Hi Steve,
Thanks for everything you do! Keep killin the game. I hope you enjoyed some pasta with Kat for National Pasta Day! Thanks. We most certainly did.
My question is in regards to the producers. Do you think they’re genuinely interested in casting potential love interests for the lead, or are they strictly after a certain look/vibe regardless of who the lead is? OR is it a combination of all things?
Obviously being young & beautiful is the main criteria, but are they truly trying to be matchmakers!? I’ve heard they sometimes start casting before the lead is announced, which leads me to believe they’re just after a certain look/vibe, but I didn’t know if you had anything definitive.
Thanks again. Appreciate all that you do & time that you spend!
Cheers!
Comment: No. It’s a TV show. Out of the 30-35 contestants every year, there’s maybe 2-4 who are cast strictly for the lead because they think they’ll match well. Everyone else is just there to play a role that the producers create and mold as the season goes along.
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Hi Steve!
Longtime reader, first-time emailer! Obviously Matt’s season is filming right now, and we’re also in the midst of one of the biggest, most contentious presidential elections our country has ever seen. Have the contestantss been able to vote? In my state, we got our mail-in ballots right at the end of September. I’m not sure if it was different in other states, but assuming it was at least similar timing, I’d think contestants would already be filming by then. Any idea if they were able to get ballots at the resort? Filming for Matt’s season didn’t start until Sat, October 10th. And by the time Election Day rolls around on Nov. 3rd, there’s probably only gonna be maybe 6-8 women left at that point. Without going down the list of all 43 women and asking personally who did mail-in ballots early in case they lasted past Nov. 3rd, it’s a tough question to answer.
And secondly, will production tell the remaining cast who won the election on November 4th? We know they’re supposed to be in a bubble with no news or internet or anything. But this seems to me like news they have a right to know.
I’m guessing this isn’t the first time a Bachelor season has been filming during a presidential election, so do you know what they’ve done in the past?
Thanks!
Comment: Last season that was filming during an election in Nov. 2016 was Nick’s season. They told the women who won.
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Hi Steve,
Thinking ahead a few weeks, I’m curious how you think they’re going to
handle Clare and Dale being together while Tayshia’s season is still
running? I assume they won’t have to “hide” anymore? Will they worry
that any headlines Clare and Dale make will take away from the season
that’s still going? Curious if they’ll want Clare and Dale to keep a
low profile or if they’re free to go about their lives…
Comment: I’m not sure, but my guess is once Clare and Dale leave the show, they’ll be able to do interviews with all the media. We won’t have to wait til Tayshia’s season ends to hear from them. That wouldn’t make sense to me.
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Hey Steve,
Did you notice how this was the first time I can remember there being no mass quantities of alcohol being consumed by the guys while waiting for the others to arrive? No drunk idiots causing grief. Was this intentional? Also, how do they deal with starting the intros at night and having to stay up all night to get to the rose ceremony? As we could plainly see, it was daylight when she passed out the roses. She even thanked them for hanging in for it.. Do you know what they all are doing during those several hours in between? Do they continue to all get to chat with Claire? If so, why does she say sorry for not having time to talk with them all when they were all waiting around for the entire night and morning.. with no booze!!
Curious to see what you find out about how this all actually plays out.
Ok Cheers
Comment: Alcohol was definitely consumed. Maybe these guys could just handle it better than former cast members.
Intros every season are done the same. That night goes til the wee hours of the morning. We see it every season. There was 31 guys there. Between all the different conversations Clare had with them (and no, not all of them get time with her for storyline purposes) and then having to pull 31 different guys, and Clare, aside numerous times throughout the course of the night to film ITMs – it’s almost amazing it doesn’t go even later into the next morning. The lead and the contestants are constantly being pulled into rooms for ITM’s for their thoughts on the night.
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Hi,
So I was wondering, if Claire’s house is her actual house? Her parents? It’s a beautiful house.
Comment: No. They’ve done this numerous times in the past. They just choose any house exterior for whatever reason.
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Hi Steve –
Any idea how the guys will be introduced to Tayshia?
Will they be walking up to the driveway again? Or will that be done just for the new guys that are coming in just for Tayshia? Or will they all be meeting her inside the resort?
Thanks!!
Comment: There aren’t a second round of limo entrances, I know that. I think it’s just all done in a cocktail party setting where the guys are there, and Tayshia walks in. However, the “bonus” guys that she gets – Spencer, Noah, Montel, and Peter – I don’t know if they arrive before or after Tayshia. If I had to guess, I’d say after.
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Hi Steve!
Is it just me or is Clare really cringe? I mean, I like her, I know she’s a strong, capable woman, but do we have to hear about that in every segment? It feels heavy and overdone. I know production is a b*tch sometimes, but, don’t they think after all the Juan Pablo replays over the last few months and her saying it a million times that the audience knows at this point who we’re dealing with?
Comment: You’d think. But there are plenty of people every season who aren’t familiar with people’s backstories. Hell, Clare hadn’t been on a show since Winter Games which was only 2 years ago, and when she was announced, I was still seeing plenty of responses along the lines of, “Who?”
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Hi Steve,
I know that you’ve squashed the rumors that the reason they let Clare go off with Dale early was because she was difficult to work with, but I kind of feel like the show hasn’t been portraying her in a super positive light.
I feel like Clare is very straight forward and knows what she is looking for, but I feel like the show has casted that side of her as rather abrasive or rude, example being when she was frustrated when the guys wouldn’t jump up to talk to her on the group date, her rejecting Blake’s kiss, and the way she sent Brandon home mid-conversation.
It’s not necessarily that it’s like they’re doing her dirty, but it just seems like the editing is maybe a little bit more snide toward her than in her favor. What are your thoughts? Do you think they’re trying to make her look negatively aggressive, or do you think that they’re just trying to highlight her assertive nature?
Thanks for all your hard work to get us crazy fans our spoilers, the show experience wouldn’t be the same without you!
Comment: I don’t think the editing is doing her any favors whatsoever. I agree. It’s pretty much making her out to be the villain in all this. Just wait til tonight. It’s not gonna look good. Now I will say, there are some things that maybe she could’ve handled better, but overall, I don’t think it’s gonna be a great night for her in general and there will be a TON of backlash online.
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Hi Steve. I’m one of those Long time readers/first time emailers!! I actually never thought I’d come up with a question for you but tonight I did.
I do remember that you have told us that the star of the show does not plan the dates nor does he/she have control over who goes on the dates.
My question is if the Bach/ette doesn’t agree with the concept behind the date, could he/she get it changed? I thought of this because of the Strip Dodgeball on tonight’s episode. I think that some of the previous Bachelorettes might not have been as comfortable with it as Clare seemed. Just curious!!
Comment: It’s a slippery slope. Can you? Sure. It’s just not realistic. It’s been said time and time again. This show’s producers wait on the lead hand and foot. They all make you think they have your best interest at heart at all times, when privately they could care less. So any decision where you think you’re going against them, they try to convince you otherwise, and if your head, you feel like you’re letting them down if you don’t go along. So all do. Then the shit plays out, the producers get what they want, the lead ends up looking not-so-great, and at that point, it’s too late.
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Good Morning Steve,
I am from Newfoundland, Canada and I am a HUGE fan and have been for years although this is my first time writing as most questions you have always had answered before I get a chance to ask them 🙂
My question is what do you think of Rachel and Becca interviewing Eazy for their podcast knowing what you know and how his ex was trying to get a hold of production? I know you had stated that you did not think Eazy would be part of Bachelor Nation once production found out this person’s story. Are you surprised at how they are handling the situation?
Keep up the great work and say Hi to Kat and Luka.
Comment: Ashley and I discussed this on last week’s live, and I can’t answer that question because I don’t know what Becca and Rachel knew and when they knew it in regards to recording with Eazy. I will stand by my stance (even after tonight’s episode where his edit doesn’t change one bit), that going forward, he will not and should not be part of Bachelor Nation. More on that tomorrow.
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That episode Tues was like watching the debate between Trump and Biden. I couldn’t make any sense of it. For Claire to leave the Harvard dude to go explain to the boys how her ego got hurt was uncomfortable. Her 2nd group date did the same thing .. it was the same amount of time before someone pulled her aside. That whole speech she gave to the first crew was directed at Dale.
Then the dodge ball game … that was just a step back for humanity. Deplorable that the production team decided they should do that. Very disrespectful. And that wasn’t Claire’s idea – although she was happy to get an eyeful. They had the didn made up for Strip Dodgeball already do that was on production. Why is that okay when if the gender was reversed they would likely be taken off the air.
Just a train wreck. I feel bad for the guys. Will you tell us the amount of push back you hear from your RS Squad of how many were incensed vs who enjoyed that?
Comment: It’s not ok they did that. But they do it because they can.
We all know that wasn’t Clare’s idea, but the show just makes it seem like it’s the leads. This happens every season. But plenty of people buy it. We’ve had plenty of “limited clothing” dates in the past for both male and female, and people just go along with it because they want to. I guess unless you literally asked every single person who’s ever been on a “limited clothing” date what their thoughts were, we can’t really know how they felt. It’d be too many to even ask, and secondly, I’m guessing most in the moment didn’t care because they just wanted to be on TV. I’d say it’s running about 80/20 of fans who thought that date was a joke vs ones that weren’t bothered. If not more.
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Hi Steve-
I agree with you that having the Bachelorette on Tuesdays sucks (but it is better than nothing)! With episodes airing on Tuesdays, what is ABC planning to do on election night? Will there still be an episode, or will it be delayed a day (or week) for election coverage?
Comment: There’s no episode on Election Night. It will be on Thursday the 5th that week.
