life experience under her belt and move on.
Comment: Yeah, it’s going to be interesting no doubt because we haven’t had a single lead at the end since Brad 2.0.
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Hi Steve,
I just want to share my take with you on, not who I want to be the next Bachelor, but who should be the next Bachelor from more of a marketing standpoint. I think it’s clear that the top contenders for next Bachelor are Peter, Mike, and Tyler.
Regarding Peter, my thoughts with him are that the whole dumping a girlfriend thing will be just too hard for Bachelor Nation to get over. Obviously, those who have loved Peter since the beginning are sticking by him, but I can only imagine there are also many people who don’t see eye to eye with what he did, and I imagine the network would take some flak for putting a person with his reputation in that role, especially after seeing so many others’ poor treatment of women. Granted, they put Arie in that position who seemed no better, but he didn’t have all of the negative buzz surrounding him up to the time of his announcement because he hadn’t been relevant for five years. Not to mention, Peter is much less favorable now, especially after his ex came forward, than Tyler who Bachelor Nation is just horny for. Therefore, I find it hard to believe Peter will be the next Bachelor.
Now, Mike. I like Mike. A lot of people like Mike. He’s kind, has a nice smile, was respectful to Hannah, and could hold his own in an argument with the other men. However, if they cast Mike, it’s not just going to be casting Mike. It’s going to be casting their First African American Bachelor. Now, this sure is a step in the right direction. And I know it’s a step they need to take, but I don’t think they should take that step yet. I think they should hold out on casting their First African American Bachelor for the 25th season of the show, not the 24th. Think of all the marketing they’re going to be doing for their 25th season. They already did a lot with that whole “Bachelor at 20” Valentines Special, the Rose Parade float, and the promo photos for the 20th season with Ben Higgins. I mean, 25th is a milestone, and if they’re already getting more attention for their quarter-of-a-century season, they’ll get even more people hype for their First African American Bachelor in history, and more importantly, the show’s name will be even more popular in the media than it already is, possibly garnering more viewers. Plus, if we hold out one more year, maybe we can get an African American man just as good Mike but who makes it even further on The Bachelorette next season.
As for Tyler, let’s face it. Bachelor Nation drools over him. He’s kind, funny, makes a heartfelt speech almost every other episode, and most importantly, is respectful to women, which is something we will need to see after Hannah’s break ups with Luke and Jed and Blake’s drama on Paradise. It seems like the timing is just right for him. And I know social media is never a true sign of anything, but I can’t recall any contestant in recent history reaching a million followers on Instagram as quickly as he has. The fans love him, and with everything that has been happening in our world recently and with ABC recently billing their past few Bachelorettes as these strong, independent women who make their own decisions, it would be refreshing to see a Bachelor so respectful of other women. All I’m saying is it would be wise of ABC at this point in time to cast Tyler, looking at it from a marketing standpoint. Thanks for reading! You’re probably surprised at how invested a straight 16-year-old boy is in this show haha!
Comment: Wait, you’re a 16 year old boy that wrote this? Holy crap. Impressive. I’d go with Tyler over the other two as well, but I’m not them. Nor do I know if this is something Tyler even wants. But if he does, I can’t see why they wouldn’t go with him.
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Hey Steve!
Can’t wait to hear your thoughts here, especially given all the seasons you know in and out:
1) has there ever been a more popular runner up than Tyler C? Between the social media followings, tweets etc its such a frenzy. Not that I can remember. Although, lets not forget, Blake was immensely popular after getting dumped by Becca.
2) along the same lines, who’s fans would you compare Tyler’s too, in terms of crazy? Peter’s have to be up there, maybe Blake?
Thank you as always!
Comment: Tough to say, but his popularity is through the roof. Like I said last week, if he’s named the “Bachelor” at some point, he will have the least amount of negative reaction than anyone in recent memory.
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Hey Steve!
Has a former bachelor/bachelorette ever asked for a chance to go back onto the show as a contestant?
Example, what if Tyler becomes the new Bachelor and Hannah wants to fight for him. Do you think the show would allow her as a contestant?
Comment: No. That’d be stupid.
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Hey Steve! Are the guys from this season still treating Jed like normal or are they ignoring him now?
Comment: I think some are defending him and some are taking a wait and see approach to the finale. However, I highly doubt anyone (outside of maybe Luke), will openly criticize the guy once it’s all said and done. They’ll just say he made mistakes, he should learn from it, etc. But no one’s gonna out and out crucify him.
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Hi Steve!
This has been a great season, made even better by your dedication to sharing the juiciest spoilers! After watching Luke last week it is hard for me to believe that there aren’t a few women out there who have experienced some major emotional abuse at his hands. Have you heard from any exes of his as the season has progressed?
Thanks!
Comment: No.
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I think I know your answer to this email and you are going to shut it down immediately, but hear me out…
Is there any (even 1%) chance that they make Luke their next Bachelor? My husband and I both agree that his MTA edit is pretty good. Also, we are not religious AT ALL so despite the fact that we can’t understand all his “faith-based” talk, he is actually making some pretty mature and valid points (I.e. ‘hard to think that I’m getting fitted for a suit to propose in while my future wife is having sex with someone else one day before my proposal’). I get it that at the end of the day he is on a reality show and should have known what he was getting into (and clearly he didn’t have the maturity or self-awareness to be taking part in this), but he actually is coming off better in this episode than any of the other episodes combined.
Also, I know you have said you don’t think Mike will be the next Bachelor, but in light of the top 4 contestants all being f***-ups, and the fact that he was the ONLY contestant to be teased in the MTA trailer, do you think they are trying to position him and/or gauge interest in him as the next Bachelor?
Thanks!
Comment: Not any chance whatsoever. No villain has ever, or will ever, be the “Bachelor.” They cast someone who the audience has gotten behind from the previous season. Not someone that most of America hates and wants off their TV.
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Hey Steve!
So I noticed somebody was missing from the MTA. I actually forget his name {lol} but he was the guy that abruptly left the show and we were given no explanation. Is ABC expecting us to forget so they can pretend he was never on? Or was it just not that big of a deal? Do you know what happened there?
Comment: There were 29 guys this season. The final 3 weren’t there, so that left 26 possible people who could’ve been there. They had 17. So 9 guys weren’t there, which is pretty par for the course. There’s always a handful that aren’t there every season.
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I know you’re getting swamped with Hannah questions so changing up tune…
Are the Yankees winning the World Series this year?
Comment: If there’s one sport where you can truly flip a coin once the playoffs start to determine your winner, it’s baseball. The regular season means nothing when it comes to the playoffs. It’s been proven time and time again. It’s who gets hot during those three series. The Yankees will no doubt have the best record in AL at the end of the regular season. It won’t matter come the playoffs. They may win it all, they may lose in the ALDS. Nobody knows. Like I said, flip a coin.
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1. One of your emailers from last week asked if the windmill where Hannah and Peter had sex is a legit place. On Extra they said that it is an Airbnb that guests can stay in for $56 a night. $56 a night? Geez. That doesn’t sound like a place I’d want to stay.
2. I disagree with the emailer who is disappointed in Tyler for not wanting to take Hannah back. He may have told her he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her, but that was before she rejected him. I think that after watching her tell Jed that she loved him on their one-on-one date, have sex with Peter but not have sex with him etc., he must realize that she wasn’t that into him. I don’t think it makes him selfish or disingenuous to want to be the bachelor, where he has the opportunity to meet someone else, instead of taking the risk of her breaking his heart again. Agree. I don’t understand why so many people want this. And inevitably, will be disappointed when it doesn’t happen. What does it matter?
3. If Mike Fleiss didn’t want to have anymore kids with his wife so badly, I don’t get why he didn’t have a vasectomy. Perfectly legitimate question.
4. As for Courtney’s claim that the fantasy suite didn’t have condoms, I remember her backtracking and saying “Maybe they were there, but I didn’t see them.”
Comment: In her book she said that? Or in a podcast with me? I forget.
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Hi Steve!
I saw a quick clip off Facebook that didn’t go to air from Peter & Hannah’s date in Greece over the weekend. In it, Peter mentioned in a waterfront interview in Crete that Hannah was/is an interior decorator.
This season has not been mentioning Hannah’s job at all. In the past, ABC touched on the leads jobs if they mattered/were interesting. They (earlier on) went the route of depicting her at a pageant gal. I could be wrong, but I think I vaguely remember from early in Colton’s season somewhere, that Hannah was listed as World Market/Crate & Barrell employee. Am I right? Don’t remember.
If not, can you tell me what Hannah’s truly job was as you can’t make a living being in pageants & she is a bit young to be successful interior decorators. Being a realtor, I have a handful of friends that are in interior design & it takes a few years to get there & they all got there from a few different paths.
I’m assuming that whatever her job was, she will be not going back to that, or at least not right away. I gathered that from her first 1 on 1 with Jed & she has star-studded dreams of continuing this limelight in some fashion.
Thanks for filling in the gaps for me as per usual.
Much amor to you always, Steve.
Comment: Yeah, she’s moving to LA so the speculation has already begun she’s either doing DWTS or will be involved in something TV related. I mean, why else would you be moving there right after your season?
