Hi, Steve,
Not a question, just more of a comment about “Queen” Victoria. In her drunken slurred ITM’s, I couldn’t figure out who she reminds me of: then it hit me. She’s the SNL character, girl you wish you hadn’t started a conversation with at a party- lol! Especially when she said I’m a queen & these are my “gestures” or “we’re like oil & vinegar.” I’m waiting for her to ask Matt what he wanted for Christmas cause she asked for an end to genocide! Also, she looked like someone had punched her in the eye or she had pink eye or something, at least in the first couple episodes. Yep. I think someone mentioned the SNL character last week. And the stye was mentioned 2 questions ago. Great timing!
I also listened to your audio emails podcast (loved that format) & heard you reference something is rotten in the state of Denmark. This is a quote from Shakespeare’s Hamlet; it was supposed to mean something was wrong in the political hierarchy. It’s been used in literature & many other formats in history also referring to a bad leader or state of affairs. Just FYI..
Thanks for all your spoilers!
Comment: A lot of that came through on email and DM last week informing me that’s from Hamlet. Learn something new every day I guess.
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Concerning Victoria/Anna/Brittany in last nights episode…Why do you think producers continue allow bullying to air and get show time on the Bachelor/Bachelorette shows? Although I know it makes for juicy story lines, it seems to be a continuous theme in recent seasons. “I know it’s uncomfortable for you to see. Just imagine how uncomfortable it is to get this in your comments and your DMs every day, every week, every month.” Franchise host Chris Harrison, March 2020. Do you think the producers should and/or could step in and control the mood and discussion? Also, why the escalation from pillow fights to boxing in recent shows? Asking men and women to physically fight is a but much, don’t you think?
Comment: Should they? Of course. Will they? Absolutely not. Who are people talking about after Monday? Victoria and Anna. You really think the entertainment sites are breaking down Michelle’s date? Sure, almost everyone loved it, but what more is there to say about it? There’s so much more meat on the bone talking about bad behavior on this show, that’s why they encourage it.
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Hey Steve!
I have just a few things. First thing, what do you think of Hannah Brown’s new romance? Also, do you think The Bachelor rushed picking Matt as the Bachelor? I’m not sure I’m sold on him yet. And one last thing, any word on who is in the running to be The Bachelorette?
Thanks!
Comment: Nothing, yes, and probably the stable of names you’d expect.
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Hi Steve,
You’ve mentioned “bachelor-approved” podcasts in your podcast and posts. I was just wondering what the full list of those is? I know Ben and Ashley’s, but which are the others that are bachelor-approved? And are all of these limited in what they can talk about / being able to criticize the franchise in any way in exchange for that approval?
Thanks!
Comment: When I say Bachelor-approved, I’m talking about the ones that are allowed to have contestants on while they’re still under contract and/or even still on the show. So that’d be Ben and Ashley’s, Rachel and Becca’s, Nick’s, and whoever else is allowed to. Those three I know can. Does “Clickbait” have on contestants that are still on the show or just eliminated? I’ve only listened to 3 ½ minutes of it.
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Hi Steve!
I’ll spare you the long drawn out intro, but yes, I’m a huge fan of your work and wouldn’t watch this cursed show without you.
My question isn’t about Matt, but instead looking ahead to Paradise. This might shock some of your readers since all Bachelor franchise viewers have seemingly decided to remove “Listen to Your Heart” from our collective memories, but do you think anyone from that show could be selected for Paradise? I think they had a much better chance if there wasn’t a pandemic and there was a BIP last summer. Now? With four seasons of fresher faces to choose from, maybe they get 1 or 2, but I don’t know.
I know you’ve said a thousand times that the pool for the next seasons cast is going to be huge, but there were a few likable people on LTYH that I wouldn’t mind seeing again (Rudy comes to mind… she’s the only one I still check in on every now and then on Instagram and I genuinely thought she was one of the only really talented contestants on the show).
Just curious if you think a. it’s possible that any of them will make the cut and b. If you have anyone in mind that you think would be a good candidate or c. would really like to see go to Paradise (and if you’ve forgotten all of them by now I don’t blame you).
Thanks Steve!
Comment: I 100% thought Jamie would be on before the pandemic hit. Trevor would pay for his own ticket down there, for sure. I just don’t know if they’re on to his act or not. Rudy I could see. And that’s about it.
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Hey, Steve!
Long time blog reader, first time emailer. I just want to say THANK YOU for the last (next to last?) paragraph of your post today regarding the new girls being brought on. While watching, I couldn’t decide if these girls were really THAT dense and thought the new girls wanted to be brought on three weeks in, or if production was just making it look that way. Most likely a mix of both. Their feelings were hurt-I get it. But come on! Thank goodness for Katie-she’s REALLY growing on me. Another thing I had an issue with, and production may be somewhat at fault here too, is that Rachel and Becca had Chelsea on their podcast today, and they were talking to her about the bullying, etc going on in the house. Chelsea made it sound like she was not in on that and was welcoming of the new girls, but we saw and heard her scoff at Katie when she was defending them during the group date. Production, or just Chelsea trying to save face? The world may never know!
Last thing-who is your pick for Bachelorette? I’m thinking Katie or Abigail, although now that I know Michelle doesn’t win, she’d be great too.
Thanks!
Comment: I missed Chelsea scoffing at Katie, but then again, facial reactions can be taken from any moment and spliced in. So it’s possible she wasn’t scoffing at Katie in that particular moment.
Michelle has no chance now knowing that “Bachelorette” will undoubtedly be named 2-3 before Matt’s finale and we know Michelle is final 2. That would kill their ending. I think Abigail, Bri, and Katie are all in the running. And then you have anyone from a past season that’s been considered in the past.
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Hi Steve-
First off, I just started Season 6 of 24 (again). Re-watched 2-5 in quarantine last year and still also believe there is no better show. Every couple years I tend to re-watch. No other show has ever come close, although the first few seasons of Homeland are pretty good. I tried 5 min of Bridgerton & then resorted to this. We’re in the same boat. Me and a buddy started re-watching 24 in October. Two episodes a night and we just text our thoughts back and forth all during the episodes. Started at season 2 and just finished season 8 Sunday night. Started “Live Another Day” last night. We’ll be done with that one on Sunday since it’s only 13 episodes. Such a great series and so far ahead of it’s time. Absolutely, 1000% holds up today and it will always be my all-time favorite TV show. I don’t see anything ever surpassing it.
Onto the show- Yes there are mean girls on the show. And yes, we live in a time where people love to play the victim card for circumstances they’ve created themselves. So, ultimately these mean girls are totally responsible for the stuff they say. But I don’t think the average viewer understands the producer manipulation to get them to this point. The producers are in a win-win situation here- get the drama they want for tv and the girls come off as the bad guys. Let’s take the 5 new girls coming in for example. This had to be hyped up by producers in order for the girls to be bitter about it over and over again. Yes, I get that they might be upset and worried about new girls coming in. But those girls who actually have a good connection with Matt, ultimately shouldn’t be THIS bent out of shape about it. They signed up for a show and this was part of it. Let’s be honest, there aren’t many who truly have a good connection with him (that we’ve been shown), so of course it’s the ones who are clearly just filler at this point who won’t drop the new girl/OG girl narrative. Yup.
I’m currently listening to Becca on Blake’s podcast from last night and she made a good point. She said on her season, one time she was dropping F bombs a lot and producers told her to knock it off, why won’t they tell Victoria to stop calling these girls whores? Simple answer- they love it. Becca had a good edit, good relationship with Arie so maybe they wanted to help her. The producers want to use girls like Victoria, Anna, MJ, etc for their benefit since they’re clearly not ending up with Matt. Becca also said the producers totally shouldn’t have included the footage about Anna/the escort drama with Brittany- again proves how little they care about women who they’ve chosen to use as pawns. This was good to hear from Becca because we don’t seem to hear past contestants talk about producers’ roles much, I’m sure some is contact related, but still.
In summary, anyone who buys this franchise pushing for “female empowerment” clearly can’t read through the lines. They want to create a drama filled show at the expense of anyone. I know you speak about this from time to time, just curious to your thoughts now, as this story only seems to get worse season after season.
Thanks for all your work, Jack Bauer is calling my name now.
Comment: You’re too smart for this show. Wish more people understood it the way you do. Unfortunately everything you said is 100% accurate, yet nothing will change. This is what the show was, is, and will always be.
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Steve,
I’ve been a long time viewer of this show, back to Trista days! In seasons prior to Taysha & now Matt James, I’ve never noticed the lead acknowledging multiple contestants during group dates. What I mean by this is, from last nights episode, the first group date they showed which picked up from last week. Before handing out the group date rose to Chelsea, Matt addressed his conversations with Abigail and MJ. We saw this same thing during Taysha’s season.
You’ve been covering this show for some time, is this something you’ve seen in seasons before and we just haven’t noticed it? Is there any real reason behind showing this since they’ve already shown us at least part of the conversation with that contestant?
I enjoy reading your articles, your Instagram lives with Ashley and the spoilers you’ve provided over the years. It’s wonderful how you are able to piece so much together and give your followers so much insight. I look forward to your response.
Comment: Yeah, first time I noticed it was last season. Both Clare and Tayshia did it. And now Matt is. Guess it’s just a new thing they decided to do. Maybe it’s to get people to think he’s gonna hand it to one of the names he starts talking to first and done as more of a fake out. I don’t know why after 40 seasons they started to incorporate that, but that’s definitely new starting last season.
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Hi Steve,
As you’ve said before, what we see as viewers and what the lead sees from the cast are two different things. I imagine there is lots of drama amongst the women that Matt isn’t privy to simply because he isn’t around to see it.
Watching this season, I find myself trying to imagine how the lead would feel if they picked, say, Anna (humour me) as F1 not knowing what went on when he wasn’t around, and then watched the season unfold on TV the way it has this year, with her being indisputably awful.
I know Matt doesn’t pick Anna, but let’s say he did. Would the producers edit the season differently to minimize the drama she has been involved in? Would they eliminate the Brittany/escort storyline entirely to save Anna’s face? It seems to me that they usually try to give the final 1 a good edit, but would they bother if a good edit meant eliminating a dramatic and controversial storyline? Just wondering what they would prioritize in this situation.
Comment: The only “villains” so to speak that ended up “winning” the show were Vienna and Courtney. Their edits weren’t great, and not a lot of people were thrilled when they saw the winner. Both were spoiled before the first episode aired, but neither had their edit changed. So I guess that’s what you’d be looking at. They clearly prioritize the best storytelling.
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Hey Steve!
First time emailer. I started watching the Bachelor franchise at Hannah’s season and have been hooked ever since.
Here’s my question for every season.. how does the layout actually work for the week? There are usually 3 dates and then the cocktail and rose ceremony… are there empty days between those to get rest? If I was the Bachelorette.. I need tons of sleep haha. And the food, they don’t really eat on dates but I’m assuming they get plenty of time to eat that we don’t see on screen?
As far as Matt’s season goes I don’t really have any questions mostly just a statement that if Katie isn’t last girl standing I would LOVE to watch her as Bachelorette!
Comment: It’s date-date-date-rose ceremony. When they’re in LA filming at the mansion, zero days off. Days off only happens once travel starts. You ask any lead and they will tell you the toughest part of any season is lack of sleep.
