Hi Steve
Thanks for the great spoilers and I’m actually really happy about the Katie for Bachelorette announcement. Surprised, considering her finish place, but she’s definitely been the MVP of the season. Whilst I know a lot of people will be upset that with such a cast that someone with more diversity was not chosen, I think Katie stood out and is a great choice. I really didn’t think too much of her on night one and am not looking forward to all the dildo references that will be beaten like a dead horse in her season, but she’s become the breakout star a la Hannah B. Although her departure was a little too dignified and drama-free for the Bachelor, I thought! She’ll be fine. But it is a question of why did they choose someone who finished so far back.
What a shame that once again the F1 is mired in controversy. It was really lovely (and refreshing) to root for Tayshia and Zac after so many seasons of problematic F1s (not to mention problematic Bachelors). Yet here we go once again. I’m waiting for Rachael to speak but I’m not sure that words will really help her here. It is a shame as she’s been remarkably drama-free (or at least her edit appears so) and doesn’t seem to be embroiled in house shenanigans. If you listened to the live last night, I have a feeling her statement is coming today. But just know, Rachael has wanted to speak out for weeks now but has been told by ABC to not say anything.
I have a question for you. I have no doubt Heather Martin did approach the show about being part of the cast but I’m sure she assumed she’d be brought on night one like everyone else. It seems weird to me that any previous cast member would set themselves up for the humiliation of coming in halfway through knowing full well that the guy will likely turf them before they even have a proper conversation. He has to manage the other women, he is fully aware of the impact of the ‘late’ 5 and doesn’t want a repeat performance of that shitshow, and he has some relationships which are quite progressed to slot in a newcomer he’s never met. Whilst they haven’t aired it yet, it’s pretty obvious she’s going to be sent away rose-less.
So my question is, why would Heather do this? She knows how late in the game it is and could have just said no at any time when she realised she wouldn’t be there for the whole season. Do you think perhaps producers told her that BIP this year will be fiercely competitive and she needs to do this to ensure her place in paradise? I just don’t get it otherwise, putting yourself out there for public embarrassment. I note that Becca Tilley commented that she was only going to go on Ben’s season if she arrived on night one.
Also seeing as Kit as the sole blonde survivor, it’s pretty obvious Matt likes his brunettes so she’s SOL. And egads, the dress!
Comment: I think there could be something to the BIP thing. But I also know that if Heather isn’t friends with Hannah Brown, there’s no way she gets on this season. The whole thing is just stupid and she should’ve known better. How did she actually THINK that was gonna go arriving so late?
_______________________
Has there ever been a season where so many girls have filtered their Instagram comments?
I’m not promoting hate, no one deserves to receive that because of how they acted on a show, but I can’t remember another season where there have been so many mean girls that have had to filter their comments.
Comment: Probably not, but my guess is this is the new norm going forward just because Toxic Bachelor Nation can’t wait to be awful to contestants on their IG. It’s the new craze in Bachelor Nation every season. Who can we shit on the most on social media. So if you’re a future contestant, just know you are not immune. You are at the mercy of the editing team, and while you think it’ll never happen to you, you don’t control that. They do. And signing up for this show, while you aren’t signing up to be harassed, it does happen. So be ready.
_______________________
Dear Steve,
I am a black woman and would love to hear the justification behind the rumors in reference to Rachel. Earlier on your podcast, I heard you ask if we would be interested in hearing from her family member and what we would want to ask.
I am definitely interested. As a black person, this would be our biggest nightmare in an interracial relationship. Rachel has to speak out and should demand that they allow her to say something to defend her character if those allegations are false. My concern is that they aren’t false because she’s not advocating hard enough for something as serious as this. I just don’t believe the anyone would force her to stay silent. They have to know the longer she waits to address it that the outcome will be no support, especially from the black community to view them as an authentic couple. It will also cause issues for Matt within the black community. The network is going to have an issue with people of color because their vetting process should consist of a social media background check. We live in a day and time that you can find these things without much effort.
I would want you to ask Rachel or her family member is, Did she sign up specifically for Matt’s season and if she has ever dated a black man prior to the season? I also want to know if she’s political, who she supports as president, and is she or any family member active in Georgia politics? In addition, does she know the person who made the TIK TOK, and what do they think that young lady would have to gain from lying or misrepresenting her? I am a believer that when there is smoke, there is fire and to much is out there for all of it to be untrue. Rachel has some explaining to do. I would respect her and her family more if they would own up to ignorant behaviors from their past and at the very least prove that they have evolved. When people say that they don’t see color, that is red flag 101. Never say that to a black person because we instantly know you are lying.
Thank you for your interest and your willingness to address it. I want to like Rachel and I am having a hard time watching her scenes because she hasn’t said a word. Quite honestly, she was in my top 5 of favorites this season until I heard these allegations.
Comment: I hope you watched the IG Live last night, and if you didn’t, it’s still on my IGTV on Instagram. And Rachael has a looooooooong road ahead of her. A statement is just a first step. It needs to happen. They need to let her release something and quit delaying things. But that’s not going to change a majority of people’s minds. She has a lot of self reflection to do and needs to do the work going forward to convince people she realizes what she did was wrong and what she’s going to do to better herself.
_______________________
Less question, more thoughts. Maybe it’s these weird seasons, but I feel like I still don’t know half the girls (and that word sums them up) that are on this show. I get that they need to make drama, but couldn’t that also be done with less of them? As if 25 or however many it started with wasn’t enough, five more come, now Heather. It’s just too much. You’d think people would be less invested, but maybe that’s just me. Also, Matt was way more excited to see Tyler than any of those girls. I think we should refer to them as Matt Cameron and Tyler James. Thanks for all you do!
Comment: I think Ashley and I actually did on the lives. They’re basically the same person.
_______________________
Hey Steve,
Huge fan! I love how you have grown as a person & how you talk about people in a different way & handle certain situations now compared to years ago.
I agree with you about the whole Heather situation & how staged it looked. I think it was planned to try & get her on Paradise. She isn’t memorable from Coltons season & since there was no Paradise last season, there will be a lot of contestants to choose from & she needed to somehow get on the radar to be picked. She can’t be dumb enough to think that she had a chance with Matt. If he didn’t show interest in the real world, which he could have since she is so close to Hannah, why would he on the show?! This was all an act to get noticed, cause drama with the girls to get an invitation to Paradise. Will see if it worked!!
Keep up the good work!!!
Comment: The thing about it being a Paradise thing, is they have 4 seasons of Paradise contestants to choose from for this summer: Peter’s women, Tayshia’s men, Matt’s women, and Katie’s men. If Heather Martin didn’t appear on BIP this summer, the audience would still live. The whole thing is just odd.
_______________________
Hi Steve!
Love your site and spoilers. Ever since Katie was being talked about for bachelorette I had a hard time figuring out why I wasn’t on board for her. Of course I like that she takes a stand against bullying and I like her sex positivity stance – but i wasn’t sold.
Bringing up bullying to Matt without name dropping scores her major points but I don’t really think she’s a girl’s girl. Hannah Brown, Rachel Lindsay and Becca were all shown a lot during their season as having many friends in the house, rooting for other women, etc. Besides being an anti-bullying advocate I don’t really see this with Katie. After the disagreement with Serena, Katie enters the room with Serena and other women and the women seem hostile toward Katie – even physically separated from her. I would love to hear the other contestant’s honest opinions of her. Yeah, the fact that very few of them are commenting or supporting others, including Katie, is bizarre this season.
Also her social media – is actually interesting and unique – but features a TON of photos of just her, videos of herself, etc. Not that this means she doesn’t have friends but pretty much every other woman who is popular from the Bachelor has lots of photos with friends, photos with girls from the season they were on, etc.
IMO its not a good move to have someone who isnt a “girls girl” become the bachelorette – esp. since the show is made for women. I just don’t see her as very relatable – Hannah Brown’s exit from the season during her one on one with Colton had all of Bachelor Nation cheering for her. I don’t think she was relatable at all after her one on one.
Also during her argument with Serena, even though she was right, she seems very aggressive – being calm, cool and collected would have been a better look.
What’s your opinion on this? Thanks!
Comment: I mean, I guess it doesn’t quite matter what I think regarding it. I’ve been told they’ve made their choice and it’s her. When that announcement is actually “official,” I don’t know.
_______________________
Hey Steve,
Great recap. Two questions, both regarding the “surprise” arrival of Heather. We all know this was a ridiculous plot contrived by the producers to add some drama into a pretty lacklustre season (with the exception of the bully storylines), but why pick someone that virtually no one remembers? I’ve never missed an episode of the Bachelor and I didn’t remember Heather – even when they said she was from Colton’s season? She finished 6th on Colton’s season, but yet, those that do remember her, her claim to fame was that she’d never been kissed before. Wasn’t involved in any drama at all that I remember.
Second question: Heather said that Hannah told her that Matt would be a great match and she needed to meet him. When Heather walked into the room, Matt started laughing and actually said “Heather”, yet then Heather hugged Matt and said “So nice to meet you.” So did they know each other beforehand or not? Was this just sloppy editing on the part of production?
Thanks
Comment: I think I’d read they’d met, but it’s not like it was under any dating pretense. Matt clearly knew who she was, but I don’t think they spent much time together.
_______________________
Hi Steve, thanks for your great coverage as always! Now that Katie is (probably) the Bachelorette, I wanted to throw out another look-a-like that I can’t stop seeing from day one of her picture getting released. I think Katie and Kristina Shulman look like they could be sisters.
Comment: Yes, that’s been mentioned a lot. I definitely can see it.
_______________________
Hi Steve, can you talk a bit about the fact that Katie is (by far) the earliest-finishing person to be named the Bachelor or Bachelorette? If you count Heather, Katie finished 12th, I think?
If I remember correctly, Hannah B and Juan Pablo are the closest — and they finished 6th/7th – almost twice as far along as Katie. I also don’t think the producers have made their decision this early in the airing of a season.
Thoughts? Maybe none of the remaining women particularly impressed TPTB in the remaining episodes? Or the audience response to Katie has been just that good for them to break with precedent so much? Thanks!
Comment: I can’t speak for them or why they make the decisions they do. I’ve been told it’s going to be Katie. And yes, both Hannah and Juan Pablo finished 7th.
_______________________
Hi RS:
Watching Heather Monday night made me embarrassed for her.
How does she not know this?
Did Matt know she was going to walk in like that?
Comment: I’m sure they didn’t tell Matt. But production clearly knew about Heather coming in. Probably kept it from him to get a genuine reaction.
