Hi Steve,
This is a long one. Sorry.
I had some thoughts about Michael.
1. It seems like the powers that be are invested in a happy ending for him, perhaps because the fandom wanted him for bachelor and they are using Paradise to make up for that.
2. I think it’s entirely possible for him to not be ready for a relationship with Sierra and be ready for one with Danielle. He suffered a significant loss, and Sierra (who I think is cute, sweet, gorgeous, and a class act) is very young. From what they seemed to discuss, it didn’t sound like she had similar life experience to Michael. As we are all aware, Danielle and Michael have a lot more in common with each other, and it would be a lot easier to start a relationship with somebody with that common ground.
I’ve known people who were Michael’s age who went through traumatic divorces that said they’d never be able to date anybody who hadn’t gone through that. My initial thought about Sierra was that she seemed sweet, but that it would be hard for Michael to find common ground and move forward in a relationship with her.
Personally, I lost my mother 6 months before I met my husband, and I was significantly more discerning about who I dated after she died. I wasn’t interested in anybody who couldn’t handle my complex emotions, and sometimes it was obvious right away and sometimes it took a little time to figure out that they couldn’t. Grieving never ends – some days it’s mild and some days it’s severe. It’s not entirely predictable, and in Michael’s case, where he has lost his wife and is dating again, I can completely understand how he might think he’s ready and then balk.
I think it was poorly handled and obviously production was trying to set up a love triangle with Sierra and Michael, and Sierra was smart, savvy, and classy enough to remove herself from that situation. Also, maybe Michael shouldn’t be on Bachelor in Paradise, but I think production wanted to give the Michael for Bachelor crowd a happily ever after.
I see the Twitter trolls crawling all over Michael for rejecting a black woman and being ready to date a white woman. It’s definitely more nuanced than that.
Thanks!
Comment: Well your last point for what he’s being criticized for is moronic. That’s people just being trolls. While the optics are what they are, I don’t think there was any ill intention there and we have to be playing the race card with Michael.
The complaint about how Michael handled Sierra shouldn’t be race related (she even tweeted about that), it should be how he handled it. It’s 100% fine for him to be more into Danielle and can relate to her more than Sierra. I don’t think many are debating that. But Michael knew all of that before he stepped on the beach and how he handled the Sierra breakup and the things he said (and the things he’s not said since the day she left), I think are what people have the most problem with. The show is playing us for morons by trying to pretend how organic Michael and Danielle came together, and that’s just not the case.
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Hey RS,
______ & ______ are dating.
Comment: That was it. That was all the initial DM I got two days ago said. One of those blanks was someone in Bachelor Nation, and the other one wasn’t. Which, as you know, is not something I cover anymore. If it’s BN dating BN, then I would. It’s still a case-by-case basis, but when it’s BN and someone not from BN, I’ve just stayed away.
Now I will say, this one is SO random and will definitely have people talking if 1) it’s actually true and 1) actually gets out publicly. If it ever does, I’ll let you know if that’s the one this email was referring to. I’ve emailed back with this person who sent it in and they claim it to be true. Still in its early stages, so who knows how serious it gets or if it even ever gets out. But I’d basically be Ducks Moy if I just threw the names out there without having any idea how solid or true it is. I’m not a gossip site that doesn’t vet anything and throws everything they hear out there hoping something sticks. I leave that to the TikTokers and the IG accounts.
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Buongiorno Steve – I prefer DiGiorno
Do you believe that Casey fainted from the stress vs prolonged lack of AC / dehydration? His anti Pete (should change his name to Pete Za) commentaries will be missed. Unclear why the Australian was brought in unless she was big drama there. Yeah, bringing in Florence and Adam doesn’t make a hell of a lot of sense, especially when you aren’t giving us any background on them. We know NOTHING about them. Well, 99% of the audience doesn’t. I’m sure there are a few people here and there that watched Australia. And yeah, I think the fainting probably had much more to do with dehydration than stress from sharing with Brittany what the pizza moron said.
Jordan is far too competitive to choose Aneesa as his partner. As Turbo is an actor, I sort of believe it is a persona/act. I wonder if he was different when he played Survivor Turkey. He and Jordan really clashed in the past and Jordan is unlikely to apologize like Devin. I listened to Bananas podcast when he had Bill Simmons on and he said that Turbo was a normal, competitive guy until he won. Now he’s just a nut job so it’s very possible he’s just playing it up for the cameras.
Thoughts on the most recent SNL? I thought it was a clunker. Either Ms. The Stallion lacked the skills or they didn’t know how to write for her or both.
Comment: I watched it and I’ve already forgotten exactly what the hell some of the sketches were. Nothing really stuck out to me, so that’s probably not a good sign.
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It looked so staged when Rodney and Eliza stopped at the top of the stairs to declare their feelings before they came down. Do you believe Rodney was told ahead of time that he would be walking down to see Lace?
Comment: Absolutely not. Nor should he have been. They wanted the most extreme effect and reaction from not only Lace but the others.
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Hi Steve!
I am an optometrist (we’ve also spoken before as I was on your He Said/She Said podcast episode 3!) and I wanted to comment on the contact lens story from the daily roundup today.
I saw this story too in the news but you’d be surprised as to how often this happens. People lose their contacts unknowingly in their eyes all the time. It’s usually because the lens is too loose for their eye and it migrates up into their fornix (underneath the upper eyelid as far back as you can go). They think it’s fallen out since they can’t see it so they just put another one on the next day! When it’s that far up sometimes you can’t feel the lens at all so it’s easy to misplace. The ophthalmologist was right that the upper eyelid can become desensitized to foreign objects over time if you’re a long standing contact lens wearer!
Sounds like this lady kept replacing the lens the next day thinking the old one just “fell out”. They will then accumulate under the upper lid and can become a breeding ground for bacteria. The fornix is so far back that it’s hard to see the contacts on your own without retracting the lid.
I personally have not found that many but the most I found in a patient’s eye was 5. They just kept coming out lol. He had no idea they were there and when I questioned why he said he assumed they had fallen out. The eye was quite irritated and there was mucous discharge by that point.
Hope that helps clear things up! Love the daily podcasts!
Comment: Here’s the thing that confuses me. I’ve worn contacts for almost 30 years. Anytime a contact got moved around on my eyeball, it folded up. And 1) not only did my vision change but 2) it’s clear that there’s something in my eye. So that’s how I don’t understand how you can have 23 of them folded up somewhere in your eyeball and think it’s just an itch and not “wait, maybe my contact didn’t fall out.” So yeah, it’s just hard to believe someone didn’t realize 23 were in there. Now come to find out the patient was in her mid 70’s? Very possible that played a role.
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Hey Steve! Love the daily update podcasts. And I’m so happy you’ve been talking about big brother more these last few seasons. Love hearing your thoughts on all reality shows!
Do you have any more post paradise updates? According to your spoilers Justin is probably coming back next week or the week after for Eliza. Have you heard if they started dating post show? Any other couples break up? With this being a super sized season, are they really going to stretch out the ending with a tell all or after the final rose ordeal? I can’t remember if they usually do a tell all for paradise or not. I’d love to hear your thoughts how you think things will play out in the end.
Thanks!
Comment: Not many. Haven’t really done any digging on it since June. Although I have heard some guys are definitely sliding into some of the women’s DM’s post filming. Like, people that may have missed each other on the beach. Or ones that were there but maybe were coupled up at the time but aren’t now.
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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.
