This is the Ben and Ashley I almost Famous podcast.
With I our radio. This is the almost SAMEOS podcast. Today we are trying something new, not trying doing something new. This is almost same as podcast today, we are doing something new. We have taken in your questions. You've sent us a bunch of questions. We're going to answer them today because they're some of these questions could be answered
by both Ashley and myself. Our producer Hannah is jumping on to ask us these questions that she feels our most juicy or interesting, and then Ashley and I will both answer them, or one of us will answer them. This is exciting. Thank you for sending in these questions. Please don't stop doing that. With that, I'm going to introduce Ashley and Hannah. Come on in.
Hey guys, we have twenty six questions in front of us. I don't even want to take a look at them. I just want Hanah to throw out what she thinks is the most interesting to both Ben and I. Let's do it.
There are a lot of questions.
We got a lot of good ones, but I'm going to start us off with this question. It reads, if you could choose any former bachelor or Bachelorette to come back and.
Be the lead again. Who would it be and why.
I'll go first? So there's a couple side questions that I have for this. Does this person have a significant other now? Or is if this is like a.
Dream land, dreamland does not matter?
Okay, Well, in a dream land, I think I'd still want Caitlin Bristow to be the lead again because she is so entertaining. Even if she had the most boring cast ever, she would make a great TV show. And of course she didn't find her happily ever effort through the actual show, so I think she would be worthy of getting another chance.
Ben, I would have to say Caitlyn Bristow as well. I'm biased they so I'll try to pick somebody other than Caitlin. I think Andy Dorfman season was fun to watch, and desire A you Know was a good one as well. Like those two stand out to me as iconic seasons. I'm surprised you didn't say Emily Maynard.
In my head already had two seasons. I'm not sure why. I think it's because she won Brad season and we never see the winner end up becoming the lead, So in my head she had to.
My Bachelor pick is like so good. I have two Andrew Firestone because I just love being around him and watching him and I have the same I love being around and watching just this person operate life, Bob Guinea. I think those two coming back for a season would just be good television, and because I like them as humans.
If I had to pick Bachelor again, I would be not in a dreamland, it would be right here in solid reality, and it would be Chris Sols. I just really want him to have his happily ever after, and now that he's sober, like he might just bet. He's just such a different place in life. I just really feel like that man needs to be a father and a husband because he'll be so good at it.
That has a great choice. I didn't even think about that, but yeah, Chris Soles coming back, it would be a lot of fun.
There's a sweetness about him too.
All right.
Next question, if you could change the ending of any season of The Bachelor or The Bachelorette, which one would you choose and tell us the outcome you wish had happened.
M you go first.
I'm gonna say Gen season. I think it was the worst too. Okay, Yeah, I think it was the worst ending to a season we've ever seen, and I think it was. I think we're seeing the ramifications of how that season ended now with the Bachelorette not coming back and people kind of checking out. I think Jen had a very poor cast, So how I wish that season would have ended. Well, she would have given the peace sign to all of them, said you ain't worthy, I'm out.
We'll talk later, And that's how it would have ended in my mind, and I would have loved it.
So when you get annulment, apparently you can put fraud as a reason for getting an annulment. I just know this from a Renee zelig Er checked off that box when she was getting divorced from Kenny Chesney. They were only married for like six weeks, and I feel like that's Jen. She experienced fraud.
Yeah, yeah, it just I think looking back, there's no other seasons like seasons have had dramatic endings, right. We think about the ri situation, we think about the Peter Webber season, but those made like I know, it seems drama like, dramatic and chaotic, but they make sense on how it happened. They make sense on that they good people, We're involved, feelings were mixed up, a lot of chaos.
You know what, great television, We'll call it good gen season felt like just a letdown at every level, and then continued to be post with the finale. So I would say that season, for sure, out of all the seasons, would be the one I would change.
Yeah, good, good answers all.
Right, next question, if you could remove one thing from the show that you think negatively impacts the relationships, what would it be?
This is a good question.
I was gonna say tell All's, but then again, like we just talked to Zachary Reality and he loves tell Alls, So yeah, I know.
See, like I fantasy suites, as we talked about in our previous episode of the Regist Record with Gabby el Nikki, is that like they're called disappointment week or you could call them like regret week or whatever. But I do feel like what you get from a fantasy suite, which is a for the first time, is so vital. Yeah, how can you do it in a way that's not so sloppy?
It doesn't have to be sloppy. I don't think there's I think that is up to the contestants, and so we'd have to say like that that you can't change that part of the show. I will say this, this would be my answer. The thing that brings no drama to the show, really, it brings nothing interesting to me from the show, and it just feels unhealthy at every level.
Is the amount of exposure or how the show allows others to watch, like the one on one relationships, meaning like especially when there's kissing involved, there's typically like people watching, sitting on a couch watching and they've set that up so that they can see it. And I would just say we could get rid of that on the show. It doesn't really ever make a storyline and it's more just awkward and it's it's hard to move forward when you're seeing like the front Runner doing that with the lead.
So I would just get that up. It just it's a non factor.
That's good. That's a good answer, all right.
This next question is fun. I love this one.
It says if the show brought back a second chance season for former contestants to find love again, who would you be interested in being a part of it?
That sounds paradise no.
But if if they chose a lead in all of the contestants that came back.
We're on the show again. Let's say that.
It's the they just redid the entire show again with the.
Same contestants that stand out to you. Yeah, a few contestants that stand out to you.
From the past.
From the past, who would you want to see come.
Back as part of a main cast on one of the main shows not Paradise.
Yes, I think I can think of a few. Peter Weber, Chris Sols you just mentioned would love. I would love to see the two of them coming back. A lot of the women.
Jen, I'd want to see Jen Jen.
Would come back. I think that'd be great. As you mentioned, like a Caitlin Bristow would be an amazing cast member because we still don't have any confirmation in this world on where she stands romantically. She could be single, she could be single. Jason Tarctick, I think would be great to throw in there, just because he's single and he comes to mind, and he was a, you know, a
big character during those seasons. A lot of the people from the show, and it would be interesting to do a little research and find out, like who is still single that came off this show all.
Star Cast is basically like your is your paradise on on steroids? Right?
Yeah?
Those are good, Those are good answers Rachel.
Yeah, she'd be a top for us, Rachel. Reki on another season would just be fantastic.
She's great TV and she's so lovable.
All right. Next question, I think this is kind of fun. Would you be open to a version of The Bachelor slash the Bachelorette where no one gets eliminated until the very end, forcing the lead to really get to know everyone.
No, I would not be okay with that, but I would like there to be more stages where it's like, Okay, we're going to do the first night and we're going to eliminate anybody that I feel like nothing with, and then I'm going to have this group of twenty and I'm going to get to know them for three weeks, and then I'll narrow it down to ten, and then from ten, I'll go to four three weeks after that.
I don't think i'd be okay with it because I think the way it works now works, it's very it's very rare that somebody that's eliminating, like week two, the lead is like, I wish I wouldn't have, I know, right, and so it all kind of plays its way itself
out the way it should over time. I mean, I'm sure there's some like I wish she would have been there or he would have been there another week, but it's very rare that you're like, can I bring that person back from week two just to see if there's something? So I like the way it is. I don't think it needs a change.
You're right, Ben, and this is coming from you in the lead perspective. I guess I'm just thinking about ways we can mix up the show, but it probably would actually be more boring that way, because it would feel like less consequence if there wasn't an elimination every week.
Next question, if you could choose one controversial moment from the show to revisit in a reunion style special, which one would you choose and why?
I would love to see Sean Loh and Nick Vile sit on a couch together again and just start talking about the situation that happened on Caitlin season, because I know the two of them.
Would still got Sean low.
Oh, Shan bou Sorry, Shaan Booth and Nick to sit down again because I know the two of them would still like talk about it, like they would both be willing to like revisit it and hash it out a little bit, and I think it wouldn't be like a pretty perfect outcome. I also would say this, I would love if Jen could have a second chance on the couch with Devin Ough just like now without reairing that moment, where they could reair it again the emotions are gone and just see what happens.
Yes, good answers. Okay, I'm thinking Nick with Josh Murray because that would be a really funny showdown as well, because they had it on TV, and I just think in real life they also just do not want to be in the same room together. And then the ultimate red Couch moment whatever was with Vienna and Jake Palvaka, and I would love to just see if they still hate each other too.
That'd be good.
These are good ones. Okay.
Next question, if you could have a conversation with your younger self before going on the show, what would you tell yourself.
I would tell myself pretty much, do exactly what you did, maybe close your mouth just for a few more moments, just like, say a couple few less dumb things in the interview room, but besides that, all the big things. Do those again.
I actually I'm going to add to the last question that I didn't think of. I would love to see Ashley and Kelsey on a couch. That would still be good. It would be good. I would say, have more fun, like lighten up a little bit, loosen up, enjoy it, soak it in, have more fun with it.
Next question, do you think a bachelor or bachelorette should be allowed to look at social media during the process?
Why or why not?
I don't have a strong opinion on this. You think yes, yes, you think the social media tells you that much about somebody.
I think it's tells you more than what you see on the show, and I think it would help. I think it would help. I don't think it would change the elimination process, but I think it would help the clarity of everybody. If you had that kind of insight on what was being shared before, I think it would have answered a lot of questions. And I think the
drama could still exist. But I would love to see like a little part of an episode at like week five where the lead sits down with like an investigator and they go through social media and like, what do you who do you want to look up? Here's you get four people out of your eight look up four of them. Who do you want to look up? And what do you want to find? I think it would. I think it would be a fine element.
Okay, I don't want to too my own horn, but like, I feel like I'm pretty authentic to myself on social media, which is probably why I'm like, I don't know if it would make a difference, but yeah, you're right, Like it could tell you a lot about somebody, especially when you're in the bubble.
Next question is do you think Bachelor in Paradise is a healthier environment for finding love compared to the main show.
I do because you are more in a real life, living environment. You're not getting just fantasy dates and just time to be on your best behavior. This person is watching you just be for up to twenty five days, and you have so much more time to talk to them, and so much more off camera time to talk to them, Like you could talk for up to sixteen seventeen hours a day. You get to know somebody so well, which is why I think that you see the more successful couples coming from Menha.
I don't really have an opinion. I've never really been so I don't really know.
Yeah, that's a hard one for Ben to Ben sir, Okay, we're going to end on this question super blunt. This question is from Emily. She says, be honest, do you think this is a dying franchise?
It matters? I mean, I think there's it matters what you mean by dying. Do I believe that the show is on a path to probably throwing up the white flag? Yes? Do I believe it has to be. No, because I don't think it's dying in compared compared to other shows that are on network cable television. I think it's hitting a really rough patch. I think they need to spark
it up a little bit. I do believe there's still life there, and I think there's enough interest in kind of that like following to make this a very healthy network show. But I do believe changes will have to be made in a way that makes it a little more relevant, a little more exciting, a little more more talked about. And so I think there's two sides to that. I do think that we're on the fringe of the show not getting renewed, but I don't believe that will be the end of it, If that makes sense.
I pretty much believe and have believed for a while with the spark that I got from Gary season and Joey's season, aside that it probably seems to be better suited on something like Hulu. You know, ABC Disney owns Hulu. I think that people would maybe want to see it in a binge format, and I think that they do need to tweak some of it because some episodes really drag on The two hour format might be a little
bit antiquated these days. I think that they need to focus more on one on one dates and less on group dates, especially group date activities. Is there If there's good drama from you know, the cocktail portion, that's always fun to watch. I think if they added an element of realism there would be that would be good, whether that's like going to hometown's earlier, getting to see people, like kind of like what they do with Meridith for a site where they have to go, and like kind
of they have regular life together. That would be interesting. I guess I do that in Love is Blind as well. I think that there needs to be a more interactive way to choose the lead. I think that they need to listen to the fans more. And if that's like a nationwide Dancing with the Stars like Pole, that would be really cool. But yeah, something needs to be just twisted a bit to make it a little bit more relevant.
But I think that could go on for quite some time, just maybe not on ABC Monday nights.
So to answer the question, do you believe it's dying?
Uh No, I don't think it is dying. I think it needs to be reiterated.
So you think it's you think at some level it's going to exist for the next five ten years.
I think it's hard to imagine a modern television situation where the Bachelor's not included in it. It's such a staple. I don't think it's going to leave. No, I don't think it's gonna leave. I think it's gonna be like reborn in a way.
That's the final question today. We're going to continue to answer these questions as we go throughout the year. It's obviously we're coming up a few weeks away from the off season, which is where we get to talk to past contestants, have new guests go through Bachelor headlines. We're also gonna do some questions and answers with you all. We enjoy the off season for those elements, and we
hope that you stick around for that. This is an exciting time in the Bachelor world because we're coming down to the final weeks of Grant season of The Bachelor. Make sure you tune in next week and this week as we break down every episode from the telaws to the final moments. But until next time, I've been Ben, I've.
Been Ashley Sea.
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