Speaker 1: Welcome back to another week of Happy Hour with the
Speaker 1: two of Us and Rachel. This week, I have to say,
Speaker 1: it's finally, finally, finally, it felt like a real typical
Speaker 1: Bachelor episode with a start and a finish for once,
Speaker 1: this is what we have been asking for, and so
Speaker 1: in that regard, I am thrilled, and it was cute,
Speaker 1: it was your typical hometown dates. I want to get
Speaker 1: into it because we have an incredible guest joining us today,
Speaker 1: probably one of the most requested men that we've had
Speaker 1: that we've seen this season that we're going to have on,
Speaker 1: and that is mister Ivan himself, and I've been dying
Speaker 1: to talk to him since that one on one date
Speaker 1: that he had not tastious. So I can't wait to
Speaker 1: have him on, to pick his brain, to talk about
Speaker 1: his family and the incredible impact that he has made
Speaker 1: so far on this season and in I would say
Speaker 1: Bachelor franchise as a whole. Yeah, I mean, I couldn't
Speaker 1: agree with you more. It's interesting. I didn't even think
Speaker 1: about the fact that we had a traditional episode from
Speaker 1: start to finish until you just said that, and I'm like, yeah,
Speaker 1: you're right, you're right, and we're finally there, right, And
Speaker 1: you know, hometown week is usually not eventful, do you
Speaker 1: know what I mean? Like you have your few exceptions,
Speaker 1: like on my season meeting Dean's family and his and
Speaker 1: like he didn't have those traditional family and there's been
Speaker 1: so many issues, you know, after the death of his
Speaker 1: mother that he's been trying to deal with, and there
Speaker 1: was just a lot there and you probably will never
Speaker 1: see a hometown like that again. So this was what
Speaker 1: I expected it to be, straightforward, not for us, it's
Speaker 1: for Tasia. It's a chance for Tasia to get to
Speaker 1: know these men on another level, to better understand where
Speaker 1: she wants to move forward in this journey, and also
Speaker 1: for the families to get to know Tasia. Who was
Speaker 1: your favorite hometown? My favorite hometown? Well, I'm gonna give it.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna give you two parts because because what I
Speaker 1: found interesting for this was like they obviously could not
Speaker 1: leave the resort, so the men had to bring hometowns
Speaker 1: to Lakinta, which that in itself is interesting and also
Speaker 1: like I could have probably done without that part. I
Speaker 1: would have rather had and just putting myself back into contestant.
Speaker 1: She's like, rather had just a full day with the
Speaker 1: family as opposed to like trying to recreate this fake
Speaker 1: city hometown vibe at this hottest balls resort. If I
Speaker 1: will say that, so I guess, like when I say
Speaker 1: two parts my favorite, like, actually, I shouldn't even split
Speaker 1: it up. It was just Ivan. I was trying to think.
Speaker 1: I was about to say Zach's like cheesy, funny New
Speaker 1: York date, just because I love cheesy, but like, actually,
Speaker 1: if I was Taitia, I probably would have loved Ivan's
Speaker 1: date from start to finish the best. And you're laughing
Speaker 1: at me right now, and I know probably what you're
Speaker 1: gonna slide. Why are you Why do you think I'm laughing?
Speaker 1: Are you laughing at the cheesy New York date? Yes? Yes,
Speaker 1: it was at that moment when I saw the taxi
Speaker 1: cabs that I said, a cab, I said, you know what,
Speaker 1: this is the first time I feel sorry that Tatia's
Speaker 1: doing her entire season at looking that I never have.
Speaker 1: I've been appreciating the depth in the conversations. I've been
Speaker 1: appreciating the fact that there aren't distractions, that these dates
Speaker 1: have been very real life, and she can get a
Speaker 1: better feel of what it is to be with these
Speaker 1: men and what's the bubble is gone? But I thought,
Speaker 1: my god, when they picked up that box bar, I
Speaker 1: took fifty feet, stept fifty feet over to the bagel
Speaker 1: stand sir, Oh God. I feel so sorry for Tatio.
Speaker 1: But you gotta love Zack's enthusiasm when haling the cab.
Speaker 1: He I mean it was it was cute, I said,
Speaker 1: shout out. So the producers were really trying to make
Speaker 1: something out of nothing. But I felt so bad for her.
Speaker 1: There is something special about because behind the scenes, you guys,
Speaker 1: behind the scenes talk. What's so great is when you're
Speaker 1: the lead. You're the one planning the dates and announcing
Speaker 1: the dates and leading the person to where they go
Speaker 1: and what's next. You know what's ahead before they do.
Speaker 1: But when it comes to hometowns, the lead is in
Speaker 1: the dark, and the lead really gets to follow what
Speaker 1: that person is doing because it's they're showing you their hometown,
Speaker 1: their family, how they navigate their life away from the cameras.
Speaker 1: So it's a really special moment and Tastia and get
Speaker 1: that with these men because they were still at Lakita
Speaker 1: Tai's like I can see my room from over there
Speaker 1: while I'm holding up this box text. She was definitely
Speaker 1: robbed in the experience. And I think when I was
Speaker 1: on Hometowns, one of my favorite parts was again behind
Speaker 1: the scenes, but like when we would just be driving
Speaker 1: in the cargo and from place to place and you
Speaker 1: can be with that person and they can point out, oh,
Speaker 1: that's my school er, that's where I used to go
Speaker 1: grocery shopman, that's where this happened. And to see those
Speaker 1: little special moments to really get a feel for who
Speaker 1: somebody is and how they grew up as special and
Speaker 1: she was robbed of it. And that's why I say, like,
Speaker 1: I wish you would have just had the full day
Speaker 1: to spend with the families to like really be able
Speaker 1: to interact like fully with them. I'll they step up
Speaker 1: the game. I don't want to see it. Yeah, I
Speaker 1: will agree with you, though. My favorite hometown was Ivan's.
Speaker 1: From his parents to the well, the cooking, to the parents,
Speaker 1: to the brother, to Ivan's reaction, I just loved it all.
Speaker 1: A close second, though, are the Clarks, because that's what
Speaker 1: zach See kept saying. You constantly referred to his family
Speaker 1: as the Clarks. Tatius meeting the Clarks and liked it. Yeah, yes, um,
Speaker 1: I mean I like, I'm just I just love people.
Speaker 1: So I love like seeing It's so different when the
Speaker 1: contestants are actually in front of their brothers and sisters
Speaker 1: and nieces and nephews and parents, and so that's special
Speaker 1: to see. Yeah, Like nothing major major stood out really
Speaker 1: in like any of the conversations. To me, it was
Speaker 1: again your standard like getting to know the family. We
Speaker 1: do start to see a little foreshadowing. I feel like
Speaker 1: though with some of the guys, Like I noticed right
Speaker 1: away with Brendan, he's very in his head and he
Speaker 1: makes multiple comments about like I don't know if I'm
Speaker 1: quite there yet writing to propose, like I don't know
Speaker 1: if I want to do this again. And it's interesting
Speaker 1: because I watched Santasia with him and see her body
Speaker 1: language and how she interacts and like she is so
Speaker 1: into him. Did you notice that, Like I haven't, you
Speaker 1: know every want to talk about Zack. See, I see Brendan.
Speaker 1: She is everything from her body language to how her
Speaker 1: face lights up. She is enamored with Brendan. That's exactly
Speaker 1: what it is. And I think thank god his hometown
Speaker 1: was first to kind of like get it out of
Speaker 1: the way because I feel like if it would have
Speaker 1: been the last one, that's all people would have been
Speaker 1: fixated on. I think, yeah, I have an issue with
Speaker 1: Brendan's that type of person that's on this show. I
Speaker 1: am over the person who gets to this point and
Speaker 1: is like I'm not ready, Like I am so sick
Speaker 1: of that narrative. Why are you on the show? We
Speaker 1: all know how this ship is, right, Like, you know
Speaker 1: what happens in this show. So for you to pull
Speaker 1: out the car taking the spot of a Riley who
Speaker 1: would have done anything to get a hometown, dare say
Speaker 1: it even a blake am people who really wanted that spot.
Speaker 1: And here you are saying bringing up things that you
Speaker 1: knew from the first day, right, you knew you were married,
Speaker 1: you before you knew you had certain reservations. You knew
Speaker 1: that this was another level for you because you've gotten
Speaker 1: down on one knee and you don't want to rush
Speaker 1: the process. Sir, Why the hell are you on the Bachelor?
Speaker 1: It's all rushed, you know what I mean? Like when
Speaker 1: I see people like that, I am questioning you. I
Speaker 1: can't see Brendan any other way other than this is
Speaker 1: an opportunity for him. You aren't serious about this, You're
Speaker 1: wastingatious time. Yeah. Yeah, it makes me think like did
Speaker 1: you come on just wanting clout and some sort of fame,
Speaker 1: or did you come on like truly being open and
Speaker 1: not thinking you were going to potentially follow this hard
Speaker 1: and fast for somebody. But yeah, at the end of
Speaker 1: the day, like, hello, news flash, anyone signing up to
Speaker 1: be a contestant on the show, like the goal is
Speaker 1: to getting to the lead, Like that is no excuses enough? No, yeah,
Speaker 1: nothing is. Nothing works. The fact that she's having a
Speaker 1: fantasy suite. You knew that was going to happen. The
Speaker 1: fact that you're surprised at how quickly you fell, that's
Speaker 1: always a possibility. There is no excuse for it. You
Speaker 1: cannot change my mind then, other than you got as
Speaker 1: far as you wanted to get. And now you're using
Speaker 1: this as an excuse. It's been done before, fellas if
Speaker 1: you're coming on the show for cloud, use a different
Speaker 1: excuse that we see it. Yeah, I'm over it. I
Speaker 1: can I ask you a question? Yeah, do you think
Speaker 1: that our two favorite hometowns were the ones where the
Speaker 1: parents came? Um, we didn't, Ben and Brendan did their
Speaker 1: parents didn't come. Do you think that that played into
Speaker 1: tatious decisions? Because I thought that was I know COVID's happening,
Speaker 1: and I know certain people have reservations, and I know
Speaker 1: my dad didn't show up on camera, but he still
Speaker 1: was there right like he was, He still met all
Speaker 1: the men. I just was like, I wonder how she
Speaker 1: feels about it because Ben explained it. I don't remember
Speaker 1: hearing from Brendan if he explained it. Yeah, And no,
Speaker 1: I don't remember hearing from Brendan either. I think, I
Speaker 1: mean maybe, and and at least for me, I would
Speaker 1: I think need to meet somebody's parents before potentially getting engaged.
Speaker 1: That's just like because like when you potentially marry somebody,
Speaker 1: you're marrying that family. And so yeah, maybe, And I'm
Speaker 1: hoping there's like parts that we missed. I'm not sure. Um.
Speaker 1: We gotta get into Ben though, because very on brand
Speaker 1: with him this entire season. Ben's timing is so terrible,
Speaker 1: and so we see him not have his parents, but
Speaker 1: he has his sister, which he's talked at length about
Speaker 1: how she's the most important in his life. I get
Speaker 1: that the family friend shout out to what was her
Speaker 1: name Antonio, Antonia Rachel. She's a great chef in La
Speaker 1: side note she owns several or is the head chef
Speaker 1: several restaurants. But we gotta go when restaurants off because
Speaker 1: I've ended two of them and her food is impeccable
Speaker 1: and she's a family friend of his. What what's her restaurant?
Speaker 1: Her restaurant she has Scopa in Venice and she does
Speaker 1: Scopa and then but if you love Scope, this other
Speaker 1: one that I went to before things shut down, it's
Speaker 1: called Black Market Liquor Bar, and their food is like
Speaker 1: I had to be dragged out of there. I ordered
Speaker 1: way too much. Everything was incredible, So shout out to Antonia.
Speaker 1: But yeah, I think, like me takeaway with that is
Speaker 1: that Ben I have a real issue with the fact
Speaker 1: that he needed somebody else to tell him that he
Speaker 1: was in love. Like, I don't understand if you're like
Speaker 1: you are a grown man, you are what's thirty and
Speaker 1: you couldn't come to that conclusion on your own. It
Speaker 1: was tough for me to watch him having to have
Speaker 1: a conversation with somebody else to be like, honey, you're
Speaker 1: in love, and then he like has this like light
Speaker 1: bulb go off like this epiphany moment where I'm like, what,
Speaker 1: maybe you don't even tell he's because he wasn't in love. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's that's at least how I felt about it. Yeah.
Speaker 1: And then we see him, of course like not tell
Speaker 1: her and get too nervous by the emotion in the
Speaker 1: whirlwind that is going on in his head in his heart,
Speaker 1: and then poor Bendon goes home. Yeah. I don't think
Speaker 1: he thought he was going home. He did seem utterly
Speaker 1: shocked when she was saying that she wanted more from
Speaker 1: him and she was surprised at the way it went.
Speaker 1: I think he couldn't grasp the fact that he was
Speaker 1: going home. He wasn't heartless or cold. He was in shock.
Speaker 1: That's how I felt about it. He thought he had
Speaker 1: more time for whatever reason, to say whatever or maybe not. Um.
Speaker 1: I find it interesting because when we did have him
Speaker 1: on the podcast, he would talk about how he was
Speaker 1: so thoughtful about every single thing he did. But you
Speaker 1: couldn't be thoughtful about the love that you felt like
Speaker 1: you couldn't grasp that you could or was that part
Speaker 1: of like was that calculated? Was that plan? I just
Speaker 1: keep going back to the way that he was on
Speaker 1: the podcast. So I'm shocked that this is how it
Speaker 1: ended for him because it seems to such a stark
Speaker 1: contrast to the persona that was on the podcast versus
Speaker 1: how he was on the show. Something doesn't add up
Speaker 1: with him, As my father says, the ends don't match up. No,
Speaker 1: I don't believe him. That's what it is. I don't
Speaker 1: believe you. Yeah, yeah, I And that's like something with like,
Speaker 1: out of the four remaining guys, he's obviously been the
Speaker 1: one that has always kind of been off in timing
Speaker 1: and emotions and like being able to verbalize. But like,
Speaker 1: if it's hard for me as a viewer, I can
Speaker 1: only imagine how hard it would have been Tatia. It
Speaker 1: would be like pulling teeth trying to get any sort
Speaker 1: of like emotion or feeling or anything out of him.
Speaker 1: And I get it, Like I rightfully, so after watching
Speaker 1: all of this, like I understand why he was the
Speaker 1: one to not get throws that night. He does just
Speaker 1: enough to stay by, He does just enough, he gives her.
Speaker 1: He he reminds me, he reminds me of Peter Cross
Speaker 1: in the sense that I'm saying this in the sense
Speaker 1: of he reminds me of him in the way that
Speaker 1: like he gives you just enough, but if you really
Speaker 1: break down what he's saying, it doesn't match up like
Speaker 1: something is. And so it's like you have like a
Speaker 1: I don't believe you, like I'm into you, I like you,
Speaker 1: I feel it, but there's something that I can't explain
Speaker 1: that's not adding up here. Let me ask you this,
Speaker 1: Do you think I don't own where this just enough
Speaker 1: you just enough to hang on? But do you think
Speaker 1: that's because he has this notion of being a potential
Speaker 1: bachelor one day in the background been one thousand percent
Speaker 1: wants to be the bachelor. And that's why that's why
Speaker 1: I think he kind of knows how to play and
Speaker 1: not that it's a game like kind of how to
Speaker 1: play it to give us enough, to open up, just enough,
Speaker 1: but to not like fully commit to this relationship that you,
Speaker 1: you know, say you're in love. Yeah, And I beg of,
Speaker 1: I beg producers, please don't do it. We've been here
Speaker 1: before with the person who is so desperate to be
Speaker 1: the lead. It never works out when they want it
Speaker 1: so badly, when they've been planning for it, calculated, made
Speaker 1: certain moves to get to that point, and then you
Speaker 1: give it to them. It always messes up. There were
Speaker 1: so many grave men from the Claire slash Tatious season.
Speaker 1: Don't pick him. I don't want to see it. I
Speaker 1: stand by it. Yeah. Well, and if not that we've
Speaker 1: gotten into Matt James this season, but we know this
Speaker 1: whole narrative that he's never been in love and we
Speaker 1: need somebody who, like I want to lead, kind of
Speaker 1: like Claire, who knows what she wants, who's not ready
Speaker 1: to settle, who doesn't put up with any bullshit, doesn't
Speaker 1: beat her on the bus. She's straightforward and she goes
Speaker 1: for what she wants. And so that's what I wanted
Speaker 1: to see in my leads from here on out. Just
Speaker 1: putting it out there right now, please and thank you producers,
Speaker 1: Eat and Tasha. Can I just say I want to
Speaker 1: get Tasia a big compliment and how she navigated these hometowns.
Speaker 1: I think it was Zach who talked about how at
Speaker 1: East she was she was so confident and warm with
Speaker 1: every family she fit right in. I just that's not
Speaker 1: easy to do. So I just want to give kudos
Speaker 1: to her for how well she did, and I'm not
Speaker 1: that's that she had to try at it. She was
Speaker 1: a natural, but it was it was nice to see. Yeah,
Speaker 1: oh yeah, no, she handled it beautifully. It's as and
Speaker 1: I'm sure anyone who has been on the dating scene
Speaker 1: and has met a family at some point it's nerve
Speaker 1: racking and to do that four times in less than
Speaker 1: a week, it's it's not easy. And she, yes, she
Speaker 1: navigated it wonderfully, So kudos to you, miss Titia. And
Speaker 1: with that, as much as we can keep going and talking,
Speaker 1: you know us, you can't. Once you start, we can't stop.
Speaker 1: But it is time to have on our amazing guest
Speaker 1: today because we have been waiting patiently to get him
Speaker 1: on all season, and I know all of you listening
Speaker 1: to have too, So we're super excited to be sitting
Speaker 1: down today with the one and only Ivan. Who are
Speaker 1: you ready? Ivan? I am ready? Okay, okay. I always
Speaker 1: want to ask you guys if you're nervous to podcast
Speaker 1: with us. I'm very nervous right now. No, No, I'm fine.
Speaker 1: But it's like back on the show, I got into
Speaker 1: a groove of like interviewing all the time, and I
Speaker 1: haven't done that in three months now, so it's like
Speaker 1: I'm sure I'll be fine here. We're not going to
Speaker 1: produce or interview you, so don't worry. Yeah, we far
Speaker 1: this thing from it. We'll probably say something we're not
Speaker 1: supposed to say. This is like a conversation between friends,
Speaker 1: which is why we're like, if you want to grab
Speaker 1: a drink, I'm sure, if you drink, If you want
Speaker 1: to lie, oh wait, we're in Califori. I was like,
Speaker 1: if you want to light it up, okay, take a sip,
Speaker 1: sit back, enjoy all of this because what's so great
Speaker 1: about what we get to do is we get to
Speaker 1: go in depth about burning questions people have about you,
Speaker 1: about your time on the show, about your opinions on
Speaker 1: the other men in the house, about your relationship with Tasia.
Speaker 1: There's so many questions Ivan. You're obviously a fan favorite.
Speaker 1: Welcome to Bachelor Happy Hour. Yes, welcome, and you've been
Speaker 1: one of the most requested men that we've been asked
Speaker 1: to have, so we are thrilled to be having you.
Speaker 1: I mean, we want to get into it. We have
Speaker 1: so much to ask you, but first, yes, like to
Speaker 1: play off of Rachel. How have you been, how are
Speaker 1: you doing now that we're kind of back in quarantine
Speaker 1: and you just were what was that this crazy world
Speaker 1: end of a journey? Not Dallas. Dallas is not in
Speaker 1: quarantine out there? Oh no, oh yeah, everything definitely yeah,
Speaker 1: very different from La out here for sure. But no,
Speaker 1: I've been really good. I got back into my regular routine.
Speaker 1: Took a little trip with my brothers last week. That
Speaker 1: was fun. And everything's back to normal now for the
Speaker 1: most part. You know, it's uh, the anxieties kind of building.
Speaker 1: It is, like, you know, things progress with the show.
Speaker 1: But um, it's been fun. I've enjoyed everything. How is
Speaker 1: watching it back with your friends or your family is it?
Speaker 1: Is it weird? Is it strange? Is it enjoyable? It's
Speaker 1: extremely weird. Like the first episode, I watched episode one
Speaker 1: with Claire, I watched it by myself. I was like,
Speaker 1: I can't, I can't watch with any of you guys, y'all,
Speaker 1: they're gonna stress me out. And it was already stressful
Speaker 1: enough for just me by myself, to be honest. But
Speaker 1: as time progress, it's been fun. I went back to
Speaker 1: my parents' house a couple of times and watched with them,
Speaker 1: and watched with a couple of friends last night actually,
Speaker 1: and uh, it's been fun. It's enjoyable, though, you know,
Speaker 1: they always have a ton of questions and I'm like, man,
Speaker 1: I had the time of my life out there. Well,
Speaker 1: Dallas is a hot spot for the Bachelor? Did you
Speaker 1: know anybody? Okay? So then that's another that I literally
Speaker 1: got this in my interview. They were like, well, Dallas
Speaker 1: is a hot spot, you know because Jojo had just
Speaker 1: been before me as the bachelorette. True and this is
Speaker 1: when I was just coming on as a contestant, and
Speaker 1: they were like, do you know anybody? Do you have
Speaker 1: you ever met any of the people show? And I
Speaker 1: was like, I don't even watch the show, so I
Speaker 1: couldn't tell you, you know, like either or My question
Speaker 1: for you Ivan is how does an aeronautical engineer wind
Speaker 1: up on The Bachelor? I don't know if we've ever
Speaker 1: seen it before, and I'm sure we'll never see it again.
Speaker 1: We'll see um. Well, for me, it was it was interesting.
Speaker 1: The show reached out to me via you know, social media,
Speaker 1: a DM, and I was like, is this real or whatever?
Speaker 1: And then I had to go Google and check to
Speaker 1: make sure it's a real person and all that stuff,
Speaker 1: and one thing led to another and I'm on the show.
Speaker 1: It's once I started getting into the process. To be honest,
Speaker 1: I was like, I feel like I'm gonna be on here.
Speaker 1: I told my parents it's like a pretty high percent
Speaker 1: chance that I'm gonna be on this show. And this
Speaker 1: is kind of crazy, but you know, it's a once
Speaker 1: in a lifetime opportunity, honestly to meet somebody amazing potentially
Speaker 1: and then also be able to do so many amazing things,
Speaker 1: especially during this quarantine time. So I jumped right at it.
Speaker 1: And luckily my job is extremely flexible, flexible, and my
Speaker 1: manager is amazing, so I got to take all the
Speaker 1: time off that I needed and it's been awesome. It's
Speaker 1: that's how I guess I ended up here. I you know,
Speaker 1: I'm not. I don't. I'm not the typical I guess engineer,
Speaker 1: I would say as well, like I like to do
Speaker 1: a lot of different things. I'm not as nerdy as
Speaker 1: I guess most people would think an engineer is. So yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: I consider myself, you know, pretty spontaneous too. So it's
Speaker 1: I'm glad I did it, though, for sure, did you
Speaker 1: watch the show before going on? So? Um, I've seen
Speaker 1: like episodes before. I know Rachel's season was actually the
Speaker 1: first one. I know, I've seen like a few episodes
Speaker 1: of I know I didn't watch the whole thing, but
Speaker 1: I want to say I probably watched some episodes with
Speaker 1: my mom back in the day and maybe and then
Speaker 1: my girlfriend used to watch it. I never paid attention,
Speaker 1: but once I first got got the first call, I
Speaker 1: started paying attention to a Peter season for sure, just
Speaker 1: to like understand what was going on, Like I need
Speaker 1: one of those people. Yeah, I kind of needed to
Speaker 1: like be prepared a little bit to see like what
Speaker 1: was going to happen before I got on the show.
Speaker 1: So I watched Peter season and then I also went
Speaker 1: back and watched Hannah Brown's like first night, just to
Speaker 1: see what the entrances looked like to figure that whole
Speaker 1: thing out. Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's the extent of what
Speaker 1: I knew about the show. Really. Okay, before we really
Speaker 1: get into I mean, because we have a lot of
Speaker 1: questions to ask you about hometowns, because that's obviously what
Speaker 1: we just watched. But yeah, I want to get into
Speaker 1: first because we didn't really see much of you when
Speaker 1: it was still Claire's time on the show. You know,
Speaker 1: you were a little bit more quiet, a little bit
Speaker 1: more reserved. But the second Taitia entered the room and
Speaker 1: was officially announced as your new batchel, right, your energy
Speaker 1: completely switched a complete one eighty. You just like seemed
Speaker 1: to light up for within so and we don't even
Speaker 1: get into like the time prior to that. But um,
Speaker 1: what was it like waiting in the house, not like
Speaker 1: after Claire left, waiting for potentially a new bachelor, not
Speaker 1: knowing what was pointing on, and then meeting Tasia for
Speaker 1: the first time. No, it was it was awesome. It
Speaker 1: was like a little bit nerve wrecking, um, because we
Speaker 1: just went through what we went through. But um, I
Speaker 1: remember there were probably like a few of the guys
Speaker 1: we thought it was going to turn into Bachelor in Paradise,
Speaker 1: to be honest, so we were just excited for whatever.
Speaker 1: But I remember telling, um, a couple I remember telling
Speaker 1: a couple of guys I was like, you know, it
Speaker 1: could be Bachelor Paradise would be great, but honestly, all
Speaker 1: it takes is one girl and to be the bachelorette,
Speaker 1: and that's going to get me excited too, And uh,
Speaker 1: that's all it took. And and Tashia arrived and as
Speaker 1: soon as she walked in that door. I know, I
Speaker 1: was the first person to hugger. I was the most
Speaker 1: excited guy in that room that night. Um, Taia's just
Speaker 1: somebody like who. I felt like I kind of already knew. Um,
Speaker 1: I feel like we have similar backgrounds and I just knew,
Speaker 1: And I even said it that night. I was like,
Speaker 1: I'm in here. I'm gonna be here for the long haul.
Speaker 1: And I think a lot of guys were kind of
Speaker 1: like taking it back by it all because they all
Speaker 1: had this idea that the rankings of Claire's people was
Speaker 1: gonna stay the same with Tasia, and I was like, no,
Speaker 1: this is completely different. Good luck to you guys, because
Speaker 1: I know I'm gonna be here for a while. To
Speaker 1: be honest, Oh, I love it. I love the concidence.
Speaker 1: So what was it that made you say Tatia and
Speaker 1: I have very similar backgrounds? Well, one thing I guess
Speaker 1: that we connected with on our one on one was
Speaker 1: that we're both by racial have black dads, and then
Speaker 1: our moms are actually both you know, immigrants. Her mom's
Speaker 1: from Mexico and my mom's from the Philippines, and we
Speaker 1: did speak about that as well, and that was one thing,
Speaker 1: another thing we could connect on how we can like
Speaker 1: relate to both cultures. And then on top of that,
Speaker 1: she's from Orange County and I'm from a Plano, Texas,
Speaker 1: which is like a really nice area which is probably
Speaker 1: a little bit some of the Orange County. And I
Speaker 1: feel like I've met a lot of people like Tasia.
Speaker 1: I would say, so, I felt like I to a
Speaker 1: certain degree, I kind of knew her, And I've dated
Speaker 1: a lot of different women of all races, all backgrounds
Speaker 1: and whatnot. But like I'll say, the majority have been
Speaker 1: like kind of in like the Tay Show, realm or
Speaker 1: so so, um so she was your type? Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: I would say, she's yeah, she was more of my type.
Speaker 1: I would say, sure, my preference, I guess. Yeah. Well,
Speaker 1: if we couldn't tell from the smile the second she
Speaker 1: walked in real quick, Yeah, I'm sorry, no, no no, keep
Speaker 1: going no. Yeah. I actually like had to catch myself
Speaker 1: after one of my interviews that night, and I was like, oh, well,
Speaker 1: I need to calm down. I'm a little too excited,
Speaker 1: right because it was it was a lot of excitement though,
Speaker 1: because I was just I was just ready to get
Speaker 1: things going. Well, you were literally loaded. You were like
Speaker 1: bouncing in the chair just smiling. I was like, oh,
Speaker 1: he is ready for this one. Um. So taking it
Speaker 1: back to your one on one because that's really where
Speaker 1: we first obviously got to know you, and the fact
Speaker 1: that I love about it is like you guys weren't traveling.
Speaker 1: There was no exotic destinations, there was no fancy gimmicks.
Speaker 1: It was just like one of the most chill, down
Speaker 1: to earth but memorable one on ones that we've ever
Speaker 1: ever seen on the show. For however many seasons, it's
Speaker 1: been going on a thousand now basically, and that's I
Speaker 1: think based solely on you opening up about your vulnerability
Speaker 1: to have these important conversations and to really talk about
Speaker 1: what's not only going on with yourself and in your life,
Speaker 1: in your background, but with the world. And so I
Speaker 1: want to start with the story of your brother. How
Speaker 1: did you feel being able to share that part of
Speaker 1: your life with Taisha? Was it nerve racking? How did
Speaker 1: it feel after you had this conversation to take us
Speaker 1: back to that night? Yeah, yeah, so that night. Honestly, first,
Speaker 1: just first of all, it started out great, like I
Speaker 1: love game nights, and I told Tasha that actually in
Speaker 1: one of the earlier cocktail parties, like game nights are
Speaker 1: my thing, just hanging out with my friends doing playing
Speaker 1: all types of games, whatever you can think of. Those
Speaker 1: are like my favorite nights, just doing that in drinking
Speaker 1: and having a good time. And then for us to
Speaker 1: have that first meant a lot to me because it
Speaker 1: was just so much fun that we could just like
Speaker 1: really relax and be ourselves. And then later on, I
Speaker 1: knew I wanted to, uh, you know, share the story
Speaker 1: with my brother because you know, in this short amount
Speaker 1: of time, you really have to like explain and show
Speaker 1: the person that you truly are. And to do that
Speaker 1: for me, I had to tell the brother of the
Speaker 1: story of my brother that shaped me in more ways
Speaker 1: than pretty much anything in my life. So I felt
Speaker 1: like I really needed to do that. It was a
Speaker 1: little bit nerve wrecking because I'll tell you, like some
Speaker 1: of my best friends honestly, you don't even know, like
Speaker 1: my younger brother was in prison because I keep a
Speaker 1: lot of that in um. So it was a little
Speaker 1: bit nerve wrecking, but it was definitely something I wanted
Speaker 1: to share and I knew I had to share for
Speaker 1: Tasha to really understand kind of who I am a
Speaker 1: little bit. Yeah. I mean that conversation was like a
Speaker 1: conversation we've never seen before on the Bachelor franchise, and
Speaker 1: I spoke about it like at great lengths here on
Speaker 1: a Bachelor Happy Hour, and one of the things we
Speaker 1: said was we really appreciated you being vulnerable, which is
Speaker 1: what Becca was talking about, but also just the way
Speaker 1: you were able to speak about the situation because you
Speaker 1: admitted your own thoughts and how you used to think
Speaker 1: about things, which I thought was very honest because a
Speaker 1: lot of people can't do that. You said, Oh, I
Speaker 1: used to think of it this way until I had
Speaker 1: somebody close to me who was a part of the system,
Speaker 1: and then I started to see it in a totally
Speaker 1: different way. And I thought that was very eye opening
Speaker 1: and refreshing to see, because not everybody has the power
Speaker 1: to be able to do that. One of the things
Speaker 1: that we talked about on the podcast is that we
Speaker 1: felt like you carried the conversation. It seemed very and Becca,
Speaker 1: I have received a little bit heat from this, but
Speaker 1: it's the true. It's how we felt. I was blown
Speaker 1: away by you. We were by you and your honesty.
Speaker 1: I want to know how you felt in that moment,
Speaker 1: because obviously we aren't we weren't privy to the entire conversation.
Speaker 1: There was obviously more that was said. How did you
Speaker 1: feel in that moment? Oh? Man, Um, Yeah, so that
Speaker 1: that Yeah, that moment was great and you know, it
Speaker 1: just it just came so naturally, honestly for the both
Speaker 1: of us. But yeah, with me, I I did see
Speaker 1: a lot of hesitation when it came to Titia. And
Speaker 1: for myself, I know, like throughout my whole life, I've
Speaker 1: always been very introspective and taken a lot of time
Speaker 1: to think deeply about a lot of topics and do
Speaker 1: research to like form my own opinions on things. And
Speaker 1: you know, to be honest, not everybody spent has spent
Speaker 1: that amount of time, I would say. And and my
Speaker 1: dad's done a good job of like making sure I'm
Speaker 1: keenly aware of like black issues in America, especially with
Speaker 1: my dad being a little bit older. He's seventy three,
Speaker 1: Like he's lived through a lot of crazy stuff, so
Speaker 1: he's told me a lot of stories. So growing up
Speaker 1: I knew a lot of different things and was keenly
Speaker 1: aware of you know, batter and and black issues, especially
Speaker 1: this year for sure. So no, I just appreciate Atasia
Speaker 1: in that moment for just being open and honest, because
Speaker 1: that's what I think she was doing. You know, not
Speaker 1: everybody's gonna be able to just speak at length on
Speaker 1: term on these types of things, or give dissertations on
Speaker 1: black issues in America and whatnot. And I don't expect
Speaker 1: everybody too to be honest. But as long as you're
Speaker 1: like aware things are happening and you're being open and
Speaker 1: honest about the way you view things, then that's all
Speaker 1: I could ask for from her at that moment for sure.
Speaker 1: First of all, I appreciate your father setting the example
Speaker 1: of recognizing the fact that you're biracial, right like I'm
Speaker 1: not biracial, but I will have biracial children and I
Speaker 1: take and I just think it's so admirable that he
Speaker 1: recognized that you do have you come from two different cultures,
Speaker 1: but always reminding of you of who you are, always
Speaker 1: reminding you that if you get pulled over when people
Speaker 1: see you, this is what they're going to see first,
Speaker 1: and they may not understand the other side of you.
Speaker 1: I appreciate that, and I think that it's something that
Speaker 1: you said about you know you appreciated Tasha about being
Speaker 1: aware of what's going on. I guess I feel like,
Speaker 1: as a black woman, I need you to be more
Speaker 1: than aware. And I think this was like kind of
Speaker 1: the issue in watching it. Would you expect or maybe
Speaker 1: want more from someone that you're establishing a relationship with.
Speaker 1: Would you want them to be more cognizant of who
Speaker 1: they are when they navigate this world? And maybe you
Speaker 1: can give me a different perspective because I will recognize
Speaker 1: I'm black and black, you know you are biracial, and
Speaker 1: so maybe you can give a different perspective of what
Speaker 1: it is to navigate the world as a biracial person
Speaker 1: that I can't. Yeah, no, you're You're making a great point, right,
Speaker 1: But to be frank and honest, Tasha honestly just grew
Speaker 1: up in a bubble, I feel like, and she's kind
Speaker 1: of you know, and I could kind of see that
Speaker 1: and sense that from her what she's able to do
Speaker 1: going forward is what matters the most. But kudos to
Speaker 1: you because you truly did I think carry that conversation
Speaker 1: and I want to go and because you spoke about
Speaker 1: your dad, and I will say this, so after watching Hometowns,
Speaker 1: with your family and we all talked to well, I
Speaker 1: shouldn't say, Rachel and I talked about this before you
Speaker 1: hopped on about how I was I think one of
Speaker 1: our favorite hometown dates out of this launch. It was
Speaker 1: just the fact that you guys were cooking and drinking
Speaker 1: wine in the kitchen seemed so down to earth, and
Speaker 1: your family was so beautiful and lovely. When I did
Speaker 1: write in my notes, your dad kind of reminded me
Speaker 1: of my father. So my dad is also well was
Speaker 1: he passed away, but he was older, so he was
Speaker 1: actually the same age as your dad. But your father
Speaker 1: and I feel like we don't always see this with
Speaker 1: parents on the show because I think they like they're like, oh,
Speaker 1: we just want our son or daughter to be happy,
Speaker 1: and this is like really cool, unique experience. But your
Speaker 1: dad was so realistic and down to earth, and I
Speaker 1: like that he kind of like kept you grounded when
Speaker 1: he saw you. That was something really special. So I
Speaker 1: love that interaction because it just, you know, it gave
Speaker 1: me all the feels. But the real surprise of your
Speaker 1: hometown date wasn't seeing your parents. It was seem your brother. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and the show doesn't make me cry very often. And
Speaker 1: I was sobbing like a baby watching this moment go down.
Speaker 1: So what when he walked out, Give me everything you're
Speaker 1: feeling and thinking when you first saw him again after
Speaker 1: two months. I gotta be honest, Yeah, I was only
Speaker 1: anticipating my parents being there, and you know, that's what
Speaker 1: Chris Harrison told me. And when Chris told me that,
Speaker 1: my mind, just because I've kind of been trained to
Speaker 1: think this way, it just went to like dark places
Speaker 1: of like something bad happened to my brother because we
Speaker 1: are close and I knew he would be there for
Speaker 1: me if he could. So I was just extremely nervous that,
Speaker 1: you know, something terrible happened and he ended up back
Speaker 1: in prison or you know, honestly even potentially dead. To
Speaker 1: be honest, that's something we've been dealing with, you know,
Speaker 1: before he was in prison, and during he was in prison,
Speaker 1: and after, Um he struggles from a lot of mental
Speaker 1: health issues and like I said, a little bit of
Speaker 1: addiction and depression and all that kind of stuff. So um,
Speaker 1: it's hard to work through. So I was just I
Speaker 1: was just I was just very nervous, I would say.
Speaker 1: But when he actually showed up there, um, it was
Speaker 1: just such a such a nice relief I m to
Speaker 1: be able to actually see him, and you know, there's times, honestly,
Speaker 1: he's only been at that point, he was only out
Speaker 1: of prison for about a year, and we've had trials
Speaker 1: and tribulations even just that year he's been out. But
Speaker 1: that was the first time I've seen him like on
Speaker 1: a trip he's been that he's been on a trip
Speaker 1: or in a different state in in years, like since
Speaker 1: we were little, So it was just it was just
Speaker 1: such a shock to have him there. I'm sure he
Speaker 1: was enjoying his experience there, and he just means the
Speaker 1: world to me. I've said this multiple times, but he's
Speaker 1: the most influential person in my life. He's the person
Speaker 1: if he was like me, I honestly might be like
Speaker 1: a little bit in the bubble and not be so
Speaker 1: open to people who have gone through issues and whatnot.
Speaker 1: So he's just opened my eyes, you know, going to
Speaker 1: different rehabs with him and participating in sessions and whatnot
Speaker 1: and hearing other people's stories, just to be under more
Speaker 1: understanding and less judgmental of everyone in the world, to
Speaker 1: be honest. So he doesn't take enough credit for that,
Speaker 1: and he'll always say like, I'm just, you know, the
Speaker 1: greatest big brother in the world, but he's the greatest
Speaker 1: younger brother too, and just by being himself. You guys, Okay,
Speaker 1: you're emotional right now? What is going on your reaction
Speaker 1: when he walks through. I love Tasia's reaction too, because
Speaker 1: you hear the door open it. Tastia just looks at
Speaker 1: you like, oh my gosh, it's happening, and it's like
Speaker 1: it doesn't register with you yet. You're like, wait what
Speaker 1: And you go from this laugh to this cry, like
Speaker 1: you see the emotion change, like I can't believe this
Speaker 1: is happening, to oh my gosh, it's happening. Oh I
Speaker 1: have It's everything. I am curious to know because you've
Speaker 1: been so honest about what your brother has gone through.
Speaker 1: How is your brother right now and how has he
Speaker 1: been knowing that you have been I'm sure you got
Speaker 1: his blessing, but just like you've been talking about like
Speaker 1: the things that he's been through, I just like I
Speaker 1: want to know how he's feeling about it and how's
Speaker 1: he doing now? For sure? Yeah, my brother and I
Speaker 1: are very close. We talk all the time, and he
Speaker 1: understands that he has helped shape the person I've become
Speaker 1: the day, So he knows I need to be able
Speaker 1: to express that to whoever I want to potentially get
Speaker 1: married to you, because that's how I'm viewing this at
Speaker 1: that point. So he I definitely had his blessing for sure.
Speaker 1: And on top of that, my brother and I have
Speaker 1: talked about potentially starting like you know, charities and ways
Speaker 1: of giving back because of his experience in prison. Like
Speaker 1: I said on the show, it's when we would go
Speaker 1: visit him, he would tell me some crazy stuff that's
Speaker 1: happening in prison like that nobody else he wouldn't tell
Speaker 1: that to anybody else. My mom would go step away,
Speaker 1: or my mom and dad would go step away and
Speaker 1: bring his daughter away. And know, we'd have those intense
Speaker 1: talks where he's like sometimes breaking down and telling me
Speaker 1: these things he's actually having to deal with, and I'm
Speaker 1: trying to coach him through it, but there's not much
Speaker 1: you can do through a glass wall. And then when
Speaker 1: I leave, I just feel so helpless. So there's there's
Speaker 1: just so much that he's learned going through that experience.
Speaker 1: And and quite frankly, you know, like I said with
Speaker 1: George Floyd, police brutality has been brought to the forefront
Speaker 1: of the society here in America. The thing that me
Speaker 1: and him have both recognized is that, you know, correctional
Speaker 1: officer brutal brutality is not really talked about at all.
Speaker 1: That's a situation where there is nobody in the prison
Speaker 1: system or jails who have cameras to record what's going on.
Speaker 1: If you do something, it's completely handled by the correctional officers.
Speaker 1: They get they're the judge, jury, executioner, all that stuff,
Speaker 1: and beside your fate, there's no visibility whatsoever. So without
Speaker 1: any visibility, there's there's no way we can like track
Speaker 1: what's going on or hold people accountable at all, especially
Speaker 1: with all the third party So those are all major
Speaker 1: problems we've we've known and have recognized. And you know, prisoners,
Speaker 1: you know, majority of them come back to society and
Speaker 1: you know, to be going through abuse in there, and
Speaker 1: you know, honestly, not having the correct rehabilitation type of
Speaker 1: activities going on in there. It's just not good for
Speaker 1: you know, America as a whole, honestly. So there's a
Speaker 1: lot of changes that I think need to need to happen.
Speaker 1: You know, this is the like prison capital of the world,
Speaker 1: America is we hold a vast majority of the prisoners
Speaker 1: compared to all the other developed countries, especially the candidate
Speaker 1: Scandinavian countries. So there's a lot of improvement to be
Speaker 1: done there. And with my brother's knowledge from the inside,
Speaker 1: and then like with what I want to do with
Speaker 1: philanthropy going forward and charities and whatnot, we'll definitely want
Speaker 1: to make a change in that space. Okay, this is
Speaker 1: why I love having you guys on the podcast, because
Speaker 1: there is so much that not only we can learn
Speaker 1: from you, but that all of our listeners can learn
Speaker 1: from you. And I guarantee a majority of the listeners
Speaker 1: probably have no and I don't want this, like, probably
Speaker 1: have no idea of all the things that are really
Speaker 1: truly going on. And and this is why it's so good,
Speaker 1: as you said, to educate yourself and to immerse yourself
Speaker 1: in something that you don't see on a daily basis,
Speaker 1: to learn more and grow from and so incredible, incredible. Um.
Speaker 1: One thing I want to touch on switching gears a
Speaker 1: little bit. Here is your adorable niece, the adorable name.
Speaker 1: I can't we can't not talk about hometowns like the
Speaker 1: what did the best chef Filipino chef was it? But
Speaker 1: you yes, yes, she's she's just had her fifth year
Speaker 1: birthday and um, you know, I think she'll really appreciate
Speaker 1: that moment later going for it as she really realizes
Speaker 1: what actually happened. My mom and uh, Kaylanie's mom are
Speaker 1: very like they do their very hands on and do
Speaker 1: everything with her. So the fact that they were able
Speaker 1: to get a video of her cooking lumpia, you know,
Speaker 1: which is something that my mom's cooked for me my
Speaker 1: entire life, really meant a lot to me. And I
Speaker 1: really wanted Kaylanie to be there more than anything. But
Speaker 1: you know, she couldn't make the trip, but which was
Speaker 1: which was fine. That video was enough and that brought
Speaker 1: a giant smile to my face. Kaylanie, you know, she
Speaker 1: was born, like I said, I think on the show,
Speaker 1: she was born while my brother was in prison, so
Speaker 1: she had her mom there and her mom's great amazing,
Speaker 1: but me and my parents definitely had to step up
Speaker 1: and step into her life. And I always wanted to
Speaker 1: make sure she had that like father figure there for
Speaker 1: her as well. And that and I always wanted my
Speaker 1: brother to know that She's taking care of no matter
Speaker 1: what happens, because I'm always going to take care of
Speaker 1: her and look at her as my own. So yeah,
Speaker 1: having Kaylani sending that video is the cutest thing ever.
Speaker 1: She's the cutest little girl. She's like the background on
Speaker 1: my phone and I love her. If I'm ever feeling down,
Speaker 1: I just have to look at a picture of her
Speaker 1: and I'm good. I'm good to go after that. She's
Speaker 1: so cute. I've been listening to you speak about her.
Speaker 1: It just it gives me chills and so special. I
Speaker 1: feel like I have no idea what happens the rest
Speaker 1: of this season after this hometown date. But um, I
Speaker 1: feel like you would be ready for kids. I don't know,
Speaker 1: So okay, I'll say yeah, yeah, I'll say this. I Um,
Speaker 1: I could definitely handle kids now, but I definitely want
Speaker 1: to enjoy like traveling and doing something for my partner
Speaker 1: first four kids. To be honest, So often do you
Speaker 1: see her? Lum? It varies. She lives about three hours
Speaker 1: away right now, so I probably see her once a
Speaker 1: month maybe, But before that, she lived at my parents
Speaker 1: house with her mom for about a year, so I
Speaker 1: saw her all the time. Then, um, so yeah, it's
Speaker 1: always a treat to see her though, especially now that
Speaker 1: she's getting her personality. She's always been pretty shy and
Speaker 1: now she's finally in the personality. So she's a TV
Speaker 1: star now that's right. Yeah, you um, i'man we We
Speaker 1: we get to see so many great things about you
Speaker 1: on the show. And one of the other things is
Speaker 1: that you tend to stay out of the drama, like
Speaker 1: you're not involved. There's a lot of drama surrounding you,
Speaker 1: especially with the switch of bachelorettes and the men and
Speaker 1: all of this. It's a lot Who were you close
Speaker 1: with in the house? Oh? I was close with a
Speaker 1: lot of guys, but first and foremost, Damar was probably
Speaker 1: my best friend from this show. He uh, we were
Speaker 1: roommates the longest actually, and you know, being a roommate
Speaker 1: just allowed us to talk a lot more. And he's
Speaker 1: such like a bala energy and like probably the most
Speaker 1: positive guy in the house, especially as like a spin instructor.
Speaker 1: He's got great Energy's got to be positive. Yeah, he's
Speaker 1: the best at telling stories. He could be like a
Speaker 1: narrator honestly, a podcast host or even a DJ. He's
Speaker 1: got great music sense. So I was closest with Damar,
Speaker 1: but I was close with a lot of guys. I
Speaker 1: was really close with um Or still am close with
Speaker 1: Noah Riley, Jordan Chapman, Um, quite a few of the guys,
Speaker 1: Um Spencer, even Um. I know I'm missing a couple,
Speaker 1: but yeah, quite a few of the guys I still
Speaker 1: keep in touch with. I'm assuming you're part of the group.
Speaker 1: Chat like, what do you guys callow yourself as the
Speaker 1: Sweet sixteen? Did we name it? We named it? Well?
Speaker 1: I think na Kenny that said like the Sweet sixteen
Speaker 1: group probably guys. Yeah, whenever when Claire left, a lot
Speaker 1: of the guys liked named us the Sweet sixteen. And
Speaker 1: if you guys were there like listening to us, Um,
Speaker 1: everybody was saying they were gonna get Sweet sixteen tattoos
Speaker 1: and whatnot. And I was over here just being quiet
Speaker 1: because I was like, I don't want a tattoo, but
Speaker 1: everybody was down for it. It was hilarious. But uh,
Speaker 1: but yeah, it's the Sweet sixteen. Was always so like Kenny.
Speaker 1: I feel like Kenny was leading the charge on that,
Speaker 1: so like, oh he wanted probably everybody imagine the star
Speaker 1: chat is we have the same conversation when I was
Speaker 1: on RA season. Um, I don't remember how many of
Speaker 1: us were laugh maybe like fourteen. We went to Paris
Speaker 1: and we all thought it would be a good idea
Speaker 1: to get rose tattoos. Thank God we didn't. Thank God,
Speaker 1: I think that's been done. I feel like somebody did that.
Speaker 1: My group of girls, we were like, it's cool here.
Speaker 1: But I don't know if I'm really gonna know y'all
Speaker 1: like that when and I'm still close to several of them,
Speaker 1: but no, absolutely Damar has a rose tattoo though, he's
Speaker 1: the only one who I think one. Actually he got one.
Speaker 1: Go one's pretty cool too. Tell me it's like a
Speaker 1: big one, not like it's like a big one all
Speaker 1: across the Okay, I appreciate that. I appreciate that now
Speaker 1: he committed to it. He committed to can't you see
Speaker 1: him though? And like as a spin instructor saying, you know,
Speaker 1: back at my time when I was in Palm Springs
Speaker 1: at the laking, you just gotta stay focused. You can't,
Speaker 1: you can't determine. You know, if you ever see the
Speaker 1: spin instructor, I could totally hear the pellets on in
Speaker 1: my head. You gotta stay focused. You can't worry about
Speaker 1: these other men that are distracting you. Oh my god,
Speaker 1: the whole thing. I'm telling you the best that I'm
Speaker 1: sure it's. Yeah. Oh I well, Becca, I'll let you
Speaker 1: ask your final question. Yeah, I think I was done.
Speaker 1: Yeah yeah. Um so, I mean we asked this of
Speaker 1: every guest because it's and the answers very greatly. But
Speaker 1: what was your rose and your thorn of the entire
Speaker 1: season up until this point, up until hometowns? Okay? Um
Speaker 1: for what's okay? Okay, okay, I got you? So my thorn,
Speaker 1: I know, my one thorn. Actually, this is my only
Speaker 1: complaint that I have. I don't complain about much, honest
Speaker 1: because I was just so grateful for the experience. But
Speaker 1: the heat there was ridiculous. I'm for sure in Palm
Speaker 1: Springs was ridiculous. I couldn't deal with it. It's like
Speaker 1: if we go outside and shoot for a little bit
Speaker 1: and I'm sweating like crazy. Eventually I started to learn like, hey,
Speaker 1: I need to always carry its howel because this is ridiculous.
Speaker 1: I just gotta wipe off all the time. Um So
Speaker 1: that sucked, to be honest, but U but either way,
Speaker 1: I don't want to come off as like I'm complaining
Speaker 1: because I was just very thankful to be there. Um.
Speaker 1: The rose m up to that point. Yeah, I guess
Speaker 1: it's just got to be the family, the hometown. The
Speaker 1: hometown's got to be That just had so many different elements.
Speaker 1: The fact I got to share, like, you know, my
Speaker 1: Filipino culture, Woultasia and just cook some lumpia that was
Speaker 1: awesome for me. Um with Kailani coaching us through that.
Speaker 1: UM and then and then the fact my mom, my brother,
Speaker 1: and my dad were able to show up that like
Speaker 1: my core family, and UM, that just meant the world
Speaker 1: to me that they were all there to support me.
Speaker 1: And I loved every many a minute of that date.
Speaker 1: Well we did too. It was truly enjoyed watching you
Speaker 1: on the show because you've taken it up a notch,
Speaker 1: Like you've really raised the bar when it's come to
Speaker 1: the show. You've we've had when you've we've been able
Speaker 1: to have conversations that I don't know prior to twenty
Speaker 1: twenty we would have ever been able to have on
Speaker 1: the Bashel franchise, and Becka and I both speak out
Speaker 1: about the need for diversity and the need for change
Speaker 1: and the need for growth. And I'm happy that through
Speaker 1: the conversation that you initiated, we were able to see that.
Speaker 1: I mean, naming people who were killed at the hands
Speaker 1: of the police on ABC Prime Time, you know, like
Speaker 1: it was. It really was powerful. And I hope you
Speaker 1: know or you understand. I'm sure you didn't in the
Speaker 1: moment because you were just being yourself and saying, you know,
Speaker 1: how you were feeling. But I hope you see that
Speaker 1: it was a big deal, you know, now that it's
Speaker 1: out there. Yeah, no, I know, I really appreciate it
Speaker 1: that And to be honest, I was definitely aware. And
Speaker 1: I've been listening to you guys for a while now,
Speaker 1: actually ever since, like I started the casting process and
Speaker 1: hearing you guys speak about things. Rachel Becka, I really
Speaker 1: appreciate you guys for bringing stuff up. I remember you
Speaker 1: guys had a podcast specifically about talking about the world
Speaker 1: and whatnot, and I listened to that, and you know,
Speaker 1: they're with the whole Bashed diversity campaign and all that
Speaker 1: kind of stuff. Like I read through the things that
Speaker 1: they had, so I was keenly aware of what was
Speaker 1: happening and and myself being you know, half black, half Asian.
Speaker 1: I kind of I did like a quick check. I
Speaker 1: haven't seen any other black and Asian person on the
Speaker 1: show before, so I was like the first person to
Speaker 1: represent people who looked like me specifically, and you know,
Speaker 1: and especially having takes there, that's what I think really
Speaker 1: allowed me to like relate to her with us both
Speaker 1: being by racial and especially it was it was in
Speaker 1: the summertime, so like things had just happened, and I know,
Speaker 1: I spent a ton of time reflecting and taking notes
Speaker 1: and like making all these project plans for like all
Speaker 1: these ideas I have. That's just what I do in
Speaker 1: those types of moments, and so it was just still
Speaker 1: so fresh on my mind, and you know, I wanted
Speaker 1: to be a part of the change in Bastro Nation.
Speaker 1: I'm really glad that it was received well. I'm honestly shocked.
Speaker 1: I haven't got too much backlash at all. Like I
Speaker 1: was actually really shocked for just for just having a
Speaker 1: from a regular conversation. So I'm very happy with the
Speaker 1: way it was received, and I'm very happy that I
Speaker 1: got to start potentially a new trend in that's our
Speaker 1: an issue. Can I tell you Taylor Nolan is doing
Speaker 1: a series about biracial contestants. I think she started in August. Actually,
Speaker 1: I don't know if you're aware of it, but through
Speaker 1: her podcast of with biracial contestants that have been on
Speaker 1: the show, and it's really good. So if you haven't
Speaker 1: checked it out already, do that, because she's definitely been
Speaker 1: great at like leading the charge of that experience. So no,
Speaker 1: I really appreciate that. And I actually have heard that,
Speaker 1: And yes, she had like four different shows or episodes
Speaker 1: of that. And Taylor was another person in Ba's Our Nation.
Speaker 1: I didn't follow too many people honestly prior to coming
Speaker 1: onto this show. I think it was like yourself, Rachel,
Speaker 1: and maybe Taylor and maybe Ashley Spivey. I think something
Speaker 1: like that. And Taylor and I have actually connected since
Speaker 1: after the show. And see somebody I appreciated who is
Speaker 1: always just being herself, which I appreciate the most. I
Speaker 1: like you when people are just being themselves and not
Speaker 1: regretting it at all or apologizing for that. H Yeah,
Speaker 1: well I've been It has been an absolute pleasure. But
Speaker 1: you've like set this bar now for for the franchise
Speaker 1: as a whole, and I can only hope that we
Speaker 1: take it up and not season by season and keep going.
Speaker 1: So thank you for sharing your story on national television,
Speaker 1: for sharing your family and the relationship that you have
Speaker 1: with them with all of us, and just for being
Speaker 1: being on our podcast today. We're so happy to have you. No,
Speaker 1: I'm honored, and I really appreciate you guys having me. Honestly,
Speaker 1: It's it feels like a dream comes true, honestly because
Speaker 1: I've just heard you guys on the on apt podcast
Speaker 1: for a while now, and meeting you guys is awesome.
Speaker 1: So I really appreciate it. Thank you, Thank you for
Speaker 1: that support. Yeah, of course, of course. Ivan right, so sweet.
Speaker 1: Oh this been and he like I liked him before
Speaker 1: and I and we've talked about this at length, like
Speaker 1: after his one on one he grew on me so
Speaker 1: so much. But just having him here today, like right now,
Speaker 1: the amount of chills that I got for this entire conversation.
Speaker 1: He's incredible, incredible. It was him talking about because like
Speaker 1: that's what you want to hear when he said, hey,
Speaker 1: you know like Latatia, I want to see what she
Speaker 1: does moving forward. Hearing him talk about the things he
Speaker 1: wants to do moving forward, how he's like I've been
Speaker 1: reflecting and I've been thinking, how could I help out
Speaker 1: with this or bringing awareness to the abuse from correctional
Speaker 1: officers and have in fighting for people who are behind bars.
Speaker 1: I mean, just the level of activism, the level of
Speaker 1: the desire to want to do better and make changes
Speaker 1: in our society. I really appreciate the conversation, and I
Speaker 1: love that you can tell that him talking about George
Speaker 1: Floyd that was just the tip of the iceberg. There's
Speaker 1: so much depth there. Yes, Like, I have no doubt
Speaker 1: he is going to be doing big, incredible things from
Speaker 1: here on out. And then in a weird way, like
Speaker 1: even though yes, it's a reality TV show, I'm glad
Speaker 1: now that he has this platform to do so because
Speaker 1: had we not have had him on, and had he
Speaker 1: not shared this story about his brother and speaking out
Speaker 1: about George Floyd, like Bachelor Nation would have had none
Speaker 1: of that this season, and it's so needed and so
Speaker 1: I can't wait to see what he does from here
Speaker 1: on out. And he did not disappoint, No, he didn't.
Speaker 1: Can't wait. He's a good one. So all right, you guys, Well,
Speaker 1: getting down to the wire, we officially have only two
Speaker 1: episodes left this season, which I know we keep saying
Speaker 1: it seems like it's dragging on and on and on,
Speaker 1: but we have two episodes left before the finale, so
Speaker 1: we're dying to know how this season ends for Tasia.
Speaker 1: I truly, like you know, we try to guess week
Speaker 1: by week, and like, at this point, I have no
Speaker 1: clue how it's going to turn out. So next week
Speaker 1: we're going to be on Monday and Tuesday back to back,
Speaker 1: So please make sure that you're following along and watching
Speaker 1: with us, yes, and also make sure to keep up
Speaker 1: with us on social You know where to find us
Speaker 1: at Bachelor Happy Hour on Instagram or at Batch Happy
Speaker 1: Hour Spoke in Twitter. And last but not least, you guys,
Speaker 1: don't forget to subscribe to our podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify,
Speaker 1: the Wandering App, or wherever you're listening to this right now. Bye, guys,
Speaker 1: ye