Hi, Steve,
Just wondering if you are watching this season of Dancing with the Stars. I’m not loving Tyra Banks as host, preferred Tom Bergeron.
My question is: what is Carrie Ann Inaba’s problem when it comes to bachelorettes on this show?; Kaitlyn in particular but she was also hard on Hannah Brown when she was a contestant. Hannah of course ultimately won. I think Kaitlyn is good, certainly better than some of the remaining celebrities. Carrie Ann has been critical the last couple of her dances and gave her a 7 last week when the other judges scored her an 8 & 9. I’ve seen people’s commentary that Carrie Ann is jealous of younger attractive women; especially ones who are partnered with her ex Artem.
Your thoughts? Also I was surprised when I found out that she had dated Artem; always found that to be a weird couple ; he has clearly moved on & she has a boyfriend now (again) so she needs to keep her personal & professional lives separate.
Comment: I don’t think Carrie is biased against Bachelor people, or holding some grudge because they’re with Artem. I’ve watched every season of DWTS since it began. This is what Carrie does. Every season she is harsh on dancers. I really don’t think she is singling people out. And definitely not ones that are dating her ex boyfriend from 14 years ago. They dated in 06.
The other thing at play is the fact that this show NEVER wants the favorite to fly through the season. Nev and Kaitlyn are going to be in the finals, and they are always gonna have a week or two where they score them lower than expected. It’s part of their “journey” so to speak so they can have nights like last night where after weeks of a little bit of tension, she gets a perfect score. Could’ve seen that one coming a mile away. Like after getting bullied for her scores on Kaitlyn the last two weeks and receiving all the online hate, did you honestly think outside of Kaitlyn falling on her face, Carrie Ann wasn’t going to give her a 10?
______________________
Hi Steve,
US Weekly reported Robert Mills said, “Matt did something on night one that we’ve never had happen before. It’s not what you think though, it’s really crazy. But, I feel confident saying Matt James will be the only Bachelor this season.”
My guess….Matt knew Tayshia didn’t end up with anyone and insisted she join his season as he has serious hots for her! He announces at the end of the first rose ceremony he was saving the final rose for someone joining the next day. Sure enough, Tayshia arrives on day two and he gives her the rose in front of all the other women.
Now that would be dramatic!! (And the start of a whole lot of drama between the women!)
Comment: Yeah, no.
______________________
Steve,
I don’t know how many of your podcast listeners are Nationals fans, but I’m one of them, so thanks for having FP on the podcast again. I was interested in the discussion the two of you had about the MLB postseason format, because you and I had a back-and-forth email exchange when the current regular format of 10 teams, with a one-game Wild Card round, was adopted a few years back. You were highly critical of the format and instead favored an NBA/NHL-type bracket format (sort of like what MLB used in 2020), in which half the league makes the postseason, whereas I loved the 10-team format (still do), because it reenergized pennant races and made winning the division something meaningful again.
We agreed to disagree at the time, but have you changed your mind since then? It sounds like FP was backing the 10-game format and you were mostly agreeing with him.
The one point of contention between the two of you was the Wild Card round: one game vs. best of three. I can see both sides on this one (kind of like with the DH). Two out of three seems more fair in a way, but I think FP is right that MLB does not want to give too many rest days to the division champs, because inactivity can be a disadvantage to them. The other thing about the one-game Wild Card is it brings the March Madness-type one-and-done excitement right out of the gate. I was at the 2019 NL Wild Card game that FP referenced, in which the Nats came from two runs behind to take the lead in the bottom of the eighth, and it’s got to be the most exciting game I’ve ever attended in person. But as long as there are only two Wild Card teams in each league and they have to face off against each other to earn the right to play against the division champs in the LDS, I’m fine with either one game or best of three.
Comment: Here’s where I stand: I’m fine with 10 teams, 5 in each league (3 division winners and 2 wild cards). BUT, I want that wild card round to be best 2-out-of-3 with all the games in the team with the better records ballpark. So no travel. If it goes the distance, it’s a 3 game series in 3 days. Kinda like what the playoffs were doing this season.
I thought 16 teams was too much. Especially since teams under .500 were making it. Maybe that was because it was only 60 games and eventually they would’ve gotten over .500, but I don’t think over half your teams should be making the playoffs.
I’d be in favor of 12 at the most. You’d really have to convince me to do 14.
______________________
Hope you’re holding up/keeping safe.
Question for your Live tonight with Ashley after the bachelorette if not preempted with the voting results.
I was also thinking about DeAnna on the Almost Famous Podcast this week. She said something to the effect that she had spoken/ gave advice to Clare & Dale, as she has been married for 9 years and they (Deanna & Stephen) have weathered some storms… I found it odd she had to reference she was “married”. First, we know you are and why did you even have to mention marriage at all? Just got me thinking looking at her rings…
Would love to hear yours and Ashley’s thoughts.
Comment: Well as we know now, they aren’t married. But it seems pretty serious.
______________________
Hi Steve,
I just finished Thursday’s episode and am appalled how people are speaking about Clare and Dale. I don’t understand how Bachelor Nation can be mad about their relationship? If anything, everyone should be glad that there is a little spice to a very basic resort location season. It’s so funny, people are never happy. People are quick to vouch for Tayshia who had a boyfriend did she ditched (thanks to your spoiler!) to be on Colton’s season. Not to mention, coming fresh off a young divorce, as well. Followed by a fake JPJ relationship. Just my two cents on all the people who like to say mean things all the time. You’re so right, people will never understand how contrived this show is
Comment: Toxic Bachelor Nation.
No, they won’t. And they will always find something to complain about. Even though the premise of the show is utterly ridiculous, which is to get engaged to someone after barely knowing them, they got that with Clare. They aren’t getting that with Tayshia. So what do they want?
______________________
Hi, Steve!
Have you considered the fact that Clare fell head-over-heels for Dale and no one else (besides the fact that she had months to social media stalk him) is that they were all sequestered at the hotel the whole time. If once-in-a-lifetime European and tropical locations were on the agenda, I’m sure Clare would have ‘played the game’ a little more and given the others more of a chance to experience the trips. Maybe also shows how the one-on-one dates are so amazing, one could fall in love with someone that they normally would not.
By the way, I have been to the La Quinta resort many times. It really is a beautiful, old Hollywood style, unique property.
Keep up the good work uncovering good stuff!
Comment: It’s very possible. I think the 4 months of being able to follow him online probably played more of a role, but yeah, the lack of travel and the fact that La Quinta in July was like living on the surface of the sun, hey, maybe she just wanted to get the f**k out of there.
______________________
Hi Steve,
Why didn’t Chris Harrison tell the men who the new Bachelorette was so they could make a more informed decision whether to stay or leave?
Comment: Television show purposes is my guess. Just wanted to make the guys sweat I’m sure – more than they already were.
______________________
Hey Steve,
Longtime reader and fan, blah blah!!!
Wanted to share my perspective on the episode last night as it’s a little bit different than I think your take is. I’m not sure what it was about yesterday, but it just seemed like Dale was pressured into proposing to Clare and the vibes Dale was giving off was just weird??? When Chris went to talk to Dale, he kept reiterating that he wanted to take the time to continue getting to know Clare and spending time with her, but to me, that didn’t scream that he was ready to propose. And I know that he said “I love you” to her multiple times, but it looked like he was just giving her what she wanted to hear. I know you always mention how producers can manipulate contestants into doing almost anything. I definitely feel like producers & Chris Harrison forced Dale to propose, and I honestly don’t see their engagement lasting too long because Clare just seems way more into Dale than he is into her, and I genuinely feel bad for her. I wanna know what you think- do you think Dale was pressured into proposing or do you genuinely believe that they were love at first sight and will go the distance? Well, I think EVERY season the contestant is pressured into a proposal. This was no different for Dale, really. It was just in a shorter time. But clearly it was done for TV. Can you imagine that ending last Thursday, and Clare and Dale just leave and are like, “Yeah, I like you. Lets date.” It is what it is. That relationship started when they left La Quinta. They just celebrated 3 months, so we’ll see where it goes from here.
Also, it made me extremely mad to see that ABC did not edit that guy (don’t wanna use his name) out of the episode even after being made aware of the allegations. But guess we can’t expect a lot from the producers. It’s sad. Something may be coming though.
Last question not related to Bachelorette, but do you recommend binge watching Survivor, Big Brother, or The Challenge first? I want to get into more competitive shows and I know you’ve mentioned them before on your site!
Thanks for all you do!
Comment: Well, I’ve only seen 2 seasons of BB, so I’d put that 3rd. The Challenge has over 30 seasons and Survivor has 40. It’ll take a while to get through those. Survivor is my all time favorite reality show, so that’d be my choice.
______________________
Hi Steve,
Ok, ridiculous question. I see that Zac C. only has about 5k IG followers vs. the 20k plus of Claire’s other guys. Do you have any thoughts in this?
Normally, I wouldn’t ask you such a random and seemingly meaningless question. However, I’m very intrigued by him, knowing he is a recovering addict and runs a sober living facility.
I heard you mention in your live IG last night that Zac is 11 years sober. Incredible. I REALLY hope he shares more about his story and his work as we move forward with Taysha’s season.
My boyfriend of three years is currently 60 days sober and is living in a fantastic sober living facility. I never knew much about this world prior to my guy’s struggle and journey with sobriety and recovery. But after 3 stays in rehab, he is finally experiencing some real progress after finding the sober house. Needless to say, I was interested to know more about Zac C. And his work.
Thanks for reading!
Comment: He definitely shares his story. 5k now, but check back on finale night and he’ll be in the hundreds of thousands.
______________________
Watched Jimmy Kimmel Thursday night interview Tayshia. Her answers were not good PR for show. She can’t remember when she arrived but later on said she didn’t talk to Claire because she was already engaged.
Comment: Yeah, if you’ve read Robert Mills, Chris Harrison, and Tayshia’s interviews, none of their stories line up of who arrived when and when the decision was truly made.
