This is the Ben and Ashley I almost Famous podcast with iHeartRadio.
It's almost famous podcast. It's been and Ashley back here, and we wanted to do a quick little recap on the feedback we've seen and also kind of heard about this new season of Paradise, because, after all, the show has resonated with his audiences in a way that's all this positive and negative, kind of like we were breaking down on our Bachelor in Paradise recap before we get
into it. The premiere was Monday. Uh, and we've been watching you and listening to you, and we're gonna try to do our best of encapsulating everything that's been said so far. Actually, I'll start it out here. I think Tanner Tolbert's post.
Mike, you haven't pulled up Ben, are we mind reading?
I literally just pulled it up for this conversation.
I feel like you and I are like really clicking right now.
Yeah, today we're having a day.
You are having a day, Ashley. Go ahead and read it because I think it's the perfect breakdown of how I felt, maybe how fans are feeling, because it wasn't pure hate. It's it's kind of a divorce from the old entering into the new. I'm not quite sure how I feel, But Tanner said a lot of things well in this post.
Totally okay.
So he said, Bachelor in Paradise is now Timu Island, which, if you're not familiar with Timu, it is like the cheaper version of Amazon products. It's the Sheian, It's the Forever twenty one rip Forever twenty one. He's saying it's the cheap version of Love Island. He said, these producers are just trying to copy Love Island but are executing it poorly.
The new location is silly.
Either get a badass villa if you're gonna copy Love Island, or stay in Paradise. This generic resort falls short of somewhere in the middle, very stale feeling. The dream scenes are so cheesy and force. This was very a very popular opinion on social media. My bad for thinking that these scenes were.
Like kind of fine, like kind of funny.
In which I said on our last episode, he said, having the cast stay in separate hotel rooms is dumb. It limits the amount of interaction and discussion between the cast mates. I totally believe that that is one of the major flaws in the new system. Having the cast day in ceret rooms is just like, Okay, it's dating time, and then it's like go to bedtime. It's just it's not it's just not paradise whatsoever. And then he said he's still hopeful that this cast can produce some good storylines.
I truly am I'm not sure about I don't think there's gonna be a ton but I do think that there is some good relationship meet forming overall.
He did a.
Poll said do you think would you like the new VIP? Only thirteen percent said yes, eighty seven percent said no.
Hey let me pause you there. It goes kind of against the poll that we did on Instagram. We got a lot of great results coming in from our listeners. The first question we asked on our pool was do you like the new filming of the resort? Like the new filming resort, so the one that they're filming in now fifty five percent said yes, forty five percent so that they missed the old one. We also asked this question, do you like all the Dale months Moss entrance attention?
Seventy percent said they did not like it at all. Thirty percent said they did because he's handsome. The final question we asked was do you like money being involved in Paradise? Twenty six percent said yes they loved the competition of it all, while seventy four percent and know this should be about finding love.
Now.
I think a little bit of that is based on how we asked the question. However, the thing I want to focus on first with you, Ashley, before we getting anything else, and the thing I was most interested in is really two topics. You know, I didn't love all the Dale Moss love, but I can't hate on some dude getting some support.
What people are saying that that is the bombshell entered the villa that they have on Love Island, like he was supposed to be the bombshell.
Which, yes, that is a extreme similarity.
Sure, I will say it this way. I don't hate I don't know Dale, so I can't say if he's good, bad, and different. I don't love any of anybody getting kind of put on a pedestal in these experiences. I think all of them are beautiful, all of them are there to find love. I like equal playing fields in Paradise because it's fun to see the Tanner Tolbert's Mary the Jades of the world, which nobody would have expected. Now that Tanner's in not a handsome dude, he is, He's a great guy.
Funny Jade was the bombshell who entered the villain exactly.
So that's why I say I like during these kind of shows, especially Paradise, who does it, I think better than anybody when it comes to the equal playing field. The Dylan's marrying the Hannahs, like, those are the scenarios that stand out in my mind that I love. And I think putting anybody on a pedestal makes them so much of the pursuit that a lot of these kind of like maybe quieter, nerdier people maybe don't get a shot. Okay,
that's my statement whatever. But the two things I'm most interested to talk about with you on the breakdown after our breakdown is the resource. So let's start there. I think the reason I said Tanner said this perfectly is because he's right. They either get a really great villa for this show, or you know, they get some type of how But I think the reason I said last episode that it was hard for me to follow was because of how segregated this resort is. They're just staying
at a resort. Even when I go on vacation with my wife at a resort, sometimes we don't see each other, like we miss each other. She goes to the gym. All of a sudden, I'm at the cafeteria. We're not seeing each other for a couple hours, and we meet each other at the pool. It felt like this during Paradise. I don't like it. I want them back at one house all together, intermingling.
Yeah, you could have made it an air conditioned place, and it made it way boogier than it usually is, but still kept the whole living together as a community environment.
Yeah. So I'm with the fans. The resort not for me so far. I'm not sold on it. The cast is, you know, somebody I do hope create storylines. We want to give them the benefit of the doubt. There's still people. They're very similar to the casts of the past. They just don't have maybe the A listers like the Ashleys that are there with them. But they'll do their best. But really, the final point here that I want to
speak with you about is the cash prize. We kind of glossed over it during our breakdown at the first episode. I actually now, based on fans' responses, think it is the most influential and crucial item to this first episode.
Oh I disagree. I will let you know what I think is, but go ahead.
I don't like it. I have solidly put my stake in the ground now, and I would love to be convinced otherwise. I have committed in life to be able to change my opinion even when I feel strongly about something, because that's how the best humans of history have operated, and I'd like to try to get as closer than as possible. But I don't like it right now. I don't like that we have separated and kind of made
love now a money grab. It feels like what our culture and society has done incorrectly, that we're feeling the repercussions of where you know, kids are now meant to be influencers, and money seems to be the easy pursuit of everybody, and everybody's going to try to find their
way to get rich quick. The thing I loved about Paradise Ashley was still the innocence, the craziness of the scenario, but the innocence of the environment where the Tanner and Jade's me that Ashley and Jared's Me, the Hannah and Dylan's me and love is formed from this beautiful.
Place, Adam and Raven, Adam and Raven.
I just think money takes away from that, and I don't want the distraction.
Okay, I totally agree with you.
I think we I think the money thing is going where we think it's going. But let's give him a little bit of doubt. That it was just teased in the trailer for the next, you know, the rest of the season, and perhaps it's not as yucky as we think it might be. I again think it will be, but we do not have details on it yet. But I found to be what people concentrate the most on.
When I'm looking at my responses on Instagram story, I have like engagement is low this week people because of Amazon's pride, But I for the amount of people who have seen this so far in the past hour, I have at least one hundred messages, most of which are complaining about the editing. People saying that the editing was distracting, that it was cheesy, that just felt way to produced with that kind of editing, and that made the personality of the show feel totally different.
So fans responses right now from all sides, following x two messages we've received to the responses we've received on the Almost Famous podcast, fans don't seem to be giving up on the show. So that's a good thing.
Yeah, yeah, because I think that they know that the crux is there.
It's just definitely so if Rob Mills is listening to this podcast at any point, or somebody from his team is if you want to hear anything from the studies that we've done that are very unscientific, Fans are not giving up on the show. However, I do think fans are a little bit hesitant to fall deeply in love with this new format. And I think it all comes down to how can how the season continues to be edited.
I think it comes because the resort if they could edit that to be great, like they can make any location work. We've done group dates in the weirdest of places and they've made it work, and they made it beautiful and they made it make sense. I'm not worried about the editing that can change, that can happen. The cash prize, I think is a concern. Uh, and so how does that play out? And also how does this cast step up to make the storylines that we that we desire. We see in the teaser the Dale Moss
April makeout. I'm not saying that I want to watch it, but I'm also not saying I don't want to see weird stuff like that happen because it will keep me hooked for the next week.
Yeah, that's if that case isn't going was it? Is it a makeout or did he doth?
I mean like a shot with like a shot?
Okay, it's like then it's being dramatic. Okay. So another that bringing up Goldens with April.
People are thinking that that the resort change was because of ac reasons for them.
No, people, that's not the reason. We know. We know it wasn't because of that.
It was not because of the Goldens coming show. They weren't saying, hey, the Goldens are coming on, let's get a mac. I don't think that the Golds.
No, then they would have put the Goldens in a different spot. If the case, it's interesting that they tease the Goldens being there so much and then they didn't incorporate them into a three hour long premiere episode.
Rumor has it they may not be in the next episode.
Either really see what I would have enjoyed is because I'm not so keen on them being there in the first place, like I think most of Bache Nation's not.
But I would have been.
Down for two hours of the Young Ends and then a second hour of the Goldens that would make sense, or even Monday for the young Ins and Tuesday for the Goldens. And our producer right now is saying that they're yeah, not showing up until episode three.
Episode three, I think we'll see the Goldens, which will be a weird mix in, but we're gonna see how it works out. Hey, we're having a good time no matter what. We're gonna be critical but also supportive. We haven't a good time hearing from you, the fans, the listeners on what you're thinking of this next season. There's a lot going on and a lot for us to
pay attention to. So until we can continue to kind of, I guess, fact check this and make sure that our assumptions on how everything is going to happen actually happen. We're gonna stay positive.
Oh I am positive, I know, but.
You and I both really want this to work for many reasons. One one of my best friends in the world works on this show. I want to have a job for the next twenty years. I want to be sixty years old, and I want Will still behind the bar, still mixing drinks. I want him to rock and roll this thing forever. And we also just love the idea of Paradise. But I actually, I will say this and I'll say it again. I love the idea of Paradise because it does put everybody on equal playing field, and
I don't want to see that change. And they felt like they were changing that with Dale, which to me made this thing less desirable to watch, because I want to see Dale Moss come in, or the Sam even Sam's of the world, who should have been like a hot commodity, right, good looking guy, stud suave, all those things. I like that he went home right away, not for his sake, but I like the fact that nobody was like, I'm all about it. Yes, Oh my gosh, give me Sam.
I just want to see how this thing shakes out, because I think we get a better taste of who these people actually are during Paradise.
Yeah, and I think that so many of the changes have dominated the chatter. But I do think that we'll have some good stories come out of this. I enjoyed many chunks of the episode. I just think that, you know, the conversation is, it's just there's other things blaring in our face. So I don't want to like on the show at all. It was just because there's goodness in there. There really really is.
Yeah, okay, so that's the breakdown of episode one. That's what you guys were saying. We didn't even mention in our recap about Hannah Brown being a part of the show.
Yeah.
Now, Ashley, as we kind of close out here, we get two episodes next week, the Goldens enter the beach. From what we hear on episode three, what is your thoughts on Hannah coming in to be the concierge.
Yeah, okay, so that makes so much more sense than her being the supposed bubbly girl. Because you were a little defensive of Wells. I think, I hope I'm not like putting words in your mouth, but like when you found out that, like Hannah was coming there, you were like, they don't need another Bartet or the only champagne.
I think it is Hannah Brown. I'm just the guy that's been there forever.
Yeah, I think she's the concierge and they're supposed to ask her for like, Hey, like I would love a cute setup over by this spot. Can I do an at home date? That's a cute idea to have her there for that. However, do I think that Hannah's going to be disappointed and the fact that she went and spent three weeks down there and she might have like three minutes total of their time.
Quite possibly.
I do think she might be. But she gets paid if she shows up on an episode, so good for her no matter how often she shows up. However, I also know that like, this isn't just a character like Well's works. He serves drinks all day at that beach, so she is concierging. I'm assuming all day at that beach, setting stuff up and actually like putting stuff together. We'll see how she actually feels about it kind of of this as the season goes on. I'll be interested, because
I don't it's not just a hand me job. Like, it's not just hey, Well stand up there at the bar and say bars open and then leave and get paid for it. No, you're gonna work it. You're there, he does.
Yeah, you would know, I would assume that, yeah, they're like actually having her cut the strawberries and dip them into chocolate.
I think it's so great good. It's nice to get paid so much and be so humbled at the same time. Hey, anyways, this is the Almost Famous podcast. It's great to talk to you all. We'll be back with more episodes this week. We have a headlines episode. We obviously have some really great interviews coming your way. We'll keep talking about Paradise and all the cool stuff happening. So until next time, I've Been Been.
I've Been Ashley see Yah.
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