You realize we’re only 6 days away from the grand opening of the Olive Garden on the Vegas strip? You should. Should be a national holiday if you ask me. Anyway, in case you missed my open to last Thursday’s podcast with Sarah Emig, I’ll be in Vegas this weekend, Thursday through Monday. I changed my flight Monday just so I could try and be the first customer when the Olive Garden opens at 11am on Monday. Lets see if that can happen. I would think on a non-holiday Monday at 11am, I can’t imagine there being too long a line, if any, right? It’s the Olive Garden. They’re everywhere. It’s not like this is some brand new restaurant. I hope you all can keep me in your thoughts and prayers next Monday so I can be their first customer. Hell, I might even document it on social media if I am. My party was supposed to be this weekend, but since I had stuff booked, just because I cancelled the party, I didn’t really feel like cancelling other stuff I had planned. Like Bruno Mars Saturday night. Looking forward to that. So now I’m in Vegas mode and am laser focused on having a good weekend at the tables. You know, because if I manifest it, it’ll totally happen.
As always, get your “Reader Emails” in for tomorrow. With the show on Monday and Tuesday for the next 4 weeks, Tuesday’s column will be a recap of Monday’s episode, and Wednesday’s column will be more of a shorter recap followed by your “Reader Emails.” So get those in today for tomorrow’s column. I’m sure you have plenty of thoughts on what you saw last night, what people did, how people acted, etc. This season with so many people and so many storylines, it was damn near impossible to get all the spoilers broken down. But everything I did spoil a month ago, nothing I’ve heard has changed as far as I know.
In case you missed it, Brendan and Pieper were together this past weekend which seems like for the 100th time since they left BIP as a couple before the finale. They just don’t give a shit at this point clearly:
(POST BIP SPOILER): They’ve been seen quite a few times since they left BIP together before the final day, but here was Brendan and Pieper yesterday outside of the SLS hotel in Miami. pic.twitter.com/eZvmrzWQ56
— RealitySteve (@RealitySteve) August 22, 2021
And lets face it, knowing that they ended up together, and knowing that US Weekly posted this article before filming even started saying they were dating, Brendan really showed what a horrible liar he was last night. Maurissa and Riley are the only two from the engaged couples that haven’t been spotted publicly since filming ended, but they have seen each other. They’re just better at hiding it than these two who hang out in large crowds and in large cities all the time. To each their own, and the show really doesn’t care or else they wouldn’t keep doing it. Whatever floats their boat.
Last Thursday after I’d posted my column and podcast, in the open of the podcast, I had alluded to hearing rumblings for the previous week or so about a name for the next Bachelor. Well, I heard it even stronger on Thursday so I tweeted out the person I was hearing most about was Greg, and that he’s the guy they were locked in on. Obviously nothing is official until ABC makes their announcement, but based on what I was hearing, I’d be surprised if it wasn’t him. And yes, I’m aware that over the weekend that Greg’s uncle replied to my tweet saying it wasn’t him, yet this brother liked the tweet. It’s why I don’t pay attention to social media likes, since family members literally responded differently to the same tweet. My stance stays the same. I’m hearing it’s Greg and I’d be surprised if it wasn’t. If I hear something else before the announcement, I’ll let you know. But the amount of times I was asked have I heard anything about the next Bachelor was getting to be ridiculous, so I shared what I was being told. Doesn’t mean it’s locked in as 100% certain. Nothing is until it’s announced. If it’s not Greg, I’ll be surprised. Don’t know what else to say.
Michelle’s filming is kinda flying by. Since they’ve gotten to Minnesota, obviously a lot more dates have gotten out. When they arrived in Minnesota, that was for episode 5. We know that Joe Coleman got the first 1-on-1 in MN, then there was a group date, then Nayte Olukoya got the other 1-on-1 on the pontoon boat on Lake Minnetonka. Then in episode #6, I was able to spoil that Peter Izzo got the second 1-on-1 of the episode this past Saturday as they went to her parents house:
(SPOILER) Michelle on a 1-on-1 date today at her parents house with Peter Izzo. pic.twitter.com/leER5gvjKB
— RealitySteve (@RealitySteve) August 22, 2021
The nighttime portion of this date was at the Mill City Museum. I have photos and videos from that which I haven’t posted yet. Just basic walking around stuff. Wasn’t too revealing so I didn’t think it was necessary to post.
Sunday was rose ceremony #6, which means yesterday began final dates before hometowns. The day started with Michelle and Tayshia having a walk and talk:
(PHOTO): Today begins filming on episode 7, which is the episode before hometown dates. So naturally, Tayshia taking Michelle out on a walk and talk by the Stone Arch in Minneapolis. pic.twitter.com/uFnSE2aTmR
— RealitySteve (@RealitySteve) August 23, 2021
Then Nayte Olukoya got his second 1-on-1 date in a span of 2 episodes as they went paddle boarding at Wayzata Beach:
(SPOILER) Her 1-on-1 today was with Nayte Olukoya, the guy she was on the boating date with on Lake Minnetonka 2 episodes ago. https://t.co/yUhTkWdz4h pic.twitter.com/y70WTWBQbt
— RealitySteve (@RealitySteve) August 24, 2021
Looks like this weekend will start hometowns, and as far as I know, we’re still set on Michelle traveling to the guys’ hometowns. And we know in the past, hometown dates usually end up getting out. However, with the Delta variant, I don’t know if they’re still planning on doing stuff so public for hometowns where a bunch of people see them. Guess we’ll have to wait and see what happens. But pretty crazy to think we’ll be down to four by the end of this week. I don’t have the names of everyone’s who’s left yet, obviously other than Nayte. I would assume Joe and Peter are still there, but that’s just a guess. Any new pics or info that get out from the next few days’ dates I’ll post on social media.
Recap for BIP episode #2 begins on Page 2…
