Hi Steve!
Just saw your recent post & got really excited to hear about Luka. I wanna hear how Sunday’s event turns out!
$0.02: My dog had a litter of 6, and friends adopted the puppies. She occasionally sees them & they all know each other. Lots of sniffing & playing for dominance; but, all in all, they gel & it’s super cool to watch the genetics play out. Especially when there are other dogs present that are part of an “adopted pack” then when they meet their family members. It’s all in the scent! I think Luka will know!
At this moment, who cares about Bachelor cast- I wanna know more about Luka’s relationship with her son!
Comment: Yup, my recap of it is on Page 1. About as uneventful as you can get unfortunately. He was just another dog to Luka. Barely sniffed him, and being at that event was basically like being at a dog park. She gave every other dog equal time. But her initial adopter was there and excited to see her, as were a couple other people from the Humane Society that remember her. She loved it also because there were tons of treats there.
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Hey Steve
I am just watching BIP and laughing myself stupid over the carry-on over Ivan sneaking off to see Alexa. I understand there are rules and he broke them. But honestly, he literally, as an adult, snuck out to see another adult and is being treated like he intentionally spread herpes to every cast member as well as the crew. I mean seriously.
I know these people live in a bubble and will stop breathing if its going to make their producer happy but when Riley clapped Ivan on the back and chided ‘we’re better than this man’ I almost spat out my drink. Ohhh he’s shown his true colours. I mean what?
His rose-grabbing behaviour towards Chelsea is more questionable than the completely natural instinct to sneak out to see someone you’re interested in. I think the producer who supposedly left his phone out and then let Ivan wander off for hours without anyone realising is far more culpable here. It all seems a bit odd and fishy to me and I’m wondering who’s cornflakes Ivan peed in to fall from golden status so quickly. The whole thing is just bizarre!
Comment: Yes, I agree Ivan’s behavior of lying to Chelsea was much more egregious than sneaking off to someone’s room. I get it. He knew he was cooked, he had a chance to spend time with Alexa so he did. Not the worst crime in the world, but, it did break rules so I get why they sent him home. But yeah, people should be much more upset with him for how he was using Chelsea until Alexa came on.
However, Ivan claims he’s got great tea to spill on a podcast once he can, so we’ll see. We’ve heard that one before from Jed and Peter and it’s been months since they declared that and they’ve never revealed anything.
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Hi,
I’ve been following your posts since Jason Mesnick’s season and never felt the need to send an email. But I feel like the producers are getting worse! This season of BIP seems very scripted and manipulative, almost “forced.” . Why would they send McKenna out there knowing everyone was coupled up, to embarrass her? I felt so bad for her! Well, every season there are multiple people who come in way late after everyone has basically coupled up. They need to somehow change that part of the format since it’s not believable. Right after they go on one date and have been there two days, Wells is gonna tell them tonight to break up if they don’t see it long term or stay together. It’s just a ridiculous ask for people that just arrived.
Also, is it believable that Ivan just happened to see Alexa’s room number on a producer’s phone, or would the producer have left it out on purpose to make this situation happen. Maybe I’m just getting older and more cynical but it seems like the producers are going lower and lower to embarrass the contestants and make them look bad.
Comment: It could be believable, but who knows really? I mean, Ivan’s gonna spill it all soon, right?
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Hi Steve,
Quick question here:
You mentioned that “break-up” clearly seemed producer driven to you, does it mean that Noah or Becca were asked by the producers (I highly doubt they volunteered themselves to do that) that they can decide to break up to make the “drama” storylines in order to get more paid? If it was all about money on top of the regular paycheck, I would do it in a heartbeat knowing to get back together post show only if I am still interested.
Comment: I don’t know if it meant more pay per se, but they are absolutely in the contestants ear trying to get the most dramatic endings they can. Probably asked those two couples do you see yourself getting engaged at the end, and once they said no (Noah and Abigail certainly didn’t seem close to engagement and zero chance Becca was getting engaged for a third time under this franchise’s watch), so it’s easer to break up on TV for dramatic purposes, then just pick the relationship back up when you’re off with zero pressure and you can get engaged (if it ever gets to that point) on their own time.
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For your next fan questions
Can you talk bout yours thoughts on this season of survivor and different changes (editing / traditional sayings / game play / timing etc…). Please also continue to have survivor themed podcasts – love those !
Comment: We covered all of that and then some on last Thursday’s podcast with Stephen Fishbach. I’m pretty much all for them. But since we recorded after episode 1 but before episode 2, there’s now a couple things I can comment on.
The Beware Advantage is kinda fascinating to me. I don’t know if I hate it yet or love it. Only because I think the idea that all three people have to blurt out a phrase at the immunity challenge for it to be activated seems ludicrous. Except for the fact that say tmrw night the other two still haven’t found it. That means that one dude HAS to say that phrase again at immunity (just to see if the other two say theirs since he won’t know if he doesn’t), and people are gonna think he’s nuts. What if this goes on for 2, 3, 4 more episodes and he keeps having to say the same sentence at immunity. It’ll be comedy. So lets see how many times he has to do it first before I judge it.
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When someone says “well this drama wouldn’t happen if Chris Harrison were still here” it makes me wonder if they paid attention to all the things that happened in 20 years under Chris Harrison’s watch. No, they haven’t been paying attention. Or have just chosen to look the other way.
But it also got me wondering who do we blame for the drama now?
Who’s pulling the strings?
I have the impression that when Chris Harrison was there, since he was an executive producer, he was the highest-ranking person on set during filming and no one told him what to do.
I don’t think Mike Fleiss or ABC executives get directly involved.
But obviously someone tells Kaitlyn and Tayshia and Wells what to do.
Who is that person? What is their name and title?
Will that person be telling Jesse Palmer what to do? I assume so because he is a host and not named an executive producer.
Comment: Martin Hilton is a big wig on this show. A face you’ll never see, but basically the main showrunner unless he’s left the show recently and I don’t know about. He’s the BMOC.
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Observations!
1) Can’t believe the focus for Ivan’s removal was sneaking into someone’s room He told Wells that he knew which room Alexa was in because he picked up and read one of the producer’s phone when it was lying on the counter! I mean!! Isn’t that way worse than sneaking into someone’s room! Yes, the lie to Chelsea about being interested in her was much worse than hanging in Alexa’s room.
2) The fact that Riley, Joe, and Kenny are the 3 men getting engaged, speaks volumes for casting people who are ready, don’t you think. I think there’s a lot to be said for what happens when men reach their 30s!
That’s all! Have a great day! Hugs to Luka!
Comment: Very good point.
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Hi Steve!
Just finished your interview with Fishbach. (Always love your survivor interviews.) I have watched every season of survivor as well. My boyfriend and I started dating July 2020 and this is the first survivor season since we’ve been together. He has never seen a single episode until the premiere. So I can kind of answer your question about if it was confusing or too much for someone who had never watched it before. Questions he asked me….”What is an idol?” “What is tribal council?” “How do they determine a winner?” I said the jury, then had to explain the jury. “What is the dice thing?” So, he legit had ZERO knowledge. He said without me there to answer his questions he would have been a little confused, but knows his answers would eventually be answered as he watched. I also had to tell him a few times “I have no idea, this is brand new and has never happened before.” Which was kind of fun. Anyway, I’m so happy it’s back!
I’d love to see an All Star season of all runner up players. The storylines would be great. All of these really great players who came so close, but fell just short of winning. And then one person would unfortunately be runner up again. I think that could be a good season. But it’s not something I’ve ever heard mentioned.
Anyway, I hope the meeting with Luca and her puppy went well!!
Comment: Yeah, you don’t hear that mentioned much about a runner up season. At least I’ve never heard that. But here’s where my memory retention sucks. In 40 seasons, I could maybe name 5-10 off the top of my head that finished 2nd. Could the average fan who isn’t a die hard and doesn’t listen to a ton of podcasts remember who finished 2nd? I don’t know, maybe they could. I’m just thinking out loud here. Tough to say.
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I apologize if this question has been recently asked, I haven’t seen it. Have you heard anything different about Serena and Joe? I know spoilers say they got engaged but I’m noticing they’re not liking each other’s posts like they were at the beginning of the show, and it seems like she’s pretty much in Canada in her Instagram posts, while he seems to be in Chicago in his. I know that very well be what production has asked of them?? Anyway, just curious! Finale IS tomorrow night, I’m sure it will all come out in the coming days!
Thanks for what you do!
Comment: They’re definitely still engaged. As are Mari/Kenny & Maurissa/Riley. None of those have changed since filming ended at the end of June.
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It recently was released about Claire and dale breaking up again, and she made comments about ans “act” – do you think it has anything to do with the negative backlash he experienced last year after they broke up and he posted about it without her knowing? Seems like they got back together very quickly at his persistence, maybe win back public approval and stayed with her to keep that until he felt it was ok to end it, thoughts?
Comment: Unfortunately this is one of those stories that’s SO juicy with so many layers based on what we’ve read the last week or so. But unless Dale or Clare address it directly on a podcast, or in an IG post, and don’t use “sources” or PR people to answer for them, it doesn’t look like we’ll ever get a solid answer. Clearly Clare has stated her side and Dale has stated his. Just a matter of who you choose to believe.
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Did Dale really cheat on Clare with Abigail? I’ve seen some say yes and others say no they are friends. Again, depends on who you believe.
Do you believe this negative publicity with Abigail will hinder her relationship with Noah? Doubt it. Noah’s already subtly addressing it on his IG all weekend and Abigail was clearly with him. So doesn’t look like it is.
Do you have any information on the engaged couples from BIP? Are they together still?
Comment: All still engaged.
