Re: Bachelorette 8 - Media - Thread #3

[Love_Me]

When are they going to update this?

http://abc.go.com/shows/the-bachelorette/about-the-show

[momoftrips]

The Bachelorette Season 8: Conference Call with Tony Pieper

by Gina Scarpa

Tony seemed like he could potentially be a good match for Emily on The Bachelorette this season. However, he had a very difficult time being away from his young son and things came to a head on this week's episode. Perhaps feeling the pressure of not getting much time with Emily, he started to question whether this was worth taking time away from being home in order to pursue love. Emily sent him home, which ultimately ended up being the best decision for Tony. Today, he spoke to RealityWanted and reporters in a press conference call about his experience on The Bachelorette and whether or not he would have left Emily on his own.

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: Obviously, going into the show, you knew it was going to be hard to be away from your son but was it much tougher than you had imagined?
A. Tony: Yeah, you have no idea! It was definitely much tougher than I ever imagined. You're right, I did go on the show and I thought about it for a long time, like, "Is this the right thing to do?" I could be gone ten or so weeks. I've never been away from him for more than four to five days. I knew it was going to be tough but what I told myself was that I'm looking for a family, I'm looking for love, and I know my son wants that too. I'm happy, he's happy, and there's just that one piece missing. I just didn't realize when I was on the show just how much it would affect me that I couldn't see him. I could talk to him and he was the cutest thing in the world. That just gets to your heart.

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: A lot of the guys are aggressive and competitive when it comes to Emily, but you were more laid back. Is that your approach in your regular life with girls?
A. Tony: Yeah, you know, it totally depends on the situation. Usually, I'm a little bit more laid back. I grew up playing sports so I'm one of the most competitive people you'll know. But I didn't wanna be that overly aggressive guy. It wasn't my nature to start pushing guys out of the way. That's not what I do in normal life so that was a little difficult for me. I'll tell you one thing. I was there for the right reasons and so maybe that was one thing. I know a lot of the guys were too but maybe some of them were in it for the competition so that made them a little more aggressive. To me, everything happens for a reason and I was just going to go in there, be myself, and see what happens.

Q. You really struck a chord with everyone, I think, on the show. Do you think if you had been able to push through missing your son, if you would've felt a stronger connection to Emily?
A. Tony: That's kind of something I've thought about. We just had so much in common and I really didn't get that much time with her off the bat. I think we would've grown closer. There was an initial connection there but just because I didn't really have that much time and obviously, my son was the only thing I could think about... days feel like weeks. It was just hard. After a good amount of time passed, I was missing my son so much and I didn't have time to get to know this girl. Maybe if I did, it would've been easier to think to myself, "This could be the love of my life." But I just don't feel like I had enough time to really make that decision.

Q. Do you think that if she had not sent you home, that you would have left?
A. Tony: Yes, I definitely was at that point. And like I said, I just didn't know enough about her. I just didn't have that much time with her. I don't know if I could've lasted another week being there. I probably would've gone home on my home very soon after.


Q. When Emily was giving you your speech, it seemed like you didn't know Emily was eliminating you until the end. Was that accurate?
A. Tony: To be honest with you, I wasn't quite sure if she was going to eliminate me. We were talking and she obviously saw that I kind of broke down a little bit. She knew I was missing my son but when she came out, I didn't really know what was going to happen. I had no clue I was going to get eliminated at that point. Once she got more into it, it all kind of made sense and I respected her for that. I was most likely going to be voluntarily leaving anyway and I think she saw that. I didn't expect it.

Q. When you got home and settled, did you regret leaving the show?
A. Tony: You know, I've thought about that a lot and I have the same answer every time. I think even if I would've had a little bit of a stronger connection with Emily, it was just too hard for me to be away from my son. All in all, I don't think I could've lasted another week being away from my son. It was just so unnatural. If I could've seen him, if they would've flown him out, then that would've been totally different. I don't think I have any regrets. I don't think I would've done anything different.

Q. Do you think it's harder for a single mom or a single dad to date, or is it about the same?
A. Tony: I don't think there's a huge difference. I don't think it's tougher, we both go through the same obstacles and issues with being single parents. I wouldn't look at it any different, personally. It is tough just because society says, "You're a single mom and you should always be around your kids." As a single dad, it might be a little different. But I wouldn't see any difference.


Q. What was the reunion with your son like?
A. Tony: It was one of the best days of my life. He came running up and I hugged him and I kissed him. It's like he grew five inches in three weeks! It was one of the best days of my life! It was happiness. I can't even describe it, it's like a piece of my heart was back.

Q. Did you feel like Emily is making good choices so far?
A. Tony: Yeah, I think she's making fantastic choices. One of them is making sure that not all the guys meet Ricki. It's just something... you want as little confusion with your son or daughter as possible and I think she's done a great job there. She did a great job letting Ricki have a lot of fun with this, but not confusing her.

Q. Do you have any opinions on the best guy for her?
A. Tony: I might have a little bit of an opinion. He was the guy who was my best buddy in the house and I grew really close to him and that's Sean. As far as Sean's morals and values, I think he's a fantastic guy. Yeah, I think they'd be a great couple!

http://www.realitywanted.com/newsitem/5433-the-bachelorette-season-8-conference-call-with-tony-pieper

[Shelby]

Q. Did you feel like Emily is making good choices so far?
A. Tony: Yeah, I think she's making fantastic choices. One of them is making sure that not all the guys meet Ricki. It's just something... you want as little confusion with your son or daughter as possible and I think she's done a great job there. She did a great job letting Ricki have a lot of fun with this, but not confusing her.

Q. Do you have any opinions on the best guy for her?
A. Tony: I might have a little bit of an opinion. He was the guy who was my best buddy in the house and I grew really close to him and that's Sean. As far as Sean's morals and values, I think he's a fantastic guy. Yeah, I think they'd be a great couple!

interesting.

the I think is more of a wish because he likes the guy very much rather than for sure IMO

[poohbear]

Q. Did you feel like Emily is making good choices so far?
A. Tony: Yeah, I think she's making fantastic choices. One of them is making sure that not all the guys meet Ricki. It's just something... you want as little confusion with your son or daughter as possible and I think she's done a great job there. She did a great job letting Ricki have a lot of fun with this, but not confusing her.

Q. Do you have any opinions on the best guy for her?
A. Tony: I might have a little bit of an opinion. He was the guy who was my best buddy in the house and I grew really close to him and that's Sean. As far as Sean's morals and values, I think he's a fantastic guy. Yeah, I think they'd be a great couple!

interesting.

the I think is more of a wish because he likes the guy very much rather than for sure IMO

Great, i think those two became close in the house :) But yeah, definitely not his prediction of who will win. I think people leaving before 3rd episode are just too early to really get the feeling of who Emily likes the most.

[momoftrips]

'The Bachelorette' bachelor Tony Pieper: I probably would've left the show anyways
http://www.realitytvworld.com/news/the-bachelorette-bachelor-tony-pieper-i-probably-wouldve-left-show-anyways-13528.php

[poohbear]

'The Bachelorette' bachelor Tony Pieper: I probably would've left the show anyways
http://www.realitytvworld.com/news/the-bachelorette-bachelor-tony-pieper-i-probably-wouldve-left-show-anyways-13528.php

omg, the part that Tony talked about Alessandro and Stevie are Hilarious!!!!

Does anyone know if we will get interviews from Alessandro and Stevie as well? lol!

[umngirl]

Love hearing from fellow contestants that Sean is such a good guy. I never had any doubt, but it's really nice to see it confirmed. Just another reason why he's my favorite.

[yumyum1]

'The Bachelorette' bachelor Tony Pieper: I probably would've left the show anyways
http://www.realitytvworld.com/news/the-bachelorette-bachelor-tony-pieper-i-probably-wouldve-left-show-anyways-13528.php

omg, the part that Tony talked about Alessandro and Stevie are Hilarious!!!!

Does anyone know if we will get interviews from Alessandro and Stevie as well? !

^ I am really looking forward to an interview with the Vampire Detector!

[veg_out]

'The Bachelorette' bachelor Tony Pieper: I probably would've left the show anyways
http://www.realitytvworld.com/news/the-bachelorette-bachelor-tony-pieper-i-probably-wouldve-left-show-anyways-13528.php

omg, the part that Tony talked about Alessandro and Stevie are Hilarious!!!!

Does anyone know if we will get interviews from Alessandro and Stevie as well? !

Thanks for pointing that out, pooh. It's HILARIOUS!

Reality TV World: In Emily's People blog this week, she said that she eliminated Alessandro not only because he called a life with herself and Ricki a "compromise," but because he took her out to the backyard and showed her all these crosses and things to ward off vampires. He apparently told her he was a vampire detector, so did you know that was happening while you were on the show and did you know that's what he believed himself to be? What do you think about all that?

Tony Pieper: (Laughs) You know, I did know that was going on in the show. I had no idea what to think about that. I didn't know if it was a joke. I didn't know what was going on there, because Alessandro came in as the Brazilian guy who didn't speak English. I don't know if they really showed that on TV, but he came in and I met him and he started speaking Spanish.

I'm kind of like, "Oh okay," and everybody was like, "Oh, he doesn't know English." And I speak Spanish, so I kind of felt bad for him, so I started speaking Spanish with him. Like everywhere I went, he kind of followed me a little bit because I spoke Spanish and Alejandro also spoke Spanish. So, we were speaking Spanish all night because we thought this guy couldn't speak any English.

Well, he came to Emily, and then all of a sudden he could speak English. So, it was kind of a joke that he did. And so, knowing that, I was like, "Is this guy serious?" I don't know how anybody could be afraid of vampires of setting up crosses. To this day, I don't know if that was real or fake. I don't know, maybe you can tell me! (Laughs) I don't know.

Reality TV World: Alessandro also apparently told Emily he thought that one of the guys in the house was a vampire. Clearly you don't know whether he was joking or serious, but do you have any guess as to who he might've been talking about?

Tony Pieper: Yeah, I have a pretty good guess.

Reality TV World: Would you mind sharing? (Laughs)

Tony Pieper: I think he was talking about Stevie.

Reality TV World: Do you have any idea why?

Tony Pieper: I have no idea -- I don't know. Alessandro and Stevie -- Stevie kind of rubbed a lot of guys the wrong way and so, I don't know if he just rubbed Alessandro the wrong way or what. But he's got a little vampire look to him!

Poor, sweet Tony.

[Guest]

ya, thanx poohbear. I wouldnt have read it if u didnt pt it out since I found Tony snoozy. (he still is but the Alessandro & Stevie stuff is comedy gold.)

[Rosepetal]

delete

[Guest]

Thanks for the interview, very interesting!! He said about Arie what I thought Jef would be like going into the show and vice versa. Glad Ryan made a good impression too, was wondering what the guys would be saying about each other! Stevie being a vampire!

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