Re: Bachelorette 9 - General Media - Discussion

by momoftrips Thu Jun 06, 2013 4:29 pm

'The Bachelorette's' Ben Talks About His Son, Making Friends and the Girlfriend Problem

We're only approaching Week 3 on The Bachelorette, and single dad Ben from Texas has already ruffled a few (well, a lot) of feathers. There are two ways of looking at him bringing his son on to the show: he was being manipulative, trying to win over Desiree with an adorable kid or him just bringing the kid to show a part of him to her.

Ben addressed his intent and more in a conference call. Because he's still on the show in our eyes, he couldn't reveal certain things, but check out what he was able to say about the show so far:

On Bringing His Son to the Show:
For the record, Ben did run it by his son's mother and got her 100 percent approval. Just like his view on interrupting other guys as they have their alone time with Desiree, Ben doesn't care what other people think because he's not there for them. He admits that he possibly could have approached the situations differently, but it was with zero malice.

"Everybody's going to have their own opinion on why they believe I brought my son. I know exactly why I brought him, and it was a big risk because it could've gone two ways: Desiree could've loved it or decided 'I'm not ready for the situation this guy's in with already having a kid,' " Ben said.

"It never once occurred to me what is everybody else going to think. It just occurred to me how is this going to affect Desiree and also, is my son's mother going to be with okay with this? In the end, it really didn't matter what everyone else thought, it just mattered-- how was this going to affect me and Des."

On Getting Along with the Other Men in the House:
Although right now it may not seem so, Ben makes strong friendships in the house. However, some guys were not okay with the way he handled getting alone time with Des, that is, interrupting them so he could have that time.

"It was never about doing things in front of them [then] doing something else behind their backs. I 100 percent wanted to be friends with the guys in the house, and I did have a lot of friends in the house," Ben said.

"I never wanted to hurt anybody. My intentions were never in the wrong place. Just in the moment, you're still pretty nervous, you're in a situation that you're not necessarily used to so I made the decisions I made and that's pretty much all I can say about that. In the end, we were there for Des so that was my main concentration."

As a whole, Ben said the guys were great. During his off time when not on dates, Ben said that time was spent cultivating friendships with the guys he did get along with. He specifically mentioned Brad, Zack K, Robert and Brooks on the guys he had a connection with.

"We had a great group of guys and a lot of us thought this was one of the best seasons when it comes to candidates. It was just a fun group of guys, and we had a lot of fun together. You throw a girl into the mix and things change. Especially a girl like Des."

On Michael G.:
Michael is a federal prosecutor from New York, so it's not a surprise that he right away confronted Ben when his time with Des was cut short during a moment when Michael was confiding with Desiree about having diabetes. Will there be more where that came from?

"Michael wears his heart on his sleeve. He's a great guy and what happened between us was unfortunate timing. You saw that when he had an issue with what happened, he confronted me," Ben said.

"He's not afraid to confront someone when he has any type of issue. So unfortunately that's what happened between us, and I think you're going to see some things like this may continue to happen.

On Next Week's Episode, Where It's Shown That One of the Guys Might Have a Girlfriend:

"That scene's going to be something to watch, and it's definitely going to be interesting to the viewers. It's definitely going to be a big part of the next episode for reasons we all know. The guy was pretty vocal on exactly what he thought of the situation," Ben said.

What do you think? Do you believe Ben when he says he didn't want to hurt anybody?

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by Guest Fri Jun 07, 2013 6:29 pm

June 6, 2013 interview on EW Radio with Mike Fleiss:

The hosts (Jessica Shaw and Dalton Ross) laugh with him about the rap song and MF says it is terrible, but it was really funny. He said, “It’s such a disservice to music in general. I have to try to distance myself form that. I’ve still got it rattling around in my head today and I’m trying to shake it out. I hate hearing it stuck in my head.”

Host: What can we expect next week?

MF: It’s the craziest episode in a long time. I know I always say that but I know it is in at least a few years.

Host: Who is this girlfriend who comes in? Tell us what we’ll see?

MF: It’s really Chris Harrison having to channel Maury Povich. It’s wild. It’s the most sort of volatile, screaming, near violent confrontation we’ve ever had on the show. I mean it was scary. I was scared personally. It really sort of changes the dynamic in the house and it changes the expectation for Desiree moving forward because it involves a guy that she really cared about.

Host: Is it Ben’s girlfriend? You guys are being a little cagey with the promos.

MF: I’ve got to remain cagey for a few more days. It definitely impacts her. This whole season, and it really starts with next week’s episode, it’s such a wild rollercoaster of events. You know, the show is always better for me as a producer when I don’t know what’s gonna happen, and so many things this season took place that I could never have seen coming. You know, in Ben’s season you got the sense that he was gonna end up with Courtney and it was kind of a drag that way, because it was sort of a linear process and it wasn’t exciting.

Host: Unless you like skinny dipping.

MF: Right, well that was good. But this season makes so many weird jagged turns. Ya know, I’ve been saying it from the beginning that this is our best bachelorette season ever. I know Trista gets mad at me when I say that.

Host: I wonder if this has something to do with the guys on the season. I’m noticing a lot of tears already. Usually we see that with The Bachelor season that the women are crying already, but last night we see Brooks already in tears and we’ve got a bunch of sob stories. You’ve got diabetes, divorce, a car accident – what was the plan?

MF: Jessica, you know this cause we’ve been friends for a long time. When we first started doing the Bachelorette I didn’t think it would work cause I didn’t think guys would compete for a girl the same way that girls will compete for a guy. But THESE guys, they REALLY put it out there and they’re really emotional. I don’t know what’s going on, what’s in the tap water in Malibu these days, but these guys are crying all the time, ya know? I mean, maybe it’s cause Desiree is so pretty and sweet and they really can see themselves with her and there’s not a lot of girls like her in the world. These guys emoted for us. That’s part of why the show is so interesting this year cause these guys were there, not to bring up that terrible rap video but, for the right reasons.

Host: You mentioned about the sob stories. My favorite was Bryden at the dinner, actually brought props, brought out some pictures of his accident. Just like taking it to new level.

MF: That was a little shameless but uh, these guys are really amazing. Ya know, I get bored with the show when it seems like I know where it’s going. I get bored with all television when I feel that way, but this season never feels that way to me.

{They talked about Bachelor Pad and he said it will probably be back in Summer 2014. Just gave it a break cause they needed more superstars to populate it.}

Host: Did Desiree find love?

MF: I can’t tell you that. All I can say is you will be shocked by how this ends. It doesn’t make sense in some ways. It comes out of left field in other ways. It’s the weirdest ending we’ve ever had, that’s for sure.

Host: But are you happy with it?

MF: I’m happy about it because I think it’s highly entertaining. You know, I don’t know that Desiree’s happy with it, or the guys are happy with it, or whatever, but it sure is interesting to watch.

Host: We don’t care about their happiness, it’s our happiness watching the show that we care about!

MF: Well, you’ll be happy, you’ll be happy I promise.

{He talks about Magic, his dog who died in January, and tells them he has a new dog now, a Rottweiler named Nina.}

by atem Fri Jun 07, 2013 6:34 pm

Thank you so much for taking the time to transcribe that for us!

I can't believe the interviewer thinks the gf is Ben's!

by Guest Fri Jun 07, 2013 8:33 pm

you're welcome Atem! I like to go back and study those comments as the season goes along. Even though we all know MF is just naturally going to blow lots of smoke!

by **Admin** Fri Jun 07, 2013 10:54 pm

atem wrote:Desiree looks so cute in this outfit from an interview today!

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by IrishGal Sat Jun 08, 2013 12:10 am

Yeah, that's the outfit I've been drooling over. The skirt only. The top is that hideous style that makes us all look fat. giggling

by atem Sat Jun 08, 2013 1:55 pm

I skimmed it and didn't buy it, but the InTouch rag mag says that GUYS (plural?) leave and come back or did it say that a guy leaves and comes back?

by bilolo Sat Jun 08, 2013 2:14 pm

i hope it's not Brooks for Des's sake, wait maybe it's him when he's rubbing his eyes and that's why Chris Harrison talked about him in his blog saying will he suffer the first date curse ?

by atem Sat Jun 08, 2013 2:17 pm

bilolo wrote:i hope it's not Brooks for Des's sake, wait maybe it's him when he's rubbing his eyes and that's why Chris Harrison talked about him in his blog saying will he suffer the first date curse ?

I am not sure. That's why I was asking if the article said GUYS or GUY, because I don't think it's Brooks if it's guy, because he gets a HTD.

by bilolo Sat Jun 08, 2013 2:22 pm

atem wrote:
bilolo wrote:i hope it's not Brooks for Des's sake, wait maybe it's him when he's rubbing his eyes and that's why Chris Harrison talked about him in his blog saying will he suffer the first date curse ?

I am not sure. That's why I was asking if the article said GUYS or GUY, because I don't think it's Brooks if it's guy, because he gets a HTD.

The fact that CH asked that question in his blog made me think either he'll leave or he'll have problem seeing all these guys go on a date with Des but i hope i'm wrong

by atem Sat Jun 08, 2013 3:23 pm

Ok, I read it and it said that GUYS leave and come back.

So, who would leave and come back? We know Bryden leaves. Does he come back?

We know Brooks, Drew, Zak and Chris have HTD. So, when could they leave and come back?

It also said that she lets guys go unexpectedly, but I think that's the James/Kasey situation.

by JBF Sat Jun 08, 2013 3:23 pm

atem wrote:I skimmed it and didn't buy it, but the InTouch rag mag says that GUYS (plural?) leave and come back or did it say that a guy leaves and comes back?

Uh oh... I am getting a Jeremy/Reid Rosenthal/Ryan Park vibe with Drew...

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