Hi Steve, first thank you for your commitment to one year of daily roundups and continuing to write your columns. I am a reader so I prefer those but understand people love podcasts. One technicality. It appears they took the 101 and not the 405 to the 5. The shots they showed of them outside the bus window – 100% the 101. Source: myself, a 101 commuter. Yes, you’re correct. Forgot they were coming from the Valley so it would be kinda stupid to take the 405 to the 5 from there. Good catch.
Completely agree with your assessment of Warwick’s situation. They just wanted to send him home on a 1-on-1 date. Curious though. What time was his date? Did they have to shoot in the middle of the night in order to have the amusement park to themselves? That’s really the only excuse for him being so lackluster and falling asleep in the car. I could relate but it was really a bad look. Also very unclear why they had them wear formal wear to the park. A full tux cannot have been comfortable.
Thanks for your thoughts as always!
Comment: They always film 1-on-1’s pretty late. I’m sure that date at the park didn’t start til close to 10pm. But you also have to remember these guys are barely getting any sleep to begin with, so who knows how long everything took but I’m pretty sure it was after midnight when that thing ended. And no, the tuxedo made no sense to wear for that date.
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Hi Steve – you’ve probably already received this but here’s the clue for Christopher Osmond and it’s decoding: The clue was made up of a puppy, a heart, a T-shirt, the letter “N,” an eye, a doll, the symbol for the word “in” and then seven more T-shirt clues. They can be deciphered as “Puppy Love Teen Idol In The Seventies.” It looks like from the previews for next week that Shayne and Monay conspired to steer Jane towards Elvis Presley so she’d guess incorrectly. Ahhhh, got it.
Last season, a few of the contestants revealed who their celebrity relative was to us in their confessional but it looks like they’re not doing that this season – not yet…
regarding The Bachelorette, have you noticed how much Charity says “like?” If you watch with the subtitles, it really stands out. She was talking to one of the guys who kept saying, “you know?” or one of those throw-away phrases, so between the two of them it was really pronounced.
Comment: I mean, go back through any season and pretty much every contestant, man or woman, says “like” or “you know” every other word. In our mid 20’s, I think most of us did. But yes, it’s quite noticeable.
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Hey Steve,
1. You mentioned a while back that a big name guest was going to come on your podcast and you were communicating with the publicist. When is this going to be? I have an alert to remind myself on Aug. 15th to reach back out to them.
2. Did the checks bounce from Coming Out For Love? You went from mentioning them daily and haven’t mentioned them in weeks it seems like.
Comment: No. I still watch. It’s getting better every week. I’ll mention it occasionally but my contract was for the first 4 episodes of the show. That’s what they bought. Anything after that is a bonus, but I will promote the show when I can since I think it’s really, really good.
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Hi Steve,
I’m curious, do you think there’s a financial incentive from production for contestants/participants who post content on Instagram or other social media platforms about the show? Specifically, posting anything that promotes the contestants’ relationship with the lead? That might explain why Gabi and Ariel were so active on Instagram during their season with Zach.
I enjoy reading your takes every week, thanks!
Comment: No. I just think they’re told to do it and most don’t want to get on anyone’s bad side, so they do it. You know who promotes the show constantly? Brayden. And he’s been the whipping boy all season. He doesn’t have to promote it knowing the way it ended for him this week, but for 4 weeks he was constantly posting IG stories telling people to tune in. Nothing would happen to you if you didn’t but most of them just do it to appease production. If there’s anyone who has a reason not to promote this season, it’s Brayden, yet he still does weekly.
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Hi Steve!
My friends and I have been watching Bachelor/Bachelorette on and off since season 1. We were chatting the other day and were wondering if anyone had ever had such an awful (offensive most likely) entrance that the lead sent them straight back to the limo.
OR has anyone ever gotten out of the limo, seen who the lead was, and hopped right back in?
Completely random questions – but we couldn’t think of any. Thank you for your years of entertainment!
Comment: No. Never happened. Like literally the lead said no, told them to turn back around and go home? No.
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I can’t remember why you were talking about Keith Urban on a recent podcast but what I do remember is you said you always liked him (American Idol).
I just saw him again for the 8th time last night. I know you are debating going to another Taylor Swift concert but I want to persuade you to go to Keith Urban instead.
Maybe if you don’t think you are a country music fan…his music has lots of crossover. Every time I see him play his guitar live I’m absolutely blown away, his talent is unlimited.
And just because you might appreciate it, he usually does something with his guitar during the concert that reminds me of Marty McFly at the dance where he goes over the top.
Anyway looking forward to your upcoming spoilers, you always do great work to get them. Thanks for breaking news on the Golden Bachelor.
Also just waiting to hear the length of Bachelor in Paradise. I swore off it last year, but could be persuaded if they shorten it up.
Take care. And remember you live so close to Keith Urban (when not touring) your opportunities should be plentiful.
Comment: Here’s the thing: it’s strictly a man crush based on his accent, personality that I saw when he was an Idol judge, and he’s a good looking guy. I couldn’t tell you one song that he sings. I’m sure he’s talented. But going to his concert would be like the guy behind me at the Taylor Swift concert in my Highlights on IG. I wouldn’t enjoy it not knowing one word of any song.
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Hi steve! It’s been a minute.
Warwick was clearly not moving forward with charity. Why do you think we was sent home on a one on one vs a rose ceremony? Why waste that date on someone that clearly wasn’t moving foreword? <Because it’s just kinda what they do. Doesn’t happen every season, but it’s happened enough times over the years where production just decides to use a 1-on-1 on someone they know is going home.
Also, we all think kats mom is a Reddit user and was clear politics were very important to kat, which is surprising that kat (liberal) is engaged to John Henry. Maybe he isn’t as conservative as it seems or we are all wrong!
Thanks!
Comment: Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
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Hi Steve!
First off thank you for your columns and podcasts, makes the show feel more “real”.
Was the budget scaled back this season? No international locations before hometowns and last week’s Oceanside CA and this random Washington area seems bizarre. And oddly quite wintery, even though bachelorette always airs in the summer. Even some of the 1-1 dates and group dates so far have seemed cheaper to execute, but maybe that’s just because the locations have been boring with nothing else to do.
Maybe this is more realistic than the elaborate world tours of the past, but I miss the grandeur of it all.
Comment: Yes, the “Bachelorette” always airs in the summer, but it always films March thru beginning of May. So to say you’re always gonna get sunny destinations would be untrue. These locations are chosen in advance and it’s not like they can control the weather.
Yes, it’s two episodes shorter than normal this season (9 vs 11), and yes, they didn’t travel internationally until the finale. Why they did this is only a question they can answer. I guess we’ll see going forward if this becomes the norm or not. Last season with Gabby and Rachel they did France, Belgium, and Amsterdam before hometowns. This season you go San Diego, Washington, and New Orleans. Time will tell.
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Hi! I have 2 questions:
First, any idea why Charity didn’t get the international travel that most shows have had (except for the pandemic shows?) This is one of my favorite parts of every season. I swear sometimes repeat questions come in pairs. It’s bizarre. Your Reader Emails are basically all done chronologically from the time I start receiving them Wed mornings until the following Tuesday night. And these last two were no different.
2nd, must agree with you 100% that the Golden Bachelor promo photos are awful! His interview with GMA was great! I mean what were they thinking with those photos?! Any idea the ages of the women in the cast. Did they stick to the “over 55” they advertised for? I am thinking, maybe not. Maybe they cast younger women and this is why they are trying to make Gerry look younger? Although, in real life, he looks amazing for someone who is71!
Comment: I think they actually asked for women over 65 if I’m not mistaken. Will there maybe be a few sprinkled in possibly in early 60’s? I guess. But anyone thinking it’s gonna be a bunch of 40-50 years olds are kidding themselves. This first season of a new concept would take SO MUCH SHIT if they cast contestants 20-25 years younger than their lead. They’d never hear the end of it. Would play into every Hollywood stereotype and piss a lot of people off.
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Hi Steve
First of all, I want to preface these thoughts by saying that I am NOT a Brayden fan and glad he’s gone. Now, on to some thoughts about him and something he said last night:
I forget who Brayden was talking to outside in the evening, but he kept ranting/commenting that Charity was always “on” and that he wished she didn’t have to be “The Bachelorette” for just a few hours. And he went on to remark that he felt he could not truly get to know her if she was always acting in her role as The Bachelorette. We all know the show’s premise but I don’t recall any other cast member expressing that. And, to be honest, I get what he was trying to say. After that scene I made it a point to watch Charity more closely and noticed that, depending on who she was talking to, sometimes she seemed very genuine and into the guy and interested in what he was saying. Other times I felt she did, indeed, seem to be acting a part and seemed detached when talking to someone. I pondered on Brayden’s beef and thought it had some truth to it. Think about it: a woman makes it to end of a season of The Bachelor, often leaving broken hearted. As a suitor, you see their vulnerability and think, “hey, she’d make a great Bachelorette!.” then they get cats in the role, and all you here them exclaim over and over is, “I’M THE BACHELORETTE.”
And, now that I think back to previous seasons, there have been times when I felt they acted more excited about being the lead than in the end result. And some of them downright seemed to LOVE the power they had over the men. For someone his age, I felt that Brayden seemed rather astute is some of his observations. Perhaps he was not familiar with the workings of the show, but I felt like he was outing the precious Bachelor franchise. I definitely think Brayden was really unfamiliar how the show worked. But his “character” on the show (the one who has a hard time with the lead dating other people) is something we’ve seen so many times before, so this was nothing new.
And, speaking of age, we need to recognize that Brayden is only 24 years old. What 24 year-old guy is eager to settle down and propose to someone, unless it’s a girl he’s dated forever. It’s hard enough to swallow that a man is ready to propose after just 8 weeks of quasi dating someone, but even moreso with someone that young. I don’t know why they even cast men younger than 25. I’d say the average age for men to be getting married these days is 28-30. My guess is that they throw in the youngsters for added drama. Charity is not only older than him, she’s way more mature. No way she was going to end up with him. To be honest, I don’t think his admitting his reluctance to get engaged was a bad thing – he didn’t just say it behind her back, he fessed up when confronted. His way of thinking is actually way more rational. But in the Bachelor world, that’s a huge no-no to say it out loud. But, all that said, he was getting very annoying with his antics, which I’m sure came about due to producer encouragement.
Ok, my op-ed piece is done!
Comment: Everything in the Brayden storyline was 1) nothing we hadn’t seen before 2) so much more tame than past villains. Said it all season. I’m just glad we’re done with it. Well, until the MTA when the guys are told by production to go after him again.
