Speaker 1: Hey, everyone, welcome back to bad You're Happy Hour. I'm
Speaker 1: Joe and I'm Serena, And like we said, we are
Speaker 1: doing interviews this week and we have Lexi coming on
Speaker 1: the podcast. She's a pretty big person in episode one.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I feel like definitely a fan favorite on Joey's
Speaker 2: season of The Bachelor, we were lucky enough to have
Speaker 2: her on during that season to learn more about her,
Speaker 2: and she was a big part of episode one as well.
Speaker 2: You know, we see her kind of getting close with Justin,
Speaker 2: who is a fan favorite.
Speaker 3: He was on Paradise before.
Speaker 2: And there's a little bit of drama starting there with
Speaker 2: the potential of Susie joining the cast as well.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and her first day gets canceled. Was Yeah, what
Speaker 1: like canceled?
Speaker 3: Sorry, guys, it's raining. We can't proceed.
Speaker 1: I just wanted them. I was like, at least like
Speaker 1: let him go hang out in the room, or we
Speaker 1: can't set up.
Speaker 3: An indoor dinner, Like we don't have a rain plan.
Speaker 1: Yeah, Like the lobbies are like a lobby with a
Speaker 1: fireplace where they could have like a glass of wine,
Speaker 1: like get to know each other a little bit.
Speaker 2: That was that was shocking, But we can't wait to
Speaker 2: get her take on justin, her date and everything to
Speaker 2: do with episode one.
Speaker 1: Yeah, let's bring her in. LEXI. Welcome back to Battery
Speaker 1: Happy Hour. How are you?
Speaker 4: Thank you happy to be back. I'm doing well. How
Speaker 4: are you guys?
Speaker 1: We're good, We're good. Before we get into episode one,
Speaker 1: a little background. You are from Joey's season. Man, it's
Speaker 1: been a while, Joey has been a while. You were
Speaker 1: on Joey's season. Where are you now? Where do you live?
Speaker 1: What's kind of been going on pre paradise.
Speaker 5: Yeah, so I was on Joey's season and I came
Speaker 5: back to Atlanta, which is where I'm still currently living.
Speaker 5: And I came back to my corporate job. So nothing
Speaker 5: too crazy in terms of changes, but I did start
Speaker 5: a business which has been really exciting, and so I
Speaker 5: just quit my corporate job recently and I'm doing the business.
Speaker 4: Full time now.
Speaker 5: So I've been traveling a lot, and yeah, it's kind
Speaker 5: of been awind. I can't believe it's been as long
Speaker 5: as it has since the season. It's time is crazy
Speaker 5: right now.
Speaker 1: What is the business?
Speaker 5: The dating business? So it's called in the Wild and
Speaker 5: it's in person dating. So we do matchmaking in person
Speaker 5: dating events FED dating, and yeah, it's been fun. We've there's,
Speaker 5: you know, three couples that are engaged and we have
Speaker 5: over one hundred couples that are dating and it's only
Speaker 5: been a year, so it's definitely working. But it was
Speaker 5: fun to kind of get to play matchmaker on the
Speaker 5: beach just since I've been doing that for the last year.
Speaker 3: So that's crazy.
Speaker 2: So what are some things that you look for when
Speaker 2: you're trying to set people up?
Speaker 4: You know, you try to look at the person as
Speaker 4: a whole.
Speaker 5: I think so much is like list driven these days,
Speaker 5: like I want them to be this height, that they
Speaker 5: want them to look like this, I want them to
Speaker 5: have this type of job. But I think if you
Speaker 5: strip some of that away, what I'm finding through all
Speaker 5: of this is like in person people meet individuals and
Speaker 5: they're actually very surprised, like from a personality connection, like
Speaker 5: they wouldn't have matched with them on a dating app.
Speaker 5: But once they get talking to them in a room
Speaker 5: and you know, don't have like a checklist in front
Speaker 5: of them of like their height occupy all of that,
Speaker 5: they are more open minded to meeting different people. And
Speaker 5: so I've definitely been trying to lean into that as well,
Speaker 5: as you know, I was dating before the.
Speaker 4: Show, seeing someone as the whole and not just a list.
Speaker 2: Yeah, where could people find your website, your services? I
Speaker 2: want to take advantage. And is it across the US?
Speaker 2: Is it just Atlanta.
Speaker 5: We're about to kick off a tour and so we're
Speaker 5: going to be going to major cities across the US
Speaker 5: and basically bringing this pop up activation there. You guys
Speaker 5: can find us on Instagram, in the wild dating and TikTok,
Speaker 5: and then our website as well, which is linked in
Speaker 5: all of those social platforms. But yeah, we're excited to
Speaker 5: bring it to other cities like Charleston, Nashville, LA.
Speaker 4: So it should be fun.
Speaker 3: I love that. That is so fun.
Speaker 1: Have you dated since Joey's season?
Speaker 4: Yeah?
Speaker 5: I dated someone briefly after Joey's season, and you know,
Speaker 5: a good guy, but just kind of not on the
Speaker 5: same page that I was on. And I think I
Speaker 5: talked about that a lot on Joey's season what I'm
Speaker 5: looking for, and so it's good experience. But I kind of,
Speaker 5: you know, dated him right after the show, and then
Speaker 5: I jumped right into building this business.
Speaker 4: And so when Paradise came along.
Speaker 5: I had a lot of mixed feelings about it, but
Speaker 5: I hadn't dated in a little bit, and so it was, yeah,
Speaker 5: we'll talk about that more, I'm sure, but it was
Speaker 5: definitely a different as a stretch for me.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I was thinking about you the other day because
Speaker 2: I knew we were probably going to have you on
Speaker 2: the podcast, and one of my girlfriends called me and
Speaker 2: is getting the surgery done to see if she has endometriosis.
Speaker 3: How are you doing with all of that?
Speaker 5: It's been, you know, transparently, it's every day it has
Speaker 5: its own challenges. I'm coming up on having another surgery
Speaker 5: at the end of the summer, and so before that,
Speaker 5: I'll have to freeze my eggs one more time. I
Speaker 5: froze them right before I went on Joey's season, and so,
Speaker 5: you know, I know, is a systemic disease with no cure,
Speaker 5: and so unfortunately, you know it ebbs and flows definitely
Speaker 5: have worse weeks than others. But luckily I have an
Speaker 5: amazing team of doctors and hopefully eventually, you know, a
Speaker 5: supportive partner and my eggs are frozen and we can
Speaker 5: you know, come up with a plan that's best for
Speaker 5: our family, but.
Speaker 4: Yeah, thank you for asking.
Speaker 5: It's it's just a part of me at this point,
Speaker 5: not going anywhere, but I'm trying my best to stay positive.
Speaker 2: Did it impact your experience filming Paradise in any way?
Speaker 5: Yeah, I think it was the second day and time
Speaker 5: there is obviously, you know, everything feels like you're living
Speaker 5: ten days in one and on the second day I
Speaker 5: had a really bad flare, and so I just like,
Speaker 5: for some reason, on Joey's season it was a little
Speaker 5: like easier because I could wear like, you know, a
Speaker 5: flowy dress, but we were on the beach and bikinis,
Speaker 5: so you know, I was like kind of dying inside
Speaker 5: because I mean, obviously all the girls are in such
Speaker 5: good shape and then I'm over here like I looked
Speaker 5: like eight months pregnant. Obviously out of my control. It
Speaker 5: was an endo flare. Great doctors on the show. I've
Speaker 5: always had such a good experience. They take such good
Speaker 5: care of me. But it did feel in a bathing suit.
Speaker 5: I was like, this is worst case scenario, but out
Speaker 5: of my control.
Speaker 3: Yeah, no, that totally makes sense.
Speaker 1: So you get the call for Paradise, where's your head at?
Speaker 1: You an instant Yes, we're what are you thinking?
Speaker 2: No.
Speaker 4: I think I was an instant no at first.
Speaker 5: And I think a lot of people when they found out,
Speaker 5: you know, when they dropped the cast, were surprised, and
Speaker 5: I was like, I was surprised too. I think when
Speaker 5: I first heard about it, or you know, got that
Speaker 5: invitation from from production, it was I don't know if
Speaker 5: it's the best fit for me, just because of, you know,
Speaker 5: exactly the reason why I left Joey's season. What I'm
Speaker 5: looking for, Like, are these guys truly ready for that?
Speaker 5: And then you don't know who the guys are ahead
Speaker 5: of time, and so I wasn't sure there would be
Speaker 5: someone there that was, you know, maybe a little older
Speaker 5: and more ready for that next step.
Speaker 4: You know, who knows.
Speaker 5: I'm sure a lot of the guys, depending on their age,
Speaker 5: could be ready for different things. But and I also
Speaker 5: am just not an aggressive personality, and so I was like,
Speaker 5: I don't even know if I'll do well there, because
Speaker 5: if someone's fighting over a guy, I would just be like,
Speaker 5: you know, you can have them, like I just I
Speaker 5: couldn't even It would just give me anxiety. So at
Speaker 5: first I was like, I don't think it's for me.
Speaker 5: So that's kind of where we started.
Speaker 1: Did you watch Bachelor and Paradise going into this?
Speaker 4: I have not seen it in so long.
Speaker 5: I have not seen it since like Hannah and Dylan's
Speaker 5: like season, and so I know Paradise, but I had
Speaker 5: not watched it in a year, so I felt like
Speaker 5: I was a little behind. But then they kept saying
Speaker 5: this season was going to be so different and so
Speaker 5: id they were like kind of scrap everything you know
Speaker 5: about it before, and so that.
Speaker 4: Made me feel a little better.
Speaker 1: Yeah, so what were your initial thoughts when you got
Speaker 1: there and everything was very different.
Speaker 5: They kept saying there's going to be these challenges, and
Speaker 5: I was so nervous we were going to be on
Speaker 5: like wipeout or something. I was like, I am not
Speaker 5: like prepared for survivor like wrong, wrong contestant.
Speaker 4: But once I got.
Speaker 5: There, I mean, it was such a It's such a
Speaker 5: beautiful resort, like truly really, you know, they upgraded, they
Speaker 5: have air conditioning, which I'm sure you guys probably are.
Speaker 4: Jealous that you didn't have air conditioning.
Speaker 5: I heard from like Kat who had done Paradise before
Speaker 5: that this was infinitely nicer. And so I'm in the
Speaker 5: beach is the beach, but I was grateful to have
Speaker 5: air conditioning and the goldens. You know, knowing they were
Speaker 5: coming was fun and having handed there was like a
Speaker 5: really nice mix up. So it was positive like energy
Speaker 5: walking into it. For sure, it felt very fresh.
Speaker 2: When you guys got to Costa Rica, did you I'm
Speaker 2: like kind of breaking the fourth wall with this question,
Speaker 2: but like you obviously stay in a room for a
Speaker 2: few days before they send you down. Did you stay
Speaker 2: at that hotel or did you stay somewhere else and
Speaker 2: they brought you onto set?
Speaker 5: Say, somewhere else and they brought us onto set. The
Speaker 5: other hotel was it was very close. I mean it
Speaker 5: was a less than a ten minute drive, but you
Speaker 5: are in isolation until you get called down to the beach.
Speaker 5: And when you do get called down, you don't know
Speaker 5: if people have been there for you know, days, one
Speaker 5: day hours.
Speaker 4: So same as I.
Speaker 1: Guess before, were you at all worried that you may
Speaker 1: not be original cast, that they could drop you?
Speaker 5: I did, yeah, and I expressed those concerns to production,
Speaker 5: And it was mostly I wasn't trying to be like
Speaker 5: I want to be there first. It was really because
Speaker 5: of one my personality being a little bit more like mellow.
Speaker 4: I was nervous.
Speaker 5: I'm not I'm not the bombshell, like, don't bring me
Speaker 5: in later, it will I just would. I don't think
Speaker 5: I would do well on that, and so they kind
Speaker 5: of reassured me that I would. They're early on to
Speaker 5: be able to establish a connection, so I was like, okay,
Speaker 5: maybe one first day, second day, but I've heard in
Speaker 5: the past they bring in people so much later, so
Speaker 5: you never know.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and that's totally fair.
Speaker 2: I think anyone going on the show that's like really
Speaker 2: serious about finding a genuine connection, the earlier the better.
Speaker 3: I mean, that's no.
Speaker 2: Secret, totally Okay, So you get down there, you were
Speaker 2: kind of down there earlier in the day for sure.
Speaker 4: Early.
Speaker 2: What are your original thoughts, what are those first conversations?
Speaker 5: Like, Yeah, it was so hot, that was my first thought.
Speaker 5: I was like, how does everyone look good on this show?
Speaker 5: Like I just could not stop thinking about this wedding.
Speaker 5: But it was you know, we walked in. There's two
Speaker 5: other people there, Spencer and Alex. Spencer from Gen season,
Speaker 5: Alex from Grant season. I had known Spencer like just
Speaker 5: through you know, social media before this, and he's such
Speaker 5: just a great guy, and Alex was so vibrant, like
Speaker 5: very energetic, so it was really good energy when we
Speaker 5: walked in. But I think it was we were all
Speaker 5: just waiting to see who was coming down next, So it.
Speaker 4: Was kind of just like a waiting game.
Speaker 5: And I think at that point, like Wells wasn't there,
Speaker 5: Hannah definitely wasn't there, so we were all just kind
Speaker 5: of like scoping it out. We didn't know if the
Speaker 5: Goldens were coming that day, like, we didn't know anything.
Speaker 2: So going down, obviously we see you kind of form
Speaker 2: a connection with Justin, But who were kind of the
Speaker 2: guys that you were looking to talk to are interested in?
Speaker 5: Yeah, so I didn't have a specific name, but I
Speaker 5: definitely wanted someone who was a little bit older and
Speaker 5: maybe someone that I hadn't met before. And there was
Speaker 5: a guy down there at Kyle, and I was really
Speaker 5: excited because I didn't know who he was. I didn't
Speaker 5: know what season he came from, so it was just
Speaker 5: like very intriguing to get to know him better. But
Speaker 5: otherwise I think I knew all of the guys at
Speaker 5: least from social media besides Kyle.
Speaker 3: Okay, yeah, that's interesting. We asked just that too.
Speaker 2: We're just trying to get a vibe on like how
Speaker 2: well everyone knew each other going in, because I feel
Speaker 2: like it's different every season.
Speaker 1: Totally, which I think was good this season that it
Speaker 1: was more like we kind of know of each other,
Speaker 1: but we all don't really know each other. Yeah. Always,
Speaker 1: that's always better. I think one of the past few seasons,
Speaker 1: it just seemed like everyone like.
Speaker 3: Had met and been.
Speaker 4: It was like the stage coach thing, right, Like I
Speaker 4: didn't go to stage Coach this.
Speaker 2: Year, so yeah, it was probably for the best. So
Speaker 2: down there the first day, all the cast is there.
Speaker 2: Who are the people that you're closest with.
Speaker 5: I'm really close to Jess, She's from my season. She's amazing,
Speaker 5: And I think that was from a girl perspective. She
Speaker 5: was the only one that I knew from from my season.
Speaker 5: But I really started to get close to Bailey and
Speaker 5: Zoe and Alex and so so nice having them there.
Speaker 5: And Jonathan I had talked to on social media a
Speaker 5: little bit before, and so it felt like kind of
Speaker 5: talking to a friend. So I think at first we
Speaker 5: were all like kind of grouped together and then people
Speaker 5: started to pair off. But it was nice to have
Speaker 5: some familiar faces, so we made it a little more comfortable.
Speaker 1: Was there a romantic spark at all with you and Jonathan?
Speaker 4: Ever, No, you know, I never got to explore it.
Speaker 5: I that first day was so chaotic just with you know,
Speaker 5: getting to know everyone, and then I got that one
Speaker 5: on one on the first day, and then it got
Speaker 5: rained out and so they swiftly bring you to your
Speaker 5: room and you got to get ready and hurry, hurry, hurry,
Speaker 5: And so I actually ended up waiting in the room
Speaker 5: for like five and a half hours because every time
Speaker 5: I think, they had to wait, wait, wait, And so
Speaker 5: I missed those five and a half hours. Where I
Speaker 5: was in the room was when everyone else was like
Speaker 5: mixing and mingling, and so Jonathan and I never really
Speaker 5: had a chance to go deeper that first day, which
Speaker 5: was now I'm starting to learn, like in Paradise, day
Speaker 5: one is so critical, So I kind of missed that.
Speaker 3: God that's such a bummer.
Speaker 2: I mean, like that is just how it goes with
Speaker 2: the rain obviously, but it probably sucks because you're like
Speaker 2: I can't even hang it with Justin. I can't even
Speaker 2: like get to know all these people and like them.
Speaker 2: By the time day two hits and you've been chilling
Speaker 2: in your room against your will. Everyone's a little more
Speaker 2: coupled up totally.
Speaker 5: And then the thing about day two, it was we
Speaker 5: had the makeup date, so like all the whole night
Speaker 5: when I'm in my room in isolation, and then day
Speaker 5: two we went on our day date to make up
Speaker 5: the date from the night prior that got rained out,
Speaker 5: So I missed a lot of that early time.
Speaker 2: You must have been like, thank god I have a
Speaker 2: rose this week, because at least I know I've got
Speaker 2: you know that next week to have more time.
Speaker 4: Totally.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I was. I was when we found out that
Speaker 5: the woman had the roses. First, I was so happy
Speaker 5: for a lot of reasons. But when the timing shook
Speaker 5: out with like my date being canceled and rescheduled, I
Speaker 5: was like, thank god, otherwise I'd be freaking out. I
Speaker 5: was like, I don't know who I get a rose from?
Speaker 1: Yeah, did you know? So justin comes to your room
Speaker 1: AND's like, hey, bad news, dates canceled? Do you already
Speaker 1: do you guys already know that it's going to be rescheduled? Like,
Speaker 1: oh not?
Speaker 5: At that point, I was actually the whole thing was
Speaker 5: so crazy because I was in my room for so long,
Speaker 5: I actually fell asleep, And so when he knocked it
Speaker 5: fully in a dress, like full makeup, you.
Speaker 4: Know, ready it again.
Speaker 5: So when he knocked on the door, I thought I
Speaker 5: was production or a handler, and it was him. He
Speaker 5: was like, you know, we'll try to figure something out
Speaker 5: for tomorrow, but we had no clue if we were
Speaker 5: going to be able to make it up.
Speaker 4: Just with filming and the schedule being so.
Speaker 2: Tight, was any part of you like, I'm on the Bachelor,
Speaker 2: why do we not have a rain plan? Like we're
Speaker 2: at a hotel, Like couldn't we go to dinner? Or
Speaker 2: was it just like so late by the time they
Speaker 2: made the call, it was.
Speaker 5: So late, you know, new season, new vibes, new cameras,
Speaker 5: like it's so many elevated points with that, but also
Speaker 5: comes with pain points like I think that, yes, I'm
Speaker 5: sure it would be nice to have a plan, being
Speaker 5: a rain plan, but I.
Speaker 4: Don't think anyone anticipated these storms.
Speaker 5: I mean they were insane, like I've never seen anything
Speaker 5: like it. So I and then the staff, the you know,
Speaker 5: camera crew had been working so late. It was midnight
Speaker 5: at that point. So even if I if I went
Speaker 5: on the date, I'd be exhausted.
Speaker 3: Ye want to know that makes sense?
Speaker 5: I can.
Speaker 1: It was like our first date was it raining? It
Speaker 1: wasn't raining, but we were both sick and it was late, Like.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I was like running out of our shuttle to
Speaker 2: like go throw up before our.
Speaker 1: First day and it was like late too in the
Speaker 1: week we had to like wrestle.
Speaker 3: It was like, yeah, it was.
Speaker 4: It was.
Speaker 3: It was not sexy.
Speaker 2: I'll tell me about that, but it makes sense. They're
Speaker 2: probably waiting being like, Okay, you know it's gonna let up.
Speaker 2: It's gonna let up. It's going to let up, and
Speaker 2: then all of a sudden it's midnight. It's like, well,
Speaker 2: I guess you're on a bed. How did you feel though,
Speaker 2: were you really disappointed?
Speaker 5: I was disappointed because I wish that we had been
Speaker 5: able to wait with the rest of the cast outside
Speaker 5: and not in our rooms.
Speaker 4: I felt like I lost a lot of time.
Speaker 5: And then as a girl, like I was like I
Speaker 5: got all ready, you know, it's just in especially the beach,
Speaker 5: I was like I had cool hair and I had to,
Speaker 5: you know, do the whole thing. And so it's such
Speaker 5: first world problems. But I also wanted to spend time
Speaker 5: with Justin. I was excited at that point. I was like,
Speaker 5: oh my god, the first one on one of Paradise,
Speaker 5: Like how fun, you know, and especially you're in isolation
Speaker 5: for so long. I was like, let's go do something
Speaker 5: like I wanted to do an activity. I was like
Speaker 5: ald zip line. I anyways, so it's okay. We made
Speaker 5: up the date the next day.
Speaker 3: Yeah, tell us about how the date actually ended up
Speaker 3: going once you had it.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 5: So he had talked to Hannah and was like, hey,
Speaker 5: you know, explain the situation, and she they like brainstormed
Speaker 5: and created this little day date went and like sat
Speaker 5: on a bench, got to talk a little bit, ate
Speaker 5: some lunch, and then we swam. So I think Justin
Speaker 5: was like so disappointed because he's like, this is so lame.
Speaker 5: We could have done this like at the Paradise set.
Speaker 5: But it was nice to have the uninterrupted time and
Speaker 5: you know, being removed from the cast. But like the timeline,
Speaker 5: you know, as a viewer, I don't think you realize
Speaker 5: like we woke up, got ready for the date, did
Speaker 5: all of our interviews, went on the date, did post
Speaker 5: date interviews, and then we had maybe thirty minutes to
Speaker 5: get ready for that first row ceremony, So we missed
Speaker 5: an day and again the second day is so important.
Speaker 1: Yeah, so are you what are you after this date?
Speaker 1: During this date, what are you feeling? Are you liking him?
Speaker 1: What's your intuition telling you, like I can marry this guy?
Speaker 4: Or I wasn't there yet? I think I was. So.
Speaker 5: I I had talked to Susie before coming up to Paradise,
Speaker 5: just because her and I are like very similar life
Speaker 5: stages and so and so that's.
Speaker 2: Wild that that's the person you went to for advice
Speaker 2: and I ended up on a date with you.
Speaker 5: Walked quite a bit and so you know, I had
Speaker 5: never could have anticipated justin asking me on the date
Speaker 5: he pulled myself and Alex and I think I'm open minded.
Speaker 5: It's day one, Like, of course I'm going to say yes,
Speaker 5: But I definitely had hesitations in my head just being
Speaker 5: having that conversation with Susie and kind of you know,
Speaker 5: understanding they have this history. I know she's in holding
Speaker 5: at the hotel at this point, so at any point
Speaker 5: she can come down like her and I flew there
Speaker 5: on the same day, so I knew she was there.
Speaker 1: Are you are you and Susie friends or did you
Speaker 1: just kind of like reach out to her for a time.
Speaker 5: We just reached out and kind of we became We've
Speaker 5: definitely became very good friends through this, But at this
Speaker 5: point before, I think it was more kind of you
Speaker 5: know her and I just saying, you know, how what
Speaker 5: are we looking for in this and you know we're.
Speaker 4: Both at this age and who do we think is coming?
Speaker 5: Which as soon as I told Justin that we had
Speaker 5: the phone call, I think his like whole demeanor change
Speaker 5: because he was like, you're kidding me, Like I picked
Speaker 5: the one girl here who's like, you know, friendly, has
Speaker 5: talked to my ex that it was very you know,
Speaker 5: a recent breakup. So I definitely hesitations, I will say,
Speaker 5: is how I kind of felt about him. But I
Speaker 5: was like, let's go, let's see what he's about. I
Speaker 5: know he's funny and something I'm looking for in my partner,
Speaker 5: and so but I had hesitations.
Speaker 1: So going into the rose ceremony, are you like because
Speaker 1: it's you, it shows you're like a little hesitant on
Speaker 1: giving Justin your rose? Who would you have given it to?
Speaker 1: If you didn't give it to Justin?
Speaker 5: It I would have given it to Kyle or Jonathan.
Speaker 5: I think Kyle, just from what i'm the very brief
Speaker 5: conversation we had, he seemed like there was potential there,
Speaker 5: but I didn't get enough to be, like, you know,
Speaker 5: really dive in more about what he's looking for in
Speaker 5: his story. And then Jonathan, I just think because I,
Speaker 5: you know, we had this like friendship and we've talked before,
Speaker 5: and I know he's a good guy, that felt like
Speaker 5: maybe it would have been a safer option. He's more
Speaker 5: available rights his ex isn't coming down to the beach.
Speaker 5: But because I had that time with Justin and we
Speaker 5: had the conversations where he reassure me so many times
Speaker 5: that he is healed from this relationship with Susie, I
Speaker 5: ended up giving him the rose. We had the most
Speaker 5: time together and he really really really reassured me.
Speaker 1: Interesting, Yeah, Dale Moss gets yeah going down there, and
Speaker 1: he's Dale's older, he's thirty six. Were did you have
Speaker 1: a conversation with him at all? Because it seems like that.
Speaker 5: Could have been a So I think Dale's a great guy.
Speaker 5: I was not expecting to see him there. That was
Speaker 5: probably the biggest surprise for me from a cast perspective,
Speaker 5: but he you know, I guess what. I what I've
Speaker 5: gathered from talking to all these guys post show is
Speaker 5: that they all just assumed Justin and I were coupled up.
Speaker 5: And so because we had that date once Dale had
Speaker 5: already Dale arrived, Dale arrived, and we had already gone
Speaker 5: on the date, I believe I don't.
Speaker 4: Really, Okay, I think so.
Speaker 2: I think he had asked you on the date that
Speaker 2: first day, That's what it is, and then Dale came down,
Speaker 2: So you were kind of already locked in on that
Speaker 2: date with Justin and they're friendly.
Speaker 5: I think that, you know, have similar circles outside of this,
Speaker 5: and they've hung out, and so I think that, you know,
Speaker 5: Dale kind of just stayed away. And I heard that
Speaker 5: from Jonathan after I heard that from Kyle. I've heard
Speaker 5: that from multiple guys saying that they just kind of
Speaker 5: saw I was with Justin and didn't want to get
Speaker 5: involved because we had that date early on.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it is wild how that happens.
Speaker 2: I feel like that kind of happens every season, even
Speaker 2: on ours, where it's like, oh, I thought you were
Speaker 2: in a couple, and people get really cautious about like
Speaker 2: stepping on toes, even if it's like, oh, we're just
Speaker 2: getting to know each other, it's only been two days.
Speaker 3: Like, I'm still open.
Speaker 4: You know, Dale's a great guy and he is older.
Speaker 2: Yeah, in terms of your relationship with Justin, did you
Speaker 2: feel worried about what the dynamic was going to be
Speaker 2: when Susie likely came down.
Speaker 4: I was worried. I was so worried. It's all I talked.
Speaker 5: If you asked Jess like she was my roommate, it's
Speaker 5: all I talked about. To the point where I was
Speaker 5: starting to get a little frustrated because it's just not
Speaker 5: what I signed up for.
Speaker 4: It's not Justin or Susie's fault. They both deserve a.
Speaker 5: Chance to meet someone new and get a you know,
Speaker 5: relationship that's right for them. But I started to feel
Speaker 5: like I was in the middle. And at this point,
Speaker 5: she Susie still hasn't hasn't come to the beach, But
Speaker 5: whenever Justin talked about her, his whole demeanor changed, where
Speaker 5: I started to have a gut feeling that there was
Speaker 5: still something there. Which is there? They just broke up.
Speaker 5: They dated for a long time. It's not the craziest thing.
Speaker 2: What was the timeframe we see in your interview you're
Speaker 2: kind of like, I think it's only been two to
Speaker 2: three months?
Speaker 3: Was that what it had been?
Speaker 4: I think?
Speaker 5: So that's coming from him when I when I talked
Speaker 5: to Susie after, you know, we've connected since, like it
Speaker 5: almost seems like it was more recent they that they together. Yeah,
Speaker 5: but again not sure to tell. And you know, I
Speaker 5: just really didn't want to be involved.
Speaker 2: Yeah, but also crucial information for you and kind of
Speaker 2: other people dating them on the beach. I mean, if
Speaker 2: they say that they're ready, obviously you want to take
Speaker 2: them at face value and trust that. But I mean
Speaker 2: I can understand, and I'm sure Justin could also why
Speaker 2: you had your hesitations totally.
Speaker 5: But again, like when I had the rose, he stood
Speaker 5: ten toes down that he was fully moved on from
Speaker 5: this relationship and ready to meet someone new, or he
Speaker 5: wouldn't have.
Speaker 4: Come to the beach.
Speaker 1: Why not. Maybe this is just because I am a gambler,
Speaker 1: but why not roll the dice and be like, you
Speaker 1: know what, I didn't have much time with Jonathan or Kyle,
Speaker 1: but we are only a few days in. Maybe something
Speaker 1: will form within the next couple of days. Maybe take
Speaker 1: a shot on one of them.
Speaker 3: Yeah, but then Justin would have gone home. I know. Oh,
Speaker 3: you're saying, like, I'm justin go a different direction.
Speaker 1: Yeah, if if internally the Susie thing you knew was
Speaker 1: always gonna bother you, why not maybe pivot and take
Speaker 1: that chance.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I regret it.
Speaker 5: It's one of my I don't have a lot of regrets,
Speaker 5: but that is a regret. And I was talking to
Speaker 5: my mom about that recently. I wish I think because
Speaker 5: I had that one on one with Justin, for whatever
Speaker 5: unknown reason, I felt like I owed him the Rose
Speaker 5: because we got to open up about things. I had
Speaker 5: the most time with him, and I just didn't have that.
Speaker 4: With with Kyle or Jonathan.
Speaker 5: But I think if I could go back, I would
Speaker 5: pull Justin right before the rose ceremony and say, exactly
Speaker 5: what you just said. These hesitations aren't going anywhere, and
Speaker 5: it's kind of actually affecting me to be able to
Speaker 5: immerse myself in this, and so because of that, I'm
Speaker 5: going to take a chance on Kyle or Jonathan and
Speaker 5: I just in the moment, it all feels so much
Speaker 5: pressure and we'd had the one on one.
Speaker 4: It just I don't know.
Speaker 2: Yeah, Well, in hindsight, it's always twenty twenty. I mean,
Speaker 2: you're now looking back on it kind of yeah, understanding
Speaker 2: that maybe he wasn't as ready as you thought he
Speaker 2: was that first week, and like maybe you could have
Speaker 2: furthered something with Kyle. But I think in that moment,
Speaker 2: you're probably well, I've invested so much time in this person,
Speaker 2: and I kind of know where their head is at
Speaker 2: at least what they're telling me, Like, let's kind of
Speaker 2: see where this can go.
Speaker 4: Totally that's literally exactly what happened.
Speaker 1: Okay, So going into the Rows ceremony, who would you
Speaker 1: say is the strongest.
Speaker 4: Couple going into the Rose ceremony?
Speaker 5: I would say Jess and Spencer, And I was her roommate,
Speaker 5: so I got like a front row seat. They were
Speaker 5: just instantly connected. She has a very similar personality to him.
Speaker 5: They're both so bubbly, Like it was just so obvious,
Speaker 5: like I think since I would like go to war
Speaker 5: for Jess, like, and this is after knowing her for
Speaker 5: two days, Like, it was just really sweet to watch.
Speaker 2: Yeah, they had really really good chemistry from that first conversation.
Speaker 5: Oh good, Like it was just like two pieces that
Speaker 5: fit together and made a lot of sense, and I
Speaker 5: love them both, so I was really just happy. I
Speaker 5: was so happy for her and him, you know, but
Speaker 5: I was over in the corner, just like on the
Speaker 5: show X on the Beach pretty much.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I've been there.
Speaker 2: What did you think of Yeah, that's okay.
Speaker 3: What did you think of the game?
Speaker 5: I think it was great to do the compatibility challenges,
Speaker 5: like you get to see more of the person.
Speaker 4: And yeah, I thought it was actually really fun. I
Speaker 4: think some people were a little stressed about you could
Speaker 4: like tell who was who with the silhouettes too.
Speaker 3: Sorry, that's what Jess was saying.
Speaker 2: She was like, based on like heights, anyone that was
Speaker 2: in the standing pose, you could immediately kind of seemly.
Speaker 5: Yeah, but it was so fun, Like I think that's
Speaker 5: the type of things we need to be doing, as
Speaker 5: fun as it is to like sit in the pool
Speaker 5: and talk like you know that we get to know
Speaker 5: them on a little deeper level.
Speaker 4: And yeah, it was cute.
Speaker 3: What did you think of the Hakeem Ricky fight?
Speaker 2: Yeah?
Speaker 5: Yeah, I like I really enjoyed both of them. I
Speaker 5: think Hakim is like very He's passionate. He's a passionate man,
Speaker 5: and I respect him for that, I, you know, I do.
Speaker 5: I don't think I needed to get to that point.
Speaker 5: It was a little heated in the moment, but you know,
Speaker 5: everyone's on edge. Hakim was invited to this quite a while.
Speaker 4: He's been waiting so long.
Speaker 5: I'm sure because of that, he had what feels maybe
Speaker 5: more pressure right because he was announced earlier.
Speaker 4: So I tried to give him the benefit of the doubt.
Speaker 4: It was squashed pretty quickly.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it kind of translated as if you were watching it.
Speaker 2: To me, it looked like Ricky kind of made like
Speaker 2: a casual dig at a keem, probably not thinking anything
Speaker 2: of it. Key might have been feeling some sensitivity and
Speaker 2: like insecurity throughout that challenge and just that day in general,
Speaker 2: and it just escalated way past maybe where either of
Speaker 2: them thought it was going to go exactly.
Speaker 5: And I think they both, from what I remembered, didn't
Speaker 5: have like a strong, super strong connection, like an immediate connection.
Speaker 5: So there's probably some you know, feelings there too, because
Speaker 5: there's so much build up to this, you know.
Speaker 3: Yeah, definitely, who.
Speaker 2: Were you surprised went home? If anyone or were there
Speaker 2: any roses that were handed out that shocked you.
Speaker 5: I was surprised Sam m went home. I think he is,
Speaker 5: you know, he's great personality. He had the one on
Speaker 5: one card, but he kind of had a disadvantage because
Speaker 5: he came in and gave the date to Jess and
Speaker 5: she had already established a connection with Spencer. So I think,
Speaker 5: you know, Jess had so much fun on that date.
Speaker 5: I think she just had a stronger connection with Spencer,
Speaker 5: and so I think Sam was a little bit at
Speaker 5: a loss, Like he came in and he was like, well,
Speaker 5: who who am I? You know, who am I connecting
Speaker 5: with here? It's all about timing too, Like when he
Speaker 5: came down to the beach, it was just kind of
Speaker 5: like a weird time because I already had been a
Speaker 5: lot of formal connections.
Speaker 2: Yeah, he was in a tough spot because I guess
Speaker 2: he kind of like missed out on that first day
Speaker 2: and then he comes down, he immediately takes Jess and
Speaker 2: he doesn't really have time to like get to know
Speaker 2: anyone else, to have like a secondary possibility to get
Speaker 2: a rose.
Speaker 3: So that's hard.
Speaker 2: We were actually bummed to see him go so early
Speaker 2: because we thought there was like maybe something for him
Speaker 2: to find someone.
Speaker 5: I think he also deserved like a chance to retell
Speaker 5: his story. I think on gen season he was portrayed
Speaker 5: in a light that's not who he is. He seemed,
Speaker 5: you know, he's come to Atlanta times. His friend Thomas
Speaker 5: lives there from his season, and so I've seen them
Speaker 5: out and he is a really sweet guy. So I
Speaker 5: was bummed he didn't get a chance to have like
Speaker 5: his redemption story moment.
Speaker 4: But that's okay. You know, he can live his life
Speaker 4: how he wants after this.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and you know it's still.
Speaker 2: He got a mini redemption, you know, like his time
Speaker 2: on the show was short, but like he came across
Speaker 2: like a gentleman and everyone seemed to have good interactions
Speaker 2: with him, and like it least not enough, not enough,
Speaker 2: but I feel like it leaves the audience at least
Speaker 2: with a good taste in their mind.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna throw out a hypothetical for you. Let's say
Speaker 1: you know who Justin is, but you don't follow him
Speaker 1: on Instagram or social media. You never spoke to Susie.
Speaker 1: You know who she is, but you don't even know
Speaker 1: they date it and you and Susie never never talked.
Speaker 1: Do you think that would have changed everything for you?
Speaker 5: I think it would have had a significant impact on
Speaker 5: how I was feeling.
Speaker 2: It's super complicated. I think had you in this hypothatohole
Speaker 2: not known about the Suzui situation, do you think Justin
Speaker 2: would have brought it up on his own? Like what
Speaker 2: was his approach to handling it?
Speaker 5: A really good question because I believe I was the
Speaker 5: first one that brought it up, because I brought up
Speaker 5: the phone call. I talked to Jess the night before
Speaker 5: our rescheduled date and I said, how do I bring
Speaker 5: this up right? Like? And so I was like, I'm
Speaker 5: going to just be really honest because I had the
Speaker 5: call with her. We talked for a really long time,
Speaker 5: and I wanted to get that out there. And so, yeah,
Speaker 5: I don't know. I think the whole thing was just
Speaker 5: kind of it was really making me spiral, is.
Speaker 1: What I Yeah, I get that. I think, not that
Speaker 1: you're asking for my advice, but I'm gonna I don't
Speaker 1: want to throw it out there. I think the best
Speaker 1: way to go into Paradise is with the attitude of
Speaker 1: fuck all these people, and I'm here solely for myself
Speaker 1: to see if I could find a connection, because there
Speaker 1: is a lot of that where you meet people, you're
Speaker 1: half assed friends with people, and it could potentially ruin
Speaker 1: something great for like this bullshit friendship.
Speaker 2: I know, but I do feel like it's harder with
Speaker 2: women and female friendships a little bit.
Speaker 1: You always say that, but I'm a good friend. I'm
Speaker 1: just saying. We all go on a dating show to
Speaker 1: date each other, you know, it kind of has to
Speaker 1: be like, you know what I'm doing me for everyone?
Speaker 5: I guess yeah, you Honestly, Joe, if I had done that,
Speaker 5: I wouldn't have given him the roads I would have
Speaker 5: given me Eyler Jonathan and I can say that with
Speaker 5: a hundred confidence.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Interesting.
Speaker 2: Yeah, well, we are very excited to watch the rest
Speaker 2: of the season that the first episode was great, you
Speaker 2: look great in it, and we're excited.
Speaker 3: You know, to see where the rest goes. So thanks
Speaker 3: so much for coming on.
Speaker 4: Thank you. I'm excited. Should be a good journey.
Speaker 1: And good luck with your company and to all our listeners,
Speaker 1: thank you guys for tuning into bets You're happy hour.
Speaker 1: Make sure you download and subscribe.
Speaker 3: We have new exclusive interviews coming every single week. Thanks
Speaker 3: so much for listening.
Speaker 4: Bye