Bachelor 25 - Matt James - General Discussion - *Sleuthing Spoilers*

To me the hiking date is interesting. Sagittarius I believe are very active outdoor type of people and they love adventures. Matt and Bri are the same sign (Sagittarius) and for him to have those dates with her I think means something. I remember Tyler saying Matt needs someone to be on the go cause he’s always moving doing something. And I’m not sure but pottery making doesn’t seem much of a intimate date and even when he was kissing her on that date it still seem so stiff.

I was rewatching the first hour of the hometowns tonight. Matt perked up around Rachael and got a lot more animated around her in a way that he didn't with the other women. To me, this indicates physical attraction. But with Michelle, they came off to me like a very comfortable married couple. Plus her parents were so sweet, and I think Matt would have a very high comfort level with them.

If Matt does end up picking Rachael (as reports indicate,) then I think he needs to take some responsibility for that. He needs to take a hard look at what qualities he found important or attractive about her (that were perhaps valued too highly,) and what he was blind to. And perhaps he should also take a look at the women he rejected and ask himself what he missed in them. I don't think it's unusual to make mistakes about people when you are dating, but hopefully you learn from those mistakes and do better next time around.

There is an IG account that seems to have noticed that Matt and Heather were both in San Clemente, CA today. Do you think it is possible that they met up? I don't know how I would feel about Matt ending up with Heather. She doesn't seem to have a lot of dating experience. Matt might be okay with that, but I don't know.

@suzq When shes been mentioned in interviews with Matt or Tyler, they comment as if hey don’t even take her seriously. It’s harsh, but I think they take her as a joke.

suzq wrote:There is an IG account that seems to have noticed that Matt and Heather were both in San Clemente, CA today.  Do you think it is possible that they met up?  I don't know how I would feel about Matt ending up with Heather.  She doesn't seem to have a lot of dating experience.  Matt might be okay with that, but I don't know.

I have no idea if they met up.

I was thinking how on the Media thread people were wondering how things would have played out if Michelle arrived night one and I wondered the same about Heather. I don’t know anything about her other than she’s a Christian and had never been kissed before being on a previous season. And, that she and HB are friends. Maybe Matt would have gone for her? What do you guys think? I have never watched her on any of the shows.

The only season I watched where someone who had never been in love before ended up F1, eventually married the Bachelor and now has a child was Season 1 of The Bachelor Australia. Tim had loads of experience with women and when he selected Anna, I knew it would work.

In the case of Heather and Matt, both are relatively inexperienced in love - may or not be good in establishing a relationship. You know more what you want if you have a little experience.

Now that we've had two seasons of groups of newcomers/intruders, how do you feel about it? I personally feel that when the numbers of newcomers are lower, it works better. I think the show should keep it in the range of 1-4 cast members. On Matt's season, it felt overwhelming, like you had this horde of people coming in the house all at once. IMO it worked better on Tayshia's season because there were not as many of them, you at least felt that you got some sense of them as people. Once the show starts traveling again, I'm not sure you would need more than 1-2 per season. And I feel it generally works out better if the newcomers come on the show sooner as opposed to later.

Norcalgal wrote:snip...
In the case of Heather and Matt, both are relatively inexperienced in love - may or not be good in establishing a relationship. You know more what you want if you have a little experience.

It’s an interesting dynamic for sure, and it may be offset by a high level of commitment say in a marriage. In studies of divorce rates Christians as a whole don’t do better than nonreligious people but when the stats are looked at more closely people who participate in church once a week or more do have much lower rates of divorce. I imagine Matt and Heather fall into that group who participate in church at least weekly.

So, a couple like them might have more communication and other struggles due to general relationship inexperience but possibly have a higher level of commitment if in a marriage. They might also have more similar goals and values—but not always if we look at HB and Luke P who were part of the very same church but in different locations. Someone like Heather, if she hasn’t had boyfriends, also wouldn’t have previous relationship baggage that someone with more experience might have. All in all, it may be that for a couple like Matt and Heather their challenges would be different but not necessarily greater. I don’t know, but that’s my take from my past in somewhat similar circles around their age.

All that said, Matt’s post in San Clemente, the day Heather was there, was a Latergram. Most likely they aren’t dating but never say never!

Amethyst wrote:Now that we've had two seasons of groups of newcomers/intruders, how do you feel about it? I personally feel that when the numbers of newcomers are lower, it works better. I think the show should keep it in the range of 1-4 cast members. On Matt's season, it felt overwhelming, like you had this horde of people coming in the house all at once. IMO it worked better on Tayshia's season because there were not as many of them, you at least felt that you got some sense of them as people. Once the show starts traveling again, I'm not sure you would need more than 1-2 per season. And I feel it generally works out better if the newcomers come on the show sooner as opposed to later.

This is a great post. IA that less is better. When there are so many it makes me want to just get to the F6 because everything else is just noise and their desire for drama which I'm not interested in.

The international franchise's have intruders, but tend to have less contestants which is more enjoyable for me. Bachelorette South Africa has 20 and that's after more arrived after the initial contestants arrived. Bachelorette Ukraine had 12-13 guys? going by memory.

I could do without the intruders unless they are to be serious contenders, but agree to less contestants. I’ve been watching older episodes where there were less and by HTDs, several of them had 2nd 1-1 dates which was nice.

@GuardianAngel I'm still undecided on intruders, but I liked Matt's better than some of his originals.  I'd like to see fewer folks all along but not do cuts the first night.  It's just jarring to me that after the fact we find out good stuff about people who never made it past night one or maybe never even spoke to the lead.  It's a waste of their and our time IMHO.  

@luvnunity ITA!  I liked that the lead got to spend more "quality" time with their possible choice.