Steve,
I was really disappointed with the Pieper interview on Bachelor Happy Hour. I think the premise of having Pieper tell her side of the story so that people would stop being so hurtful was a good thought but it was ineffective.
Neither Becca nor Pieper told the full truth and most people can sniff out lies pretty easily. One truthful thing Pieper did say is that it was a mistake to go on BIP without ever having watched it before. You can say that again.
Pieper said she and Brendan were not in a relationship pre show and that she did not go on the show for IG followers. She also made some excuse for why she thanked Brendan for “playing the game”. She said it was a joke and she didn’t mean to hurt Natasha by saying that. That may be true that she didn’t mean to hurt Natasha. But it IS a game and you need to know how to play it.
Becca, on the other hand, was chastising Pieper for being mean to Natasha. How about Becca making fun of Chris for “following his heart”? There are so many people who have been rude to and hurt others on this show. Why is Pieper the only one who must apologize? Is Brendan really the only person who has ever convinced someone he liked them so he can get a rose and stay? Uh….no. That is how the game is played.
Let’s be honest— it is a game. Some people do fall in love and that is great but that is not the only reason people go on. It is an opportunity to have a very lucrative career as an influencer and there is nothing wrong with that. When Becca said that Pieper calling it a game was offensive to everyone on the beach, I thought that was ridiculous. She is so obviously hosting a Bachelor sponsored podcast. At the end of BIP, they even posted the statistics about Natasha’s Instagram gains. If that was not important, why mention it? The network is excited because Natasha is on Click Bait, a Bachelor franchise podcast, and they will be getting money from her followers. It really insults our intelligence to say the only reason people go on this show is to find love.
Pieper has had to deal with some serious repercussions including losing sponsors and getting death threats online. Although she said some things that were unkind and didn’t understand how to play the game, in my opinion the punishment she has received is far worse than the crime. In addition, Becca’s holier than thou attitude was irritating.
Comment: I still haven’t listened to it and probably won’t after Dave Neal and I talked about it on the pod last week. But I hear what you’re saying. The attitude of some of those contestants calling out people for being fake or coming on for followers is not lost on the rest of us. It’s about as hypocritical as you can get. Laughable too.
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Steve,
Last night I watched game 5 of the NLDS, SF Giants vs LA Dodgers. The game was decided on a bad call. The umpire said Flores from the Giants swung at the ball to get the last out of the game when clearly on the replay he didn’t swing. Interestingly enough, a game earlier in the season was influenced by a similar bad call. This time the call was in the Giants favor and had a big effect on the Giants winning the Western Division over the Dodgers and forcing the Dodgers to play the wild card game. Afterwards, on SF Giants Twitter, people were furious saying that the Dodgers had paid off the umpires and that Las Vegas would have lost millions of dollars if the Giants won so they made sure that the umpires decided the game the right way. They were robbed. There was so much anger directed at the umpires that I was astounded. I am a Giants fan, but really when it came down to it, the Dodgers played a better game last night.
Darin Ruf of the Giants commented about how it was interesting that the season came down to these two bad calls. He didn’t seem to have any animosity about it understanding that it is just the game of baseball. Some calls are right and some are wrong and it is not possible to see the instant replay for everything. I’m a Dodger fan. Only 2 teams I ever rooted for, and still do, are the Dodgers and Lakers having grown up in Southern California. I know more about the 88 Dodgers WS team than anyone should. With that said, even I can admit that was a horrible call on Flores. He didn’t swing. Wasn’t close. BUT, all that would’ve been was Ball 1. Nobody has any idea what would’ve happened on the next pitch. He might’ve struck out on 1-2. He might’ve hit a HR and the Giants advance. We’ll never know. All we do know is that wasn’t a strike, he never came close to going around, and the count should’ve been 1-2.
I was thinking about that listening to your podcast today with Dave Nealz. I thought both of you had some very good insights. You talked about how Bachelor Nation gets into their head that someone is a “bad person” because of their edit on TV (or in your case because of what people were saying about you on other podcasts) and they are constantly justifying that no matter what the person accused of doing something wrong says or does. There is no way to apologize, or share a different perspective because toxic Bachelor Nation is not able to listen. Consequently, there is no way to redeem yourself. Bingo. They are unwilling to listen because it goes against the narrative they’ve already built in their head. That’s a big issue.
When Ivan was on Nick’s podcast, he explained about the producer leaving the room and leaving her phone and they hadn’t seen a phone in weeks and they looked at the screen and there were the names and room numbers of everyone in the cast. Nick thought leaving the room without her phone was “odd”. Maybe she was trying to give them a hint. Ivan said he “broke the rules” and went to Alexa’s room and they had a great time together mostly talking. Nick told him that has happened multiple times that someone saw someone or talked to someone at an inappropriate time during the show or when they were not supposed to. Ivan was not the first and he would not be the last. So what is everyone so upset about? Why is Ivan such a villain? Not from me he isn’t. It’s almost like the Tuck Rule (going back to sports again). A rule is set in place. He’s not allowed to meet someone in their room before they’re even on the show. So he broke the rule. Is it a stupid rule? Yeah, probably. Is he a criminal for it? Not at all. But a rule is a rule and he broke it so he had to be removed. It was dumb.
Like Dave Nealz said, it is also not horrific to want to try and create a career as a Instagram influencer. You shared an email from a listener who was furious that Instagram influencers do not have a job. This attitude seems pervasive in Bachelor Nation. I personally agree with Dave that it is fine for people to get an Instagram influencer career. It is by no means easy to get that many followers or to create the content that they do. Good for them! If you fall in love too it is a bonus.
I think the anger that comes out in Bachelor Nation or at a sports events is a way for people to let off steam and not have to look at their own emotions and deal with their own stuff.
The Game of Roses podcast asserts that watching the Bachelor franchise and then listening to the podcasts and recaps (which they call being in the pit) is a sport. Like sports, people use the Bachelor franchise as a way to project their emotions and get some release.
When there is alcohol involved, (which there is at sports games and watching TV at home) it makes things even worse. Then you really have no control over your emotions.
Ultimately, I hope we can learn ways to become nicer and kinder to each other. It would make life more enjoyable for everyone.
Comment: I agree. And lets face it the only the possible explanation for some people to be THAT upset that contestants go from obscurity to being able to quit their jobs and travel everywhere, going to parties, go to red carpet events, host shows, etc, is sheer jealousy. Why else would someone care what someone from this franchise was able to accomplish post show? It doesn’t affect your life whatsoever. So if you do get that mad, you can’t tell me jealousy isn’t involved because they can’t do that themselves. You can question if they’re talented or not and it’s justified, but there’s no reason to get mad at it.
Because lets face it, there are people from this franchise (most of them) clearly for the sole reason they were on this show, got a whole bunch of followers, and followers = money now. But it’s not like they got that through any particular talent or anything. They’re famous for being famous essentially. On a much smaller level than most celebrities, but enough to where it can make them a hefty income. Yes, most of them are like that. But there are some in this franchise who, while they have gained followers from being a big name on the show, I actually do think have talent and can carry on a career doing something else in the industry. Don’t even think of asking me who, because then that’ll immediately turn into whoever I don’t name I must automatically think has no talent. Nope. Not going there.
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Hi Steve,
Just listened to your great podcast with Dave, it was interesting to hear about your similarities and differences with what you do re the Bachelor franchise.
Regarding why they had Katie and Michelle and 2 Bachelorette seasons, I think it was at least partly that Michelle didn’t want to do a season earlier in the year because she wanted to finish teaching a term – see Michelle Young Is Back on Instagram After Wrapping ‘The Bachelorette’
Agree that they wanted Katie, knowing she would be great TV, but they also knew there would be lots of people saying ‘why choose an 11th place finisher over Michelle?’ Particularly with wanting to announce another black lead – just because of timing with racism scandal etc. I think that they brought Tayshia in, when Clare left, as lead partly because she is black and partly because she is stable/reliable (necessary after Clare). I love Tayshia – just thinking about the execs’ motivations. Your thoughts? Yes, Tayshia being brought in one month after the George Floyd death and numerous accusations against the franchise being racist and not being diverse enough as a franchise was not a coincidence whatsoever. Tayshia was someone they talked to before ultimately choosing Clare. So it’s not like it was out of left field. But the timing of it? They didn’t choose her as their Bachelorette in March, the franchise comes under major heat in June, they announce Matt James a week later and Tayshia a month after that. Yeah, not a coincidence.
As for Michelle’s season, I get that she didn’t want to take more time off school in April and May. I just think that by airing her now 6 months after she was dumped at final 2, I just think it loses a bit of its luster.
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I’m back listening to and reading your podcasts – I stopped doing so because of the Demi, Jade stuff but am back because you owned your mistakes and decided to move forward in a different way. Something that Brendan and Piper can learn from!
Piper’s interview – she kept trying to deflect and blaming people’s reactions and the edit – just come clean and make a genuine apology owning everything.
Comment: That seems to be the consensus from that interview that Pieper doesn’t seem to act sincere in how she made Natasha feel and is completely missing the boat on things.
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Hi Steve, I was wondering if you had heard what it was about Clayton that led them to pick him as The Bachelor? Was there something specific about his story? His looks or personality? Thank you!
Comment: Nothing that I’ve heard. And I think people need to stop thinking there’s some major boffo reason why they chose Clayton. Or he’s gonna be so irresistible on Michelle’s season, we’ll all see why he was chosen. And I say that because none of us were saying that when Sean Lowe was chosen. Or Ben Higgins. Or Chris Soules. Or Colton Underwood. Did any of those guys just jump off the screen at you and scream “He HAS to be our next Bachelor.” No. Some people like them, some didn’t. Same will go for Clayton. He’s a dude that they picked because they can since they know you’ll watch. Wash, rinse, repeat.
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Hi Steve!
Longtime fan. Hope you’re doing well. Just wanted to comment on how I respect how you’ve handled things regarding all the drama. It’s hard with the toxic bachelor nation. I always enjoy reading your columns and look forward to having you tweet along to the show. No big question except, if you could only listen to one album of any genre for the rest of your life, what album would that be? Thanks again Steve!
Comment: Oh geez. Either 80s/90s rap/hip hop or Taylor Swift. Could those possibly be any more different? Didn’t think so.
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Hey Steve! Any idea what the reason is Rachel and Raven aren’t friends anymore and is it underwhelming? Thanks!
Comment: Not my place to talk about since I have no idea if what I heard was true or not. I just stay out of it.
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Send all links and emails to: steve@realitysteve.com. To follow me on Twitter, it’s: www.twitter.com/RealitySteve. Instagram name is RealitySteve, or join my Reality Steve Facebook Fan Page. Talk to you tomorrow.
