WEBVTT - Then vs. Now: Reality TV Version 0:00:01.000 --> 0:00:06.040 This is the most dramatic podcast ever and iHeartRadio podcast. 0:00:07.520 --> 0:00:09.720 Chris Harrison coming to you from the home office in Austin, 0:00:09.800 --> 0:00:13.360 Texas today, And I'm really excited about this show because 0:00:13.360 --> 0:00:16.320 I'm kind of diving back into the history books, into 0:00:16.360 --> 0:00:19.720 the archives an old friend of mine, and I say 0:00:19.760 --> 0:00:23.400 old because well we are now. Michael Stagliano. You guys 0:00:23.680 --> 0:00:29.120 might remember him from his Bachelorette and Bachelor Pad days. Well, 0:00:29.160 --> 0:00:31.880 I was listening to a podcast the other day and 0:00:32.320 --> 0:00:36.800 he said that he was celebrating his fifteenth anniversary of 0:00:36.840 --> 0:00:39.600 being on the show. I was like, there's no way 0:00:39.880 --> 0:00:44.600 that can't be true. Fifteen years that's when that season 0:00:44.720 --> 0:00:48.280 Jillian Harris is season of The Bachelorette. I had to 0:00:48.280 --> 0:00:49.919 go back. I honestly had to google it and look 0:00:49.960 --> 0:00:52.199 it up, and I'm like, damn it, he's right. Fifteen 0:00:52.280 --> 0:00:55.080 years ago. He was on season five The Bacheorette with 0:00:55.120 --> 0:00:58.240 Jillian Harris, who, if you don't remember, was this really fun, 0:00:58.320 --> 0:01:02.319 loving Canadian girl and it was a great season. When 0:01:02.360 --> 0:01:04.320 I look back at seasons, I look back at who 0:01:04.440 --> 0:01:06.800 was on it, and I'm like, wow, so many people 0:01:06.880 --> 0:01:10.280 came from that show to be a part of Bachelor Pad, 0:01:10.959 --> 0:01:15.400 Future Bachelor's, Bachelor in Paradise, etc. And that was one 0:01:15.400 --> 0:01:18.280 of those seasons, that kind of lightning bulb season where 0:01:18.319 --> 0:01:20.640 a lot of stars from our franchise came from it, 0:01:20.720 --> 0:01:23.919 and Michael Stagliano was one of them. He became really 0:01:24.000 --> 0:01:26.960 popular because he was not only on the Bachelorette with Jillian. 0:01:27.360 --> 0:01:30.200 He didn't win that season spoiler alert, but he went 0:01:30.240 --> 0:01:34.400 on to season two of Bachelor Pad and season three 0:01:34.440 --> 0:01:37.039 of Bachelor Pad, which was a bit of a game 0:01:37.120 --> 0:01:39.800 show we started back in the day where there was 0:01:39.800 --> 0:01:42.040 two hundred and fifty thousand dollars on the line. We 0:01:42.040 --> 0:01:45.040 would bring in nine women and nine guys from this 0:01:45.160 --> 0:01:47.680 show that was just on and they would compete and 0:01:47.760 --> 0:01:50.320 try and couple up, et cetera. And it was fun 0:01:51.000 --> 0:01:53.960 and that is what led to Bachelor in Paradise. We 0:01:53.960 --> 0:01:56.800 took a summer off and then Paradise came in because 0:01:56.800 --> 0:01:59.560 the game show element was a little problematic for us 0:01:59.600 --> 0:02:03.000 because we always wanted to dive into the relationships and 0:02:03.040 --> 0:02:05.400 the love and the romance and the drama, but you 0:02:05.480 --> 0:02:10.040 had to really service the game show aspect. So Stagliano, 0:02:10.480 --> 0:02:14.520 we actually talked about him becoming the Bachelor on a 0:02:14.560 --> 0:02:16.760 couple of occasions, and then for one reason or another, 0:02:16.840 --> 0:02:20.280 Jake Pavelka became the Bachelor and whoever else took over, 0:02:20.400 --> 0:02:22.520 and it just kind of got away from him as 0:02:22.520 --> 0:02:24.400 far as being the Bachelor, but we always kept him 0:02:24.400 --> 0:02:27.560 in the franchise because he was so popular and it 0:02:27.720 --> 0:02:31.359 was it was just it really struck me that he 0:02:31.639 --> 0:02:34.800 was on the show fifteen years ago. So I thought 0:02:35.240 --> 0:02:36.840 we got to revisit this, and I want to have 0:02:36.960 --> 0:02:39.880 him on the show today to talk about those seasons 0:02:40.320 --> 0:02:43.720 and what he remembers looking back and then where he 0:02:43.840 --> 0:02:47.760 is now. So welcoming Michael Stagliano to the most dramatic 0:02:47.800 --> 0:02:51.640 podcast ever. Why do you still look about the same age. 0:02:52.000 --> 0:02:56.240 It's you know, we're celebrating the fifteen year reunion of 0:02:56.280 --> 0:02:57.400 you being on the show. 0:02:57.800 --> 0:03:01.080 Yeah. When you say it out loud, Chris, it dates 0:03:01.280 --> 0:03:06.040 us us considerably. So that puts me I'm forty. 0:03:05.880 --> 0:03:09.079 Now, Chris, Well, well let me date you further. I 0:03:09.440 --> 0:03:11.760 had been doing the show for quite some time before 0:03:11.760 --> 0:03:16.640 you go on Sefty two. Don't age me, don't age me. 0:03:16.680 --> 0:03:19.440 I look great, I do. I found myself telling people 0:03:19.440 --> 0:03:21.760 that I'm just older now. So they'll be like, oh, 0:03:21.760 --> 0:03:22.880 you look good for your age. 0:03:23.520 --> 0:03:24.600 You do look good for your age. 0:03:24.639 --> 0:03:25.960 I am fifty three. 0:03:26.919 --> 0:03:29.600 Chris, You're fantastic for your age. Let me be adamant 0:03:29.600 --> 0:03:31.760 about it. What do you I bet Lauren has you 0:03:31.840 --> 0:03:32.560 eating very well? 0:03:32.680 --> 0:03:35.920 She does, she keeps. And you know, here's the thing. 0:03:36.520 --> 0:03:36.839 I don't. 0:03:36.880 --> 0:03:40.000 I started going gray. You can't see it, but yeah, 0:03:40.800 --> 0:03:43.760 but I didn't go Ari gray like Ari started. I 0:03:43.800 --> 0:03:45.520 Ari started going gray and he beat me. He just 0:03:45.560 --> 0:03:48.760 went gray. We were at long Gale's wedding and I'm like, dude, 0:03:48.800 --> 0:03:51.560 you're You've gone full gray, so like mine, hit the 0:03:51.560 --> 0:03:53.400 sides and it just kind of stops so up top, 0:03:53.480 --> 0:03:55.360 I have not. I don't know why I'm I'm holding on. 0:03:55.960 --> 0:03:58.120 Yeah, but even in the facial hair, it looks it 0:03:58.120 --> 0:04:01.200 looks sophisticated on you, not like, oh, he's getting Do 0:04:01.240 --> 0:04:02.120 you know what I mean when I say that? 0:04:02.160 --> 0:04:04.160 Well, you know it's funny. So and I'm sure I 0:04:04.160 --> 0:04:05.640 don't know if this happened to you. You still have 0:04:05.640 --> 0:04:08.800 a nice, thick, dark beard. And I would trim my 0:04:08.880 --> 0:04:10.920 beard and then you would empty out the little shavings 0:04:11.160 --> 0:04:13.080 and it used to be, oh, it's all all pepper 0:04:13.320 --> 0:04:14.920 and then it would be oh, there's a little salt 0:04:15.000 --> 0:04:17.920 in there. Now it's like, wow, is there any pepper 0:04:17.960 --> 0:04:19.040 in here? Is it all salt? 0:04:20.000 --> 0:04:21.599 Oh? Is this what I have to look forward to? 0:04:21.760 --> 0:04:23.880 Yes? But the good news is salt, we have now learned, 0:04:23.920 --> 0:04:26.960 has gone done to three sixty. It's good for you again. 0:04:27.040 --> 0:04:29.719 So salt is good. So we're that's you. Should you 0:04:29.720 --> 0:04:30.760 stay stay hydrated. 0:04:31.000 --> 0:04:33.480 Wait, I'm sorry, do you mean like only Himilian sea. 0:04:33.720 --> 0:04:36.599 Yeah, only Himialan sea salt, not the salt on your face? 0:04:36.960 --> 0:04:38.760 Got it? Yes, big difference, big difference. 0:04:39.200 --> 0:04:41.720 But no, I was so you and I were talking 0:04:42.520 --> 0:04:45.520 and I had I guess I saw something else you did. 0:04:46.320 --> 0:04:48.920 And you mentioned this has been fifteen years, the fifteen 0:04:49.000 --> 0:04:51.919 year reunion or anniversary of you doing the show, And 0:04:51.960 --> 0:04:56.120 I'm like, my god, that's right. Gillian Harris's season, which 0:04:56.200 --> 0:04:59.960 was I believe season five of The Bachelorette Chris. 0:05:00.080 --> 0:05:04.240 It was the first season that aired in high definition. 0:05:04.800 --> 0:05:09.440 Really think about that. Oh, that's right, historic that season 0:05:09.960 --> 0:05:13.039 was and she was the best ever. But yes, she 0:05:13.160 --> 0:05:16.640 was our first non American, first non American, she was 0:05:18.160 --> 0:05:20.599 we had a Canadian, she was Canadian. That's funny. 0:05:20.640 --> 0:05:22.559 I didn't. I didn't realize that that was our first 0:05:22.720 --> 0:05:25.760 HD show. Man, my life changed. I was so good 0:05:25.920 --> 0:05:28.760 in uh low Death. I was crushing it. 0:05:29.680 --> 0:05:32.680 Well, how many years did you do it? You did 0:05:32.680 --> 0:05:34.320 at least a decade more right? Yeah? 0:05:34.320 --> 0:05:36.400 I did ten years in high definition. I was holding 0:05:36.400 --> 0:05:39.800 on for dear life. I created the entire scandal just 0:05:39.839 --> 0:05:42.680 so I could just get away from high high definition TV, 0:05:43.480 --> 0:05:43.800 and you. 0:05:43.760 --> 0:05:50.839 Pulled it off. This always I actually have a fascination 0:05:50.920 --> 0:05:55.920 around this. Yes, what what do you remember from that time? 0:05:56.000 --> 0:05:58.000 It seems to me like the show has changed quite 0:05:58.040 --> 0:06:00.320 a lot. Maybe about that, but from what I've heard, 0:06:00.320 --> 0:06:01.839 it seems like it's changed a lot. What do you 0:06:01.880 --> 0:06:07.520 remember from even like Bachelor Pad days, the shout I. 0:06:06.880 --> 0:06:08.839 I don't mean this in a negative way at all 0:06:10.040 --> 0:06:12.360 to the presence or to the future. I know I 0:06:12.440 --> 0:06:15.880 remember it being fun and and and that goes a 0:06:15.920 --> 0:06:18.720 lot to where I was in my life of just 0:06:18.760 --> 0:06:21.839 being younger and starting out in this this ride in 0:06:21.880 --> 0:06:24.640 this career, and the show was really banging back then. 0:06:24.680 --> 0:06:28.120 I mean, we were crushing it. By Jillian season, we 0:06:28.240 --> 0:06:31.520 weren't the number one show on television anymore, but we 0:06:31.520 --> 0:06:34.440 were the number one show on ABC. We were still 0:06:34.520 --> 0:06:37.520 dominating our night, and so we're on a roll, right, 0:06:37.520 --> 0:06:39.880 We're still on a heater, And I was just so 0:06:40.080 --> 0:06:43.200 much more. Maybe it's because I was closer in age 0:06:43.200 --> 0:06:45.799 to a lot of you, and so I befriended Jillian, 0:06:46.040 --> 0:06:49.200 I got to be friends with you, you know. I remember 0:06:49.200 --> 0:06:51.720 some of the other people that came through that season. 0:06:51.720 --> 0:06:54.280 Even the crew. It seemed like was said it was 0:06:54.360 --> 0:06:55.239 kind of a good vibe. 0:06:55.279 --> 0:06:58.760 There was this collegial camaraderie with us, with us all 0:06:59.480 --> 0:07:03.800 just having having fun. Nothing was controversial really back then, 0:07:03.839 --> 0:07:10.440 if you remember it, it wasn't. Everything didn't mean everything, you. 0:07:10.400 --> 0:07:10.880 Know what I mean. 0:07:11.160 --> 0:07:14.120 I feel like now, I feel like now everything that 0:07:14.200 --> 0:07:18.720 is said and done has to mean everything, and it 0:07:18.720 --> 0:07:21.760 gets dissected and torn apart, and it's like, you can't 0:07:21.800 --> 0:07:24.240 live like that. You can't produce television like that, and 0:07:24.320 --> 0:07:27.920 you certainly can't be a contestant, a silly contestant on 0:07:27.960 --> 0:07:30.920 a silly reality show like that, because you can't be 0:07:30.960 --> 0:07:33.840 that serious. You can't take yourself that serious. 0:07:34.440 --> 0:07:37.720 Yeah, maybe that's part of the shift that's happened. And 0:07:37.800 --> 0:07:40.880 I would say that I'm a limited I have limited 0:07:40.920 --> 0:07:44.120 knowledge about what the franchise is like, you know, kind 0:07:44.120 --> 0:07:47.160 of in the middle eight years since I was on 0:07:47.280 --> 0:07:49.560 from it. But I did watch The Golden Bachelor. Did 0:07:49.600 --> 0:07:50.360 you happen to watch that? 0:07:50.400 --> 0:07:52.840 I did, And I'll be honest, I haven't watched anything 0:07:53.000 --> 0:07:54.680 since I. 0:07:54.000 --> 0:07:55.800 I can't imagine, and I'm in the same boat. I 0:07:55.840 --> 0:07:57.920 hadn't watched any for such a long time. And then 0:07:57.920 --> 0:08:00.560 I watched The Golden Batchelor, and at the Golden at 0:08:00.640 --> 0:08:03.960 least seemed like it had some sincere moments of like, Wow, 0:08:04.040 --> 0:08:07.000 these older people are here to find love and it 0:08:07.080 --> 0:08:09.360 kind of had that magic if if I'm being honest, 0:08:10.560 --> 0:08:12.640 but yes, to respond to kind of what you were 0:08:12.680 --> 0:08:16.520 saying about the culture and how fun it was on 0:08:16.600 --> 0:08:20.120 set back then, I yeah, I can imagine. 0:08:19.760 --> 0:08:21.720 It was, and I think there was a time when 0:08:21.760 --> 0:08:24.920 you could protect certain people from themselves. Like there was 0:08:25.040 --> 0:08:27.360 a person I won't name names. It was not you, 0:08:27.440 --> 0:08:29.560 I will say that, but there was someone on There 0:08:29.600 --> 0:08:32.880 was someone on your season, Jillian season, that was a 0:08:32.920 --> 0:08:36.320 little problematic and they were just kind of dealt with. 0:08:36.840 --> 0:08:40.079 They said some really inappropriate things and it went away 0:08:40.160 --> 0:08:42.680 and they went away. That wouldn't happen today. 0:08:43.280 --> 0:08:45.640 No, That's what I was gonna say, Wow, man, it 0:08:45.679 --> 0:08:48.559 makes me fascinated. What you think would happen if all 0:08:48.559 --> 0:08:51.120 that stuff with He who shall not be named, Yeah. 0:08:51.000 --> 0:08:52.800 They would. They would just be out. Everything they said 0:08:52.840 --> 0:08:56.359 would have been public knowledge. They would have been absolutely 0:08:56.400 --> 0:09:01.079 crucified for it, and maybe rightfully so. But to us, 0:09:01.120 --> 0:09:03.280 it was something that didn't drive the story, so it 0:09:03.280 --> 0:09:05.840 didn't need to be outed and talked about, and so 0:09:05.920 --> 0:09:07.520 we just let him go on his way. We made 0:09:07.559 --> 0:09:10.280 sure that Jillian didn't end up with him. That's important, 0:09:10.920 --> 0:09:12.880 but look, we don't need to ruin his life. He 0:09:12.920 --> 0:09:15.360 doesn't need to tarnish the show, et cetera. Let's just 0:09:15.400 --> 0:09:17.240 go our separate ways, by gods, And that's the way 0:09:17.280 --> 0:09:19.880 I think the world used to be on a larger 0:09:19.960 --> 0:09:24.400 scale of you didn't have to stop and then make 0:09:24.440 --> 0:09:29.040 an example of every single thing. I think socially, you're 0:09:29.080 --> 0:09:33.199 almost activated to do that now, and that that really 0:09:33.280 --> 0:09:36.880 changes how you approach every situation. I can't imagine how 0:09:36.920 --> 0:09:39.200 people have to approach being on a reality show now. 0:09:39.679 --> 0:09:41.680 Yeah, I'm going to ask you that if you've seen 0:09:41.920 --> 0:09:44.680 a IF while you were with a franchise or maybe 0:09:44.720 --> 0:09:47.040 just in reality TV in general, you know, if there's 0:09:47.120 --> 0:09:49.600 if there's been a shift from people that just want 0:09:49.640 --> 0:09:52.200 to use it as a platform to get famous versus 0:09:52.559 --> 0:09:55.720 bastl or specifically back in the day, social media didn't exist. 0:09:55.760 --> 0:09:58.920 So we went on to find love, like I'm putting 0:09:58.960 --> 0:10:01.360 that in Giant Air the listener, you know, like I 0:10:01.400 --> 0:10:04.080 wonder if that if you have a sense of that, 0:10:04.240 --> 0:10:05.360 like if it just changed, like. 0:10:05.720 --> 0:10:07.240 You know, did I mean, look, I mean it's because 0:10:07.280 --> 0:10:08.760 you know, look I used to talk about, you know, 0:10:08.880 --> 0:10:10.840 like what changed in love and dating and all that 0:10:10.880 --> 0:10:12.200 when you were on the show. I said, Well, when 0:10:12.240 --> 0:10:16.480 we started in O two one, there was such thing 0:10:16.520 --> 0:10:19.200 as a blog and that was it, and you really 0:10:19.280 --> 0:10:22.920 got your news from Entertainment Tonight, People Magazine, US Magazine, 0:10:22.960 --> 0:10:25.679 those things, and those would come out much later and 0:10:25.760 --> 0:10:28.320 you would kind of get a snapshot of what's going on, 0:10:28.400 --> 0:10:31.000 and that's it, you know. That's you'd go on the 0:10:31.000 --> 0:10:34.000 tabloid shows and you would hear some things. But yeah, 0:10:34.320 --> 0:10:38.600 social media didn't change, and you guys, you guys kind 0:10:38.600 --> 0:10:40.080 of got the best part of it where you didn't 0:10:40.160 --> 0:10:43.760 go on for social media, but you got social media later. 0:10:44.679 --> 0:10:47.840 Whereas and then there was that crew that came on 0:10:48.520 --> 0:10:51.000 for social media, and they crushed it. 0:10:51.360 --> 0:10:53.000 I got to know a lot of those guys too well. 0:10:53.000 --> 0:10:55.520 I would say the JoJo's of the world beca tilly. 0:10:56.200 --> 0:10:58.160 I'm trying to think of those that just absolutely have 0:10:58.400 --> 0:11:00.160 crushed it on social media. 0:11:00.600 --> 0:11:03.440 Barstow right, doesn't she have her own platform and show 0:11:03.559 --> 0:11:03.920 now right? 0:11:04.000 --> 0:11:06.679 I think there's yeah, cal yeah, Kayla, Barsta. She has 0:11:06.679 --> 0:11:11.000 her own thing and definitely benefited from social media. And 0:11:11.080 --> 0:11:13.720 you know, we used to name people the Bachelor or 0:11:13.720 --> 0:11:15.480 Bacherette and they would end up with a million or 0:11:15.520 --> 0:11:20.440 two million followers immediately. Now you know, you might have 0:11:20.480 --> 0:11:22.880 one hundred thousand, a couple hundred thousand, and it's just 0:11:23.320 --> 0:11:25.880 you don't move the zeitgeist and you don't move the 0:11:25.920 --> 0:11:28.800 needle that much on social media. Which that's a hard 0:11:28.840 --> 0:11:30.880 thing to sell because one of the things we used 0:11:30.920 --> 0:11:34.240 to be able to sell was, look, Michael, come on 0:11:34.280 --> 0:11:36.360 the show, do the things we ask you to do. 0:11:36.800 --> 0:11:39.640 You're gonna get a lot of residual bump out of 0:11:39.679 --> 0:11:44.160 this show. And it's probably tough, I'm guessing to cast 0:11:44.240 --> 0:11:47.760 the show now because you can't promise that what do 0:11:47.800 --> 0:11:50.439 you remember from the show, Well, like, do you remember 0:11:50.520 --> 0:11:52.560 not not from Bachelor? Pad, we'll get to that, because 0:11:52.600 --> 0:11:54.920 you went on to be on Bachelor Pad, but being 0:11:54.960 --> 0:11:59.840 on Jillian season of The Bachelorette, you weren't. It wasn't 0:11:59.840 --> 0:12:03.439 the new freshman year, but it wasn't senior year. I 0:12:03.480 --> 0:12:05.000 would say you were in the middle kind of sophomore 0:12:05.080 --> 0:12:07.040 junior year of the show being really good. 0:12:08.000 --> 0:12:11.880 Yeah, I think that's fair. Geez, what do I look 0:12:11.960 --> 0:12:16.360 back at now, Chris? Mostly you know, I was twenty five, 0:12:16.640 --> 0:12:19.679 which is a toddler in some sense compared to what 0:12:19.760 --> 0:12:22.000 it feels like to be forty and where I at now. 0:12:22.160 --> 0:12:24.680 Your front your frontal lobe wasn't even formed yet. 0:12:25.559 --> 0:12:29.080 Yeah. Yeah, to be medically specific, yeah, right, an infant. 0:12:29.120 --> 0:12:32.600 But you probably can resonate with this too, especially now 0:12:32.640 --> 0:12:35.880 that I have kids. Like happens when you have kids, 0:12:35.880 --> 0:12:38.120 and it changes how you look at kind of how 0:12:38.160 --> 0:12:41.119 you were when you were younger. And obviously we're exaggerating 0:12:41.120 --> 0:12:43.720 a little bit, but to be more specific about it, 0:12:43.760 --> 0:12:46.600 when I was twenty five, Chris, you know, like the 0:12:46.720 --> 0:12:50.800 idea of going on a TV show for love, I 0:12:50.840 --> 0:12:53.480 really mean this, I was like a full scent. I 0:12:53.520 --> 0:12:56.680 was like, I am pretty confident I could find love 0:12:56.840 --> 0:13:00.560 with this girl. From Canada. So I really, I mean 0:13:01.000 --> 0:13:05.600 I went into the show, you know, a totally naive, 0:13:05.760 --> 0:13:07.720 kind of like a puppy. I'd never been a part 0:13:07.720 --> 0:13:09.360 of a fraternity. I don't know how else to make 0:13:09.360 --> 0:13:12.360 a comparison, but at night one does feel like what 0:13:12.400 --> 0:13:14.480 it probably feels like Rush week at a frat house. 0:13:14.520 --> 0:13:18.600 You're just like good Gop. There's just testosterone exploding off 0:13:18.640 --> 0:13:21.760 of the wall. People are drinking heavily. Maybe that's changed now, 0:13:21.800 --> 0:13:25.480 but back then, back then, there was Timmity, Crickets Chris 0:13:25.520 --> 0:13:28.040 like you. You couldn't put a drink down without someone 0:13:28.080 --> 0:13:31.400 giving you another drink, and part of it was like 0:13:31.559 --> 0:13:35.080 the best. I mean, it was so fun to get to. Man. 0:13:35.080 --> 0:13:37.120 I can't believe I'm gonna say this about a reality 0:13:37.160 --> 0:13:39.880 television show, but I really mean it from my lens. 0:13:39.920 --> 0:13:43.560 At least at half of those guys Chris were there 0:13:43.720 --> 0:13:46.920 because they were into Jillion for sure, And definitely half 0:13:46.920 --> 0:13:48.560 of them were kind of like and some of the 0:13:48.559 --> 0:13:51.760 guys we've already not mentioned, you know, we're just kind 0:13:51.760 --> 0:13:54.720 of hag it out at drinking and not that into Jillion. 0:13:54.800 --> 0:14:00.360 But I at least felt like or the adventures sake 0:14:00.800 --> 0:14:05.480 of finding love. It was worth it and phenomenal, even 0:14:05.520 --> 0:14:07.839 though I was kind of the young Frodo Baggins if 0:14:07.840 --> 0:14:09.960 you don't mind the Lord of the Rings reference, you know, 0:14:10.200 --> 0:14:12.240 just kind of what the heck is going on. I 0:14:12.280 --> 0:14:15.600 didn't kiss her until I had no idea strategically, yeah, 0:14:15.640 --> 0:14:17.640 how to say the game of the bats arette. But 0:14:18.200 --> 0:14:21.080 I really did connect with her. I really did think 0:14:21.160 --> 0:14:23.280 she was like a fun person to hang out with. 0:14:23.400 --> 0:14:25.360 She was awesome, She was a good time in a can. 0:14:25.880 --> 0:14:28.560 It was the greatest. It was the greatest thing. 0:14:28.720 --> 0:14:31.600 It was tougher to do much research and homework back then. 0:14:31.640 --> 0:14:33.480 I mean you could maybe go on the dark web 0:14:33.520 --> 0:14:36.400 and find something, but there wasn't a whole lot where 0:14:36.400 --> 0:14:41.240 you could get online, direct message somebody, text somebody and 0:14:41.560 --> 0:14:43.920 figure out, Okay, what's the game plan, how does this 0:14:43.960 --> 0:14:46.280 really work? What are producers going to ask me to do? 0:14:46.440 --> 0:14:49.440 Et cetera. So there was a naivete and an innocence still, 0:14:50.200 --> 0:14:53.400 which made it beautiful. And I agree. I think a 0:14:53.400 --> 0:14:55.640 lot of people came on for the action, the adventure 0:14:55.640 --> 0:14:58.600 of the travel and yeah, maybe I will fall in 0:14:58.640 --> 0:15:01.160 love with this woman who loves hot dogs. 0:15:01.640 --> 0:15:05.040 Yes, And I really do mean that, and gosh, look, 0:15:05.320 --> 0:15:07.040 part of me is a romantic so I just can't 0:15:07.040 --> 0:15:09.720 help this anyway. I really do like when I watched 0:15:09.720 --> 0:15:12.520 The Golden Batcher, for example, I really do hope that 0:15:12.560 --> 0:15:16.400 there are some young kids that go on the show 0:15:16.640 --> 0:15:18.680 and believe like I used to believe. It sounds like 0:15:18.680 --> 0:15:20.840 I'm talking about Santa Claus, but that like you know, 0:15:21.160 --> 0:15:23.680 you can it is just a boy and a girl. 0:15:23.800 --> 0:15:25.840 It really felt to me at least like it is 0:15:25.880 --> 0:15:28.560 a person and that's there's gonna be sparks there or not. 0:15:28.640 --> 0:15:30.400 At least that part of the magic of the show. 0:15:31.080 --> 0:15:32.120 I hope that's still there. 0:15:43.720 --> 0:15:45.200 Well, that was always the beauty of the show. When 0:15:45.200 --> 0:15:47.640 people ask me what the it factor was for that show. 0:15:47.840 --> 0:15:51.000 There was no catch, which we'll get into bacher Pad 0:15:51.000 --> 0:15:53.280 and that was the biggest issue with bacher Pad as 0:15:53.280 --> 0:15:55.360 there became a catch. The thing with the Bachler and 0:15:55.440 --> 0:15:57.600 Bacherette is, at the end of the day, there is, 0:15:57.640 --> 0:16:00.440 as you said, we'll go notting Hill, you know, a 0:16:00.480 --> 0:16:02.680 boy standing in front of a girl or vice versa, 0:16:02.720 --> 0:16:05.400 depending on the season, and that's it. And you have 0:16:05.480 --> 0:16:07.880 to I don't care if you're on a beach, if 0:16:07.880 --> 0:16:10.440 you're on the you know, Zermatt, up in Switzerland or 0:16:10.440 --> 0:16:14.640 wherever you are. There is this vulnerability in this just 0:16:15.320 --> 0:16:18.040 fear of oh my gosh, does he like me? Does 0:16:18.080 --> 0:16:21.000 she like me? And that's beautiful and that's what the 0:16:21.200 --> 0:16:23.640 at the base of it all is what made the 0:16:23.680 --> 0:16:26.560 show so great. And then you know, if you had 0:16:26.640 --> 0:16:28.920 people that were genuine like yourself and like I think 0:16:28.960 --> 0:16:31.640 the majority of the cast back then who came in 0:16:31.680 --> 0:16:35.200 with that innocence of naivete it just made for great 0:16:35.240 --> 0:16:38.240 television because you could really genuinely go on that ride, 0:16:39.040 --> 0:16:42.400 whereas now I think you have to dissect Okay, who's 0:16:42.440 --> 0:16:44.760 the f boy, who's here to play this part? Who's 0:16:44.800 --> 0:16:46.560 here to play this part? You know, we're just so 0:16:46.640 --> 0:16:49.640 we're so savvy now because we've watched it for twenty 0:16:49.680 --> 0:16:50.360 four years. 0:16:50.840 --> 0:16:54.480 Yeah, yeah, yeah. Can I reflect something back to you, 0:16:54.560 --> 0:16:57.080 Chris Lee. I don't know how much you got to 0:16:57.120 --> 0:16:59.800 hear of this, but it's been fifteen years. You can 0:17:00.200 --> 0:17:02.480 you imagine in the circles that I run with, namely 0:17:02.520 --> 0:17:04.320 people in the Midwest and the East Coast that don't 0:17:04.359 --> 0:17:06.160 live in LA but you know, it was like those 0:17:06.200 --> 0:17:09.200 type of people. Hey, Chris, half of the country from 0:17:09.240 --> 0:17:11.520 my perspective believes that you created the show and that 0:17:11.600 --> 0:17:12.840 you are you know what I mean, that you are 0:17:13.040 --> 0:17:14.560 like the face of the brain of it. But but 0:17:14.640 --> 0:17:17.399 what I wanted to reflect back to you specifically is 0:17:17.840 --> 0:17:21.240 I always felt like, not only did were you genuinely 0:17:21.320 --> 0:17:23.600 rooting for the love part of it in a way 0:17:23.640 --> 0:17:26.080 that had nothing to do with a television program, but 0:17:26.080 --> 0:17:28.760 the part that I probably speak to more often than 0:17:28.760 --> 0:17:32.119 not is you were also just such a ef and 0:17:32.320 --> 0:17:35.720 cool guy like you never seemed to us like a 0:17:36.200 --> 0:17:38.240 I won't speak for all of the guys me, at 0:17:38.320 --> 0:17:40.920 least you never. We would in the wings be like, Holy, 0:17:41.080 --> 0:17:43.480 that's Chris Harrison. Suit is so dope. He looks so 0:17:43.560 --> 0:17:45.840 good at us, you know, And then when you would 0:17:45.880 --> 0:17:48.080 hang out with us, you really just instantly were kind 0:17:48.119 --> 0:17:50.320 of shooting this shit with us. And I've gotten to 0:17:50.359 --> 0:17:51.879 know some celebrities, you know, with the course of my 0:17:51.920 --> 0:17:53.879 time now in LA and just the reflection back to you, 0:17:54.080 --> 0:17:57.960 you were always so cool at being a real the 0:17:58.040 --> 0:18:00.480 host of one of the biggest reality shows of all time. 0:18:00.760 --> 0:18:03.000 You just handled it well with a lot of authenticity, 0:18:03.040 --> 0:18:04.679 and at least again from my len. 0:18:04.760 --> 0:18:06.080 I took a lot of pride in the fact that 0:18:06.119 --> 0:18:08.600 I did enjoy getting to know so many people as 0:18:08.640 --> 0:18:11.000 one of the benefits of the show is especially early on, 0:18:11.320 --> 0:18:13.720 like Jillian season actually was the first one. Also, she 0:18:13.840 --> 0:18:16.800 was a lot of first we had thirty people instead 0:18:16.800 --> 0:18:20.119 of twenty five, and we added five guys on that season, 0:18:20.480 --> 0:18:22.520 and so it was fun to get to know everybody. 0:18:22.560 --> 0:18:26.400 There was this camaraderie, there was this paternal spirit where 0:18:26.440 --> 0:18:27.680 we all got to hang out, and I used to 0:18:27.720 --> 0:18:28.000 hang out. 0:18:28.119 --> 0:18:29.760 We lived in a bunk house. Do you remember that. 0:18:29.960 --> 0:18:32.920 Well, you have to remember back then we hadn't reversed 0:18:32.960 --> 0:18:36.119 it yet. Jillian still lived in the Bachelor mansion. The 0:18:36.200 --> 0:18:36.919 guys didn't. 0:18:37.480 --> 0:18:39.480 Well, you say it out loud now, doesn't it sound 0:18:39.520 --> 0:18:40.640 like crazy? 0:18:40.800 --> 0:18:44.359 It was really dumb. And I forget exactly what season 0:18:44.400 --> 0:18:46.760 it was where we flipped it. And then the thirty 0:18:46.800 --> 0:18:49.760 people stayed in the Bachelor Mansion, and then of course 0:18:49.800 --> 0:18:52.399 the Bachelor bacherette would come and go, which makes a 0:18:52.440 --> 0:18:54.919 lot more sense because they can just stay in a hotel, 0:18:55.040 --> 0:18:57.520 a house anywhere else they need to. Finding a house 0:18:57.560 --> 0:19:00.600 for thirty people is not easy, and so that was 0:19:00.640 --> 0:19:03.119 pretty stupid that we didn't figure that out sooner. 0:19:03.359 --> 0:19:07.080 You guys built like temporary bousing. Oh yeah, the lot 0:19:07.240 --> 0:19:09.280 like on the mansion lot. My god. 0:19:09.520 --> 0:19:12.359 Yeah, you guys stayed in down what was the uh 0:19:12.760 --> 0:19:15.600 there was so the Bacheler Mansion that we shot at 0:19:16.080 --> 0:19:19.639 down this little hill as you go to Canaan Boulevard, 0:19:19.680 --> 0:19:21.560 which is what goes down. But you know, right in 0:19:21.560 --> 0:19:24.639 front of the house. If you're ever driving between Agora 0:19:24.760 --> 0:19:27.680 Hills and Malibu Canyon, that's what you're very findable, Yes, 0:19:27.840 --> 0:19:31.200