Steve,
I know the previews are misleading. However, hear me out. Is it possible that Clayton is with no one? It looked like from the back of the two women left one had blonde hair and one had black hair.
So maybe …the final two are Gabby and Rachel and then Clayton tells them he slept with both of them. Then both of them are so hurt, they tell Clayton they can’t end up with him.
I haven’t heard Clayton say he is happy yet in any interviews.
Thoughts ?
Comment: In the very beginning of his media tour, he said he found love. And left it at that. So, who knows? He’s coached on exactly what he can say, so whatever you want his narrative to be, you can take any answer he says to twist it to fit your narrative.
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Hi Steve,
Since you have been talking about getting old contestants from the show I was wondering if you have tried to contact any of the women from Jesse Palmer’s season? I’ve had Trish on twice. I reached out to Jessica the woman he chose, and never heard back. We even have a mutual friend. But nothing.
I am a long time bachelor fan and remember that his season was the only one that winner arrived in the first limo. She waited inside the house and watched him to reject the runner-up girl from the house window.
I thought it will be a great podcast back in memory land about the new host.
Comment: Was it his season? I definitely do remember that happening before. Forgot which season it was. But if you say Jesse, I’ll take your word for it.
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Hi Steve,
I was just reading through your recap and just wanted to comment on the 2 on 1 date. I know Ali has very publicly said you’d never put two people you like on that date (since one has to go home) and other leads say they keep their favorites out of that date to not put them through it. I think there are some (limited) exceptions in “ancient” Bachelor history
Brad Womack (1st go around): He had DeAnna on his 2 on 1
Andy Baldwin – Peyton & Tessa
Brad also had Ashley H on his 2 on 1 for his round 2 season. Clearly he wasn’t picking her, but she was top 3. I think in more recent seasons anyone who has been on the 2 on 1 usually isn’t in the final four.
Clearly rare, and a long time ago. I wonder why it was more likely to happen historically.
Thanks for all you do!
Comment: Yeah, I think we’re talking in recent seasons. So looks like Andy Baldwin is the last lead to put his winner on a 2-on-1. That was over 20 seasons ago between Bachelor & Bachelorette.
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Hey thanks for answering my question last week about the girl on girl crime. Essentially they have a formula, it won’t change, it would be boring without drama. Other shows are just like it…real housewives.
Interesting because I don’t watch those other shows.
I legit don’t like the drama and I do think shows that are about matchmaking are for me, without the drama so maybe it’s time to stop watching. But damn I love when you spoil the show, it’s so gossip girl. Yeah, unfortunately I’d stop watching if I were you if you’re truly watching for the matchmaking part of it. The drama will never go away. Ever.
Now to my question. Your website pays because people advertise on your site. And as far as I know you are not an influencer on Instagram. Do you keep all the social media platforms for money making, or is it a way to reach people? Do you profit if someone gives your podcast a star? Just a way to reach people. Sometimes shows will reach out to me to collab with and those are usually paid. As for the podcast, no, rating or rewiewing doesn’t make me any money. The ads do.
Just curious. I know some people have gone to patron content. I’m curious your thoughts on it.
I know you said you wouldn’t do a blind item but I would read that.
Comment: I don’t see myself doing Patreon. My site has been free for 19 years. I can’t see myself all the sudden charging to read it.
As for the Blind Items, like I said, everyone would read it. It’d be huge. Every IG account would repost it every week, everyone would have their guesses as to who it is, etc. That’s not the issue of how popular it would be, because I know people would eat it up. I see how popular Deuxmoi got, and all they do is post anything someone tells them, which proves how much people love gossip. But that’s not what I want to turn into.
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Hi Steve!
Big fan and I love your recaps of all things with Bachelor Nation! Seriously my favorite thing to pull up and read on Tuesdays when I need a break from work!
I am just wondering, and this may be a redundant thought/question, but I personally don’t think Shanae ever intended to go the entire way. I think she knew she never would and is just trying to take it as far as she can because she likes being the center of attention even if for negative reasons. Because honestly she can’t truly believe that if for some crazy reason she had ended up with Clayton how could she possibly explain all of this to him right now if they were a couple watching it back? That makes me think she never intended to win but just be as crazy and psycho as she could just to make it all about her. If they were a couple and he had picked her she would have known that he would eventually see all of her behind the scenes behavior. Just wondering your take on that?
Thanks!
Comment: I don’t think most women think they’re going to win. You have a 1-in-30 chance. So no one can go in thinking they’re going to win. You basically can only hope to. I’m sure Shanae realized she wasn’t going to. Probably early on. But still, to act the way she did is unacceptable.
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(1) do you think the “filler” contestants (contestants that producers cast knowing full-well they won’t be the final girl) ever know that they are “filler” and are just going on the show for the experience knowing they won’t make it to the end? I don’t think they know it night 1. But as the show goes on, yeah, they get a sense they’re not getting picked.
(2) during casting do the producers ask questions specifically to look for contestants that have experienced major adversity/backstories? I know that you said in your column that they push them to tell breakup/trauma stories during one-on-ones, but what if someone really truly didn’t have some big bomb to drop? What if they honestly had no bad past relationships, they have a healthy and happy family life, good career, great self-esteem/body-image, a totally happy and healthy childhood, etc. What would they talk about during their one-on-one or during the confessional group dates? I don’t know since we rarely ever see it ha ha. I’m sure there are people who have that kind of backstory who get cast. We just rarely ever see them getting a 1-on-1.
(3) we all know there are different levels of villains on the show (and disclaimer: NONE of them deserve online hate or trolling). In your opinion, which guy and which girl from the franchise are the worst villains that deserved the edit that they got? Chad Johnson obviously comes to mind because he was a villain on his season AND BIP. And I feel like Shanae takes the cake for female villain, but I don’t know if she just comes to mind because of recency bias—is there another female contestant that you remember treating other women so badly, manipulating the lead, and doing something so low as to make fun of a contestant’s mental health? You’re right on Chad. And his post show behavior solidified that. As for women, it’s tough. Yeah Shanae comes to mind because of recency bias like you said AND her post show behavior. I’m sure there’s others, but right now, Shanae is taking the cake.
(4) like you, I don’t want spoilers for The Challenge or other reality shows but just curious if there are other bloggers like you who spoil/cover certain shows for a living? Like somewhere out there is there someone whose entire job is covering the challenge (or other reality shows) and creating content about it multiple days a week? If there are people covering The challenge/Survivor/Amazing Race/Etc with as much dedication and detail as you cover the Bachelor, have you met any of them? Do you ever compare notes and share tips on your businesses with each other? Like a blogger brotherhood?
Comment: It’s weird, because I don’t go looking so I don’t really know. I know the @Gamervev on Twitter does Challenge cast lists for MTV shows. Inside Survivor usually does the cast list and the season theme for Survivor. Well, back when they did themes. They’re pretty much done with those now. Those are the only ones I know about. As for a place that spoils winners or storylines of reality shows? I’m unaware of those.
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Hi Steve –
Without getting into politics, though I believe this crosses the line into criminality, I am thoroughly disgusted that Masked Singer would have Rudy Giuliani on. I applaud Ken for walking off but suspect that will be edited out. Will be interesting to see if he even airs now or they just cut it out.
Bachelor – Do you believe it was necessary for the viewer warning to be on the screen before the Kaitlyn discussion where people brought up their body image issues? As a gambling man, do you believe the audience at the Women Tell All will have some fool dressed as a shrimp? Better to be safe than sorry, so I’d much rather have a trigger warning on the screen than not. There will absolutely be some clown in the audience dressed in costume. They seem to do it every season now. Shrimp is a good guess.
Too Hot To Handle 3 – Are you watching? Patrick looks like he could play a young Superfly Jimmy Snuka. Wondering how the experiment would play out with a season of hot women and average men or hot men with average women but pretty sure we’ll never know. I’m out on this show now. I watched the first 2 seasons and the whole concept now is dumb to me and I can’t get into it.
Joe Millionaire – The producers likely encouraged Jennie to use that coin at the wrong time as the guys wanted to get to know certain women more. It did not look like Steven appreciated the interruption. Yeah, to get sent home the same time you use your coin makes me think something was up.
Big Brother – I asked Alexa how much some of the contestants are worth. NSYNC guy is “only” worth $10 million after all those hit songs, albums, tours, etc while she tells me JT is worth $250 million. It told me Todd is only worth $250K. He needs that prize money so it seems odd that his plea to stay in was “Do what you gotta do.” He strikes me as sad/depressed. Also seeming sad/depressed to me are Kattan (binging on cake, what looks like a forced smile and asking to be voted out at the live eviction) and Lamar (pining for his ex, talking in his sleep, his late son, and video from the live feed of casually admitting that he crapped in his bed). Any early observations / favorites from you? Carson – entertaining or trying too hard to play to the home audience? I’m enjoying it thus far. Probably because I know it’s so short and HOH, POV, noms, and evictions happen so quickly. But the cast has been entertaining so far to me. Kattan has some physical problems that clearly have hampered is abilities and made him a bit scatter brained. He admitted this on DWTS, which was probably not a show he ever should’ve done. Carson is exactly who he is. He is the center of attention wherever he goes. I like Lamar but he won’t win. I’m thinking Carson or Todrick or Meisha will win. But obviously things change on a dime in that house in terms of alliances. And I haven’t read one thing on the BB Twitter or watched any live feeds. So I could be way off.
Your comments on the former Miss USA got me thinking about the trolls who relentlessly attack reality show people way beyond criticizing actions. What, if anything, would satisfy them? A public apology? Employers, family and friends shunning them? Suicide? I can’t help but wonder if there are sick Miss USA trolls out there patting themselves on the back.
Comment: There honestly really isn’t anything these contestants can do that would satisfy the trolls. Their goal is just to make other peoples lives miserable and to harass. They want to see the person they’re harassing be affected in some way, shape, or form. I don’t get it, I’ll never get it, but I know it happens and these people get some sort of rise out of it. It’s pathetic.
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Hey Steve,
Why did you take down your old slogan? Something about “your sarcastic, sophomoric slant?” Can’t remember but it’s not on your site.
Thanks!
Comment: I think 19 years in, the “sophomoric” humor needed to go. Time to get better.
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Hi Steve,
Love your page. I started following back when I started watching Matt James Season. Before that the last season that I saw was Trista and Ryan’s. Anyway, I enjoy reading your recaps each week. Since I am a bit unfamiliar with the franchise, I have a question? Do these people really leave the show believing that they were in relationships with the bachelor/bachelorette? I always cringe whenever the host or someone on a podcast refers to contestants as exes. Heck Katie and Michelle didn’t even mention Matt James when speaking about their former relationships on their seasons. It leads me to believe that the contestants don’t really consider their with the lead as a relationship. It’s just something they are forced to say along with the never-ending “Vulnerable”, “Genuine”, “Journey”, “Here for the right reasons”. I think it’s just easy to call them an “ex,” rather than give some long explanation of who they were, like “guy I dated on a reality show.” Just condense it to two letters: ex. But are they really “exes?” Maybe to the top 2 or 3, but that’s it.
I am also cringing at this Shanae storyline. It is so obvious that this “villain” act that she is portraying is all for attention and more camera time. Hey gotta give it to her, it’s working. Every week she has been the topic of the show, bachelor fan pages, and bachelor nation podcasts. I hate the I’m even giving her attention right now. My thing is, you just can’t convince me that a grown woman acts like this? Do I believe that she’s selfish and a mean girl in real life? Absolutely. I can totally see her backstabbing a coworker or throwing them under the bus to a boss. Do I believe that the antics that we have see is how she behaves in her everyday life? Hell no. In my mind, I see her on google researching ways to become a villain on the show. If people really think she’s into Clayton, I have a beautiful red bridge in San Francisco for sale. At this point it isn’t even entertaining. At least I got some giggles out of Victoria on Matts Season. I cringe when Shanae comes on my screen. I haven’t seen acting that bad since Dale’s movie trailer dropped. God bless him. She wasn’t that into Clayton. That’s pretty obvious. However, I shared the story last week about how three people who know her told me before filming even started, “I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s the villain.” And then followed up with the stories as to why. So when you ask if she can possibly really act like this in real life, I would tell you, well, some people absolutely believe she can.
Last week Clayton really impressed me with his apology to Elizabeth. Like you said he was getting a bunch of flack for something that he really didn’t have to do until the WTA. We certainly haven’t seen other leads do it. I thought it was very big of him. Listening to podcasts that he’s done recently, I really felt for the guy. It seems like all the bad feedback he’s been getting has taken a toll on him. However, this week I do think the some of the feedback is valid. Each week he mentions the drama in the house surrounding Shanae. Gee Clayton did it ever occur to you that multiple women in the house are all saying the same thing about the same person because she just may be the problem. Exactly which head is he thinking with when he’s with Shanae. You know you’ve messed up when one of bachelor nation’s royalty says that you are underwhelming them as bachelor. Yikes! Yeah, the more we see footage of him being told info by the women about Shanae, and then Lyndsey’s TikTok yesterday where she shared a private conversation she had with him after the Baywatch date where she told him about her ADHD comments towards Elizabeth, his “if I knew then what I know now” seems to be misguided. He did know. He just chose to follow what production was telling him.
Lastly, a few months ago you told your readers to listen to a podcast that you were on hosted by a former Bachelor who shall remain nameless. I must say that I was impressed with your level or class and composure. You owned your mistakes, you apologized and tried to make amends. Props to you for being the bigger man. I tried listening to a couple of episodes featuring some of my favorite contestants like Brandon from Michelle’s season. Listening to the way he attacks his guests was uncomfortable for me, I can only imagine how uncomfortable they felt. Well enough about him. Keep up the good work. Loving the tiktoks so far. Maybe soon we can get you to recap the episodes of Joe Millionaire!
Comment: Thanks for listening to that. So many things I would’ve done differently on that podcast knowing what I know now. The fact that I asked him to come on mine first and he responded with basically, “Well, I won’t come on yours but you should come on mine” should’ve been the first, and biggest, red flag for what was about to go down. That’s the way he looked at me and my podcast. Should’ve known then.
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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.
