-Eh, this season is something else. I know a lot of people are being hard on Clare but I found her to be refreshing. Do I think this was fast? Yes, but I also find the “normal length” of this show fast as well.
Even though we know you told us Tayshia doesn’t get engaged I think it would have been interesting to see if people responded the same way if Tayshia did get engaged at the end. I think a lot of people are forgetting that if you really dissect how much time Clare got with Dale and compare it to every other lead and the amount of time they got with the person they ended up choosing, there really isn’t that much of a difference. But your point being, in both cases, they’re BOTH ridiculously fast and unrealistic.
-I know I shouldn’t be surprised but I found it shocking how the producers went out of their way to make the lead of the show in such a negative light. I’m not saying I agreed with everything Clare did this season but I actually found her extremely refreshing. I was listening to some of the bachelor podcasts and the majority of them said almost every lead has made a comment(s) about wanting to “hurry thru a night”. But they chose to air Clare saying it. Because they had an agenda, like you alluded to. And it wasn’t to make her look good. It was to get her part of the season over with, so they could have their “twist” to the season, which was 100% planned in advance, no matter what lies the others are saying.
I was also listening to Chatty broads podcast where they were talking about Clare’s conversation with a producer after the roast where it looked like she called Dale her fiancé and not liking how the men went after him. They said she was actually talking about Benoit. I guess during the roast the men also went hard on Benoit and when she was talking to the producer she said it wasn’t cool how the guys were talking about her EX- fiancé like that but producers edited out the ex part. That wasn’t proven though. Benoit was never brought up at the roast (either shown or not shown), so I don’t know where that take came from.
-A few weeks ago you did a live the same day you released Tayshia’s top four and you said you were hearing Tayshias season was “messy” and that people were saying she was “Indecisive”. Do you have anymore information on this? I’m guessing the “messiness” may have something to do with Brenden leaving/ his parents not showing up?
But are you still hearing she was indecisive? And if so, do we know why? I don’t know every detail about the ending other than what I’ve posted. If I get more, I will post more. The messiness was in reference to the word I was being told, but I assume it’s from the Brendan stuff.
-Blake really rubbed me the wrong way on last weeks episode. I actually thought it was extremely thoughtful of him to purchase a book on dementia and Alzheimer’s so he could understand what Clare is going thru. HOWEVER, What he followed that up with had me shaking my head when he said “Why did I invest so much and not get anything in return”. It came across as if Clare owed him something for him doing that. No one should have expectations about what they are going to get out of dating someone. Exactly. It was a horrible thing to say and made him look clueless.
-I know you mention that a couple weeks into Tayshia’s filming you heard Brenden and Ivan were the early front runners. To your understanding or what you’re hearing , was Brenden the one she most likely would have picked if he didn’t self Eliminate?
And have you heard anything if Brenden is regretting doing that? I have not heard either way.
-I also found it funny that the show didn’t try hiding the fact that they expect a proposal at the end of every season. The way Chris told Dale the next step is engagement and Clare is wanting a proposal. It came across as Dale and Clare owe the show an engagement. Yeah, they didn’t NEED to, but we know what the show wants.
-Is it just me or does Jordan C. Look like Michael Smith, the former ESPN anchor.He absolutely does.
-Lastly, we need Kat back in the comments on the lives. We miss her entertaining comments lol.
Comment: Oh I’m sure she will be in there when she has more time and not on vacation. She loves being on those.
_____________________
Hey Steve,
Survivor and The Challenge are two of my all time favorite TV shows as well. I’ve been watching the Challenge since I was in middle school back in the early 2000s (I’m 33) and still love watching it now. I’ve been hearing rumors of a possible OG Season and am super excited if that is actually going to happen at some point. I’m late to the game with Survivor and about a year and a half ago started binging from Season 1 until I got caught up to the current seasons I had already seen. It was a lot of fun. So I agree with your answer to whoever asked last week about what to Binge. SURVIVOR! Wait, what? You’ve watched all 40 seasons in the last year and a half? Wow. Major props to you.
I don’t really have any questions for you. Just wanted to chime in with my love of some of the same shows. My favorite podcasts are when you have people from Survivor and The Challenge on. More so Survivor, so keep those coming!
And I wanted to say thank you for doing what you do. I know you hear it a lot, but it has changed the way a lot of people watch The Bachelor franchise and view contestants. Olivia is now one of my all time favorite people from the franchise. I find myself constantly explaining to people things you post on your website about the show and I get so frustrated with how many people are still so clueless when it comes to editing and producer manipulation.
I thought of a question……do you think Survivor will last past the pandemic with filming in Fiji for the past few years? Have you heard anything?
And if you love those shows, have you ever watched The Amazing Race? That’s another one of my all time favorites that I’ve seen every season of.
Comment: Survivor is definitely coming back. Where and when is a different story. We just don’t know yet.
I’ve watched one season of Amazing Race. I just can’t get into it.
_____________________
Hi Steve,
I’m curious to see if any of the guys noticed that there “just happened to be” another Bachelorette on standby. They all had to quarantine for 14 days – didn’t they figure out or wonder if Tayshia had quarantined before she met them?? I would think by doing the math they would have figured out what was going on.
Thanks!
Comment: Well, they didn’t quarantine for 14 days before the season. It was around 7-9, depending on when they arrived at La Quinta.
From all accounts, Tayshia arrived when it was first spoiled by a post on Reddit on Monday, July 27th, and we know based on the spoiler I received, that the fireworks date (which there is proof of), happened on Sunday night, Aug. 2nd (look at my time stamp on the tweet):
Well, they had the fireworks show for the date tonight at La Quinta as scheduled. Question is: who was it for? Unknown at this time https://t.co/mFX1YzVCmY pic.twitter.com/DDPSvPeDUG
— RealitySteve (@RealitySteve) August 3, 2020
So, Tayshia arrived on or a few days before Monday, July 27th at the earliest, which means her arrival at the cocktail party happened Friday night, July 31st, the group date of Smashball was on Saturday the 1st, and her 1-on-1 with Brendan on Sunday, the 2nd. So she DEFINITELY didn’t quarantine for more than 7 days. Interesting now, isn’t it?
_____________________
Hi Steve,
I guess what I am not understanding, and maybe I just missed it… but if production didn’t know or think Clare was speaking to Dale pre-show and that she would instantly fall in love with him… what was their reasoning or what was their explanation for having Tayshia waiting on the sidelines to be the next Bachelorette? If Clare didn’t instantly fall for Dale, how did they plan to get rid of her to bring Tayshia on (to make the season interesting)?
Curious! Thanks Steve..
Comment: Production can make anything happen on this show they want to. They are in control. They absolutely knew how Clare felt about Dale pre-show even knowing they didn’t speak. I don’t think it was too hard to convince her this was the thing to do.
_____________________
Hey Reality Steve!
I’ve loved reading your spoilers for years, so I’m so happy I finally have a question I feel is somewhat worthy of your reader emails.
Just wondering if you’re familiar with the Instagram celeb blinds account @deuxmoi? If so, have you seen the handful of submissions about followers seeing Dale dating in NYC in recent months? (One said he supposedly told a friend he and Clare have broken up?)
Do you think there’s any truth to these rumors?
Thanks so much!
Comment: Read Page 2.
_____________________
Hi Steve
Firstly congrats on the coining of Toxic Bachelor Nation (TBN), nothing could be more apt. It’s gonna catch on.
Whilst Tayshia’s debut was abbreviated due to the ongoing shitshow that Is Clare/Dale, what a breath of fresh air she is! The whole energy of the show seems to have completely changed. The best part is whilst I’m sure she is just as much production’s puppet as almost every other lead, she actually makes things seem convincing (“hey! I’m cancelling the rose ceremony! It was all my decision, honest!”).
Her use of language is actually original and she’s avoiding the major Bachelorette cliches…thus far. At least she hasn’t used the terms ‘journey’, ‘process’ or ‘right reasons’ yet! Kudos too on the use of ‘bomb summer’.
She’s definitely received a show stopping edit for night one…it couldn’t be any more different to Clare and for that I am thankful. The season is finally starting to look up.
Whilst I’m glad for Clare/Dale (ain’t love grand), I couldn’t be happier for Bachelorette 2.0 and Tayshia has the wit, grace and of course beauty to carry this off. Here’s hoping she and Zac might be the new Desiree and Chris and these crazy kids might actually make it work. I know, I know, completely unlikely but some of us still hold out hope that sometimes this show might produce something other than manufactured drama!
Keep on giving it to TBN, it’s well overdue!
Comment: I think we’re in for a wild ride with Tayshia. How it ultimately ends up, I’m not sure yet. But “messy” was the word I heard from the beginning, and I think it’s definitely headed towards that.
_____________________
Hi Steve,
I noticed in the episode that Tayshia told the men something along the lines of “If you had told me a week ago, I’d be here…” Do you know when she was brought to La Quinta? I would have thought she’d have had to quarantine for 2 weeks. Maybe they just tested her a bunch that week?
Comment: She didn’t quarantine for 2 weeks. Nobody on this show quarantined for 2 weeks.
_____________________
Hey Steve,
Just wondering, do you think the reason they brought in 4 more guys was because the 16 remaining guys all got along so well and they needed to create some tension (and a “villain”?)
Comment: Maybe that would’ve made sense if the 4 guys weren’t named in the original cast released in July 3 days before filming began. They basically just held on to them for 3 weeks (1 week pre show, and 2 weeks after filming started). So I guess technically there were people that quarantined for more than 7 days. But those 4 didn’t quarantine that long for safety reasons, clearly. It was for storyline reasons.
_____________________
Hi Steve,
You’ve said previously that the producers had Tayshia in mind from the start, so did they think that Clare might not last and that’s why they had her ready to go? also, I noticed that this season of the Bachelorette has been more diverse than others, with more Black men then we’ve had previously (I think). At first I theorized that maybe Clare has a history of dating Black men or that the producers were just trying to be “inclusive”, but could it be that they chose this cast because they had in mind that they could have a Black lead step in? I think the fact that in the original cast of men, it wasn’t the most diverse, and then when the new cast in July was released with 42 men, I believe 25 of the 42 were BIPOC, that was in response to the clear shit they were getting from the public.
regarding your tweet last night “criticizing” Tayshia, when people say that it was racist, they don’t mean that you literally used racist language etc, it means that what they saw as unwarranted criticism was the result of your racist beliefs, unconscious or not. it’s similar to when people compare 2 headlines by the same journalist, one that’s about a Black person and one that’s about a white person. While the headline about the Black person might not appear to be overtly racist, generally there’s harsher language in that headline, which is why people conclude that the journalist has unconscious biases.
I personally didn’t think the tweet was hateful or offensive, but I did feel like you didn’t give her the benefit of the doubt, which you have done with others, most recently with Clare. Which for some people IS racist, because you’re holding a Black person to a higher standard than their white counterparts. You’re drawing some ridiculous conclusions.
Anyway, I took her comment to mean she never expected she would be in this situation, so yes she knows what the Bachelorette is all about and how it works, but it’s one thing to know about it and one thing to actually live it. Or she could’ve meant that based on how 2020 has been going, she never expected to be in that position. I think there are so many reasons behind why she could’ve made that comment (including nerves, which made her say something without thinking it through/meaning it) and your tweet seemed to jump to a conclusion that no one else could relate to. And it was a comment I’d make and HAVE made when ANY past lead has said something silly. She’s not the only lead I’ve ever said something tongue in cheek about.
I can’t wait until we can get back to a “normal” Bachelor/ette season with regular spoilers!
Comment: Please email the exact quote, tweet, video clip, or anything where I didn’t give Tayshia the benefit of the doubt. Never happened. It’s people reading into things that aren’t there. If you’re going to accuse me of something, please provide examples.
_____________________
Hi Steve,
Long time reader, first time emailer.
You keep saying this whole Claire leaving saga, and Taysha replacing her was planned all along before the season even started.
And I 100% believe you know what you are talking about.
But without revealing any sources, I am really curious why and how.
The why – why would they plan something like that? if they wanted Taysha all along, they would have gotten her to begin with.
Is it just for the drama and “something never done before”?
Did they realize after announcing her that they actually do not want her for some reason?
The how – even if they pushed Claire towards Dale, which I am sure they can do, how could they know she would fall in love so quickly and be willing to leave the show?
Thanks for always making it interesting
Comment: Because they had 4 months to hear about how people didn’t want Clare once she was announced so late. If her season starts and airs in March without COVID, Tayshia isn’t part of the season. They had 4 months to plan this. It’s not the least bit far fetched.
Again, because producers can make literally anything happen that they want. And once Clare WAS smitten with Dale, certainly wasn’t that hard.
_____________________
Hi Steve!
I just read one of your recent columns. Re: Tayshia and infidelity in her marriage, she had shared (I’m pretty sure it was with Colton) that she was a virgin until she met her husband, and he cheated on her shortly into their marriage (she had never been with anyone but him, and I think she said elsewhere that they dated six years before tying the knot). He didn’t appreciate landing such an energetic, beautiful, loyal woman. I read your spoiler that she ends up not engaged, so I’m hoping she finds what she’s looking for elsewhere 🙂
Comment: Yeah I don’t remember what she said on Colton’s season that’s why I asked out loud. People have said she told him so I assume that’s what happened. It just never rang a bell to me thinking back on that season.
