Speaker 1: This is that Ben and n Ashley I almost famous
Speaker 1: podcast Bachelor Countdown. This is the very first episode, as
Speaker 1: you heard, at the beginning of a really exciting time
Speaker 1: for us, as we lead up to grand season of
Speaker 1: The Bachelor. We're going to be speaking with each past Bachelor.
Speaker 1: I don't know if we're speaking with me.
Speaker 2: I don't know of every single one, but a lot
Speaker 2: of them.
Speaker 1: Yeah, leading up to this amazing season that is upon us.
Speaker 1: And today we do have our first episode, and it's
Speaker 1: with a Bachelor who I've heard so much about, who
Speaker 1: I've heard from everybody that worked on the show that
Speaker 1: they loved him so much. And I mean this and
Speaker 1: I'll go into details here in a second. Brad Walmack.
Speaker 3: Brad Walmack, Oh my god, it's so cool to meet you.
Speaker 3: You are the first Bachelor I ever watched your second season,
Speaker 3: So in some way, if it weren't for you, maybe
Speaker 3: I wouldn't have the life that I have because I
Speaker 3: was just so obsessed with your season and it got
Speaker 3: me on the train.
Speaker 4: You are got her.
Speaker 5: Too kind, I've got to say, and I have to
Speaker 5: say I've been one to meet both of you. I
Speaker 5: think you guys are Bachelor Nation Royalty. I mean that
Speaker 5: I've so thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 6: You know what, I'm king of the nerds.
Speaker 1: At times it feels like and you get that, Brad,
Speaker 1: because you're king of the nerds.
Speaker 4: Brad.
Speaker 1: We have so much talk to you about. But I
Speaker 1: do want to start, and I said this when I
Speaker 1: was on The Bachelor. It was very important to me,
Speaker 1: mostly because I'm insecure and an only child, that I
Speaker 1: made a lot of friends with the crew because you're
Speaker 1: around the crew so much, and every crew member that
Speaker 1: I would get familiar with and get into conversation with,
Speaker 1: I'd always ask like, what are some of your favorite seasons?
Speaker 1: Or who are you some of your favorite leads? And
Speaker 1: everybody from Chris Harrison to wardrobe to camera and audio
Speaker 1: who'd been there for a long time always mentioned your name.
Speaker 1: And so there was something that you did right, not
Speaker 1: in a manipulative way, and not even because it was
Speaker 1: being aired on television, but there was a thing that
Speaker 1: you did during your time on filming that made people say,
Speaker 1: I appreciate, I respect and I like that guy.
Speaker 4: Thank you man.
Speaker 5: I First of all, that means a lot, of course,
Speaker 5: but you know, as you said, we were around those
Speaker 5: guys twenty four to seven, you know, and they very
Speaker 5: very very quickly became family, especially Chris of course. But anyway,
Speaker 5: it was a genuine relationship with those guys, and so
Speaker 5: that means a lot. To hear it coming from you.
Speaker 5: I want to say this, Stuf, I've heard nothing but
Speaker 5: good things about you too, and I promise I'm not
Speaker 5: trying to turn it around it in fact, both of
Speaker 5: you guys. But anyway, Yeah, no, I appreciate the acknowledgment. Man,
Speaker 5: I think the world of that entire crew still do
Speaker 5: to this day.
Speaker 3: Is that why you became the Bachelor twice? Because the
Speaker 3: crew loved you so much? Because America had mixed feelings?
Speaker 2: Oh?
Speaker 4: I know, Actually I.
Speaker 5: Think I became the Bachelor twice because of mental illness issues.
Speaker 5: I mean, I'm kidding, but you know, no, I America
Speaker 5: did have mixed feelings about it. I was very quickly
Speaker 5: reminded of that when I was announced the second time.
Speaker 5: And what a whirlwind though. You know, one thing I'll say,
Speaker 5: it's I do believe in the premise of the show,
Speaker 5: and so to be asked back a second time, heck yeah,
Speaker 5: I go head first in. I felt very very fortunate
Speaker 5: and wanted to give it a shot, and it kind
Speaker 5: of worked, kind of didn't depending on who's asking.
Speaker 4: So anyway, I had a great time.
Speaker 1: Well it's funny because back in the day they came
Speaker 1: to me. I don't know if it was a legitimate offer.
Speaker 1: I don't want to say that, but they came to
Speaker 1: me during Somebody's season right before it started and said,
Speaker 1: would you ever want to come back on?
Speaker 4: Yeah?
Speaker 1: And I thought of you, and I was like, I
Speaker 1: don't know if it goes better for me, Like I
Speaker 1: believe in the show, and I would be excited about
Speaker 1: the opportunity, and there's a side of me that wants
Speaker 1: to say yes because it is a gift to be
Speaker 1: in this like isolated environment to try to find love.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Man, but it can also like I'm not ready for that,
Speaker 1: the repercussions of what this could look like when everybody says,
Speaker 1: I'm I'm sick of this guy, because they're gonna get
Speaker 1: sick of you.
Speaker 6: So I want to dig into that a little.
Speaker 4: Bit with you.
Speaker 1: What did did you Did you feel support at any
Speaker 1: point or was it the second time around? Kind of
Speaker 1: just this uh chaos and tornado of negativity, you know.
Speaker 5: That's a that's such a good question. I'll tell you
Speaker 5: from cast and crew, well, I say cast, from production
Speaker 5: and crew, I felt immpt support. I mean, I'm embraced
Speaker 5: with open arms. But I got to tell you, man,
Speaker 5: the first time. You know, obviously you guys have done
Speaker 5: it too, but when you do the publicity tour and
Speaker 5: everything before the season begins, I will never forget this.
Speaker 5: I went on Ellen and I just bombed. I mean
Speaker 5: I just bomb And even the publicists at the time
Speaker 5: kind of was gave me the puppy eyes.
Speaker 4: Like, oh, that didn't go so well, you know what
Speaker 4: I mean, and so and I knew.
Speaker 5: I knew I was in trouble a little bit, and
Speaker 5: so and I had of course, journalists reminded me all
Speaker 5: the time about how I was not a fan favorite
Speaker 5: because I didn't choose anybody, and so, you know, but
Speaker 5: it's just one of those things. So to answer your question,
Speaker 5: it was kind of a mixture of both. But like
Speaker 5: I said, when we first started this, I dove in
Speaker 5: head first. I was going to say, hey, look man,
Speaker 5: I'm going to give this thing my all. I have
Speaker 5: absolutely no regrets. And I ended up meeting Emily amongst
Speaker 5: the other women, and you know, no regrets for that either,
Speaker 5: you know.
Speaker 4: And so I had a really good time.
Speaker 3: You mentioned your appearance on Ellen. Didn't you call you
Speaker 3: a jerk? I mean that must have rattled you. That's
Speaker 3: what I led you to bomb.
Speaker 4: Yeah, well, I'll tell you this.
Speaker 5: So she called me a jerk the first season because
Speaker 5: I didn't pick anybody, and then thank god, she asked
Speaker 5: me back for a little bit of redemption. But it
Speaker 5: was the third time I was on Ellen to announce
Speaker 5: the second season, and I don't know what it was, Ashley,
Speaker 5: I don't know. I'll admit I remember just being a
Speaker 5: ball of nerves going into that particular show, and only
Speaker 5: because I was I was realizing, Okay, I'm about to
Speaker 5: do this thing again, you know. And so it was
Speaker 5: really nerve wracking. And she didn't cut me any slack,
Speaker 5: of course, and uh, the audience wasn't having it. I
Speaker 5: mean it was it was a bad it was a
Speaker 5: bad appearance. But uh, but yeah, she did call me
Speaker 5: a jerk, but thank god she apologized.
Speaker 2: Why did she apologize.
Speaker 4: I think I'll tell you what.
Speaker 5: I think she got the other side of the story,
Speaker 5: you know, not picking anybody the first season of course,
Speaker 5: I became public any number one right away, and and
Speaker 5: that was not my intent. I wanted to stay true.
Speaker 5: And I've said this so many times. I really do
Speaker 5: believe in the premise of the show, and I just
Speaker 5: didn't want to sell out. And so I think she
Speaker 5: took her initial reaction and was thinking, who does this
Speaker 5: guy think he is?
Speaker 4: And then.
Speaker 5: I guess through I don't know, some other channels, she
Speaker 5: got the true story and she invited me on. I
Speaker 5: was able to tell my side of the story, and
Speaker 5: so it went a little bit better. So yeah, I
Speaker 5: don't know, I got a little bit of redemption, but
Speaker 5: not much.
Speaker 4: So.
Speaker 2: I never watched your first season, Okay.
Speaker 3: But I but you know, of course I knew what
Speaker 3: happened because I watched your second season and all that,
Speaker 3: and I just maybe because I didn't watch it, but
Speaker 3: I always thought that perhaps it wasn't a jerky decision
Speaker 3: to not pick somebody that you weren't fully into. I
Speaker 3: think that was a respectable decision.
Speaker 5: I appreciate that. I you know, and I've been able
Speaker 5: to say this very publicly. I I told the producers
Speaker 5: when we first started interviewing for the show to begin
Speaker 5: with that I might not be the best guy because
Speaker 5: I just I really want to stay true to my
Speaker 5: heart and I really do, and so and I did.
Speaker 5: And as amazing as the women were, there just wasn't
Speaker 5: a love connection, I think on all sides, frankly, and
Speaker 5: I just didn't want to lead anybody on. So I
Speaker 5: appreciate that, and I'm pretty proud of the decision, even
Speaker 5: though I got beat up a little bit, actually a lot.
Speaker 1: It's interesting too, when fans of the show watch the show,
Speaker 1: you know, for and I think there is a big
Speaker 1: group that would agree with you and say, yes, that
Speaker 1: he was staying true to his heart. He was doing
Speaker 1: what felt right. That's honorable and that's something that we
Speaker 1: should be proud of. There's also the group, obviously, that
Speaker 1: came after you for that, and they come after every
Speaker 1: lead for decisions made. I think, being a part of
Speaker 1: the show, as Ashley and myself have been, I hear
Speaker 1: this and I'm like, what a what a courageous decision, honestly,
Speaker 1: because you don't go on this show hoping to spend
Speaker 1: three months of your life breaking up with people and
Speaker 1: shedding tears on national television and opening up your heart
Speaker 1: to try to find love to then at the end
Speaker 1: just say, yeah, this didn't work. That is a that
Speaker 1: would be a really hard decision.
Speaker 6: To come to.
Speaker 1: I don't know even how you would get to that decision,
Speaker 1: because it would take so much strength. But I hear this,
Speaker 1: and I'm like, this is maybe I'll say it the
Speaker 1: most honest season that we've ever had.
Speaker 5: Then well, well I appreciate that, man very much, and
Speaker 5: I'll say it. I will very publicly admit I wanted
Speaker 5: something to work out from that show. I wanted a
Speaker 5: relationship to work. And Ashley, you and Jared Jesus Man,
Speaker 5: you guys love stories just so amazing.
Speaker 4: I love it.
Speaker 5: I love it and and I promise I'm not just
Speaker 5: saying that to get on your good side.
Speaker 4: I really love it.
Speaker 5: And so, but when I went into that show, I
Speaker 5: genuinely wanted that. I remember talking to my twin brother
Speaker 5: whenever I was asked to do this show and saying, hey, man,
Speaker 5: I'm not dating anybody. This might be a really good
Speaker 5: way to find somebody. Get out of my box and
Speaker 5: I'm sorry, out of my bubble. And so when it
Speaker 5: didn't work out, trust me, I was just as disappointed
Speaker 5: as anybody or everybody else and so I was a
Speaker 5: little bit surprised about being expected to stay within parameters
Speaker 5: of the show, meaning being told, no, you have to
Speaker 5: pick somebody. Yeah, I'm not talking about by the producers.
Speaker 5: I'm talking about by just for a public opinion, right, yeah,
Speaker 5: And it just I just don't understand. I mean, where
Speaker 5: are for me? At least I was talking about real life.
Speaker 5: I mean, sure it's it's it's televised and it's filmed,
Speaker 5: but it was very real for me, and and it
Speaker 5: just didn't work out unfortunately.
Speaker 3: Let's talk about Emily because it is like, like Emily
Speaker 3: is Wow, what a captivating figure and also extremely elusive
Speaker 3: in the bachelor community. No podcast can get her on,
Speaker 3: not even Trista like the rog Girl can get her on.
Speaker 3: How what is she? Have you had any interactions since
Speaker 3: you broke up? Like, what's she like? Why is she
Speaker 3: so elusive? She has six kids now, she's married, Like,
Speaker 3: just tell us a little bit about Emily.
Speaker 5: I'll tell you everything I know at least one. I
Speaker 5: think you said you hit the nail on the head.
Speaker 5: She's extremely captivating, she is pure to her core, just
Speaker 5: an exceptional human being. And you know, you ask if
Speaker 5: we've had any interaction. You know, I'm a very very
Speaker 5: respectful guy when it comes to situations and if someone's
Speaker 5: in a relationship. Meaning I remember when I had heard
Speaker 5: she gotten married, and I reached out and said, hey,
Speaker 5: I'm genuinely happy for you. And that's exactly what she
Speaker 5: had been wanting. She had been wanting marriage, a beautiful family,
Speaker 5: and she has all of that in them some right
Speaker 5: and so but as far as being Emily, yeah, she
Speaker 5: is a little elusive. I don't think she needs much.
Speaker 5: And I mean that in such a complimentary way, you know,
Speaker 5: and and where I think i'mind of a sellout.
Speaker 4: I'll do anything, but I'm kidding. Actually no, it's yeah,
Speaker 4: I love it, but no, it's uh.
Speaker 5: I say it with almost utmost admiration. Actually that how
Speaker 5: she carries herself and what you see is what you get.
Speaker 4: And you know, we did.
Speaker 5: Realize, I'll admit this, we realized really quickly we were
Speaker 5: two different people once we got back into the real world.
Speaker 5: And I think I'm a little rough around the edges
Speaker 5: and she is extremely refined. Again, I'm saying that in
Speaker 5: a complimentary way. And when I look at her from
Speaker 5: the outside, looking in and seeing what she's the life
Speaker 5: that she's created and and built.
Speaker 4: I couldn't be happier.
Speaker 5: And so but yeah, I'll reach out to her one
Speaker 5: time and that's it. And it was a congratulator and
Speaker 5: it was a sincere congratulations.
Speaker 2: Well, you guys are like Barbie and Ken.
Speaker 5: Well, i'll tell you what it's uh, maybe for a
Speaker 5: brief you know what, do they call it the fifty
Speaker 5: seconds or something? But I really enjoyed my time with her.
Speaker 5: She has a pure soul, you know what I mean?
Speaker 5: And so I thoroughly enjoyed my time with her. And
Speaker 5: you know, things don't work out unfortunately, and here we are.
Speaker 6: The rough edges Ken would be.
Speaker 3: He's a different version. He's like an Austin bar owner Katon.
Speaker 6: I love that.
Speaker 4: There you go. I'll take it.
Speaker 3: Well, Brad, you actually might be a little bit and
Speaker 3: maybe more in Emily's shoes right now because you just
Speaker 3: hard launched a picture with a girlfriend and you really
Speaker 3: haven't posted about women or been public with women since
Speaker 3: being with Emily.
Speaker 2: What's going on there?
Speaker 5: I like that you guys are well informed. I guess
Speaker 5: you can't hide from that. You know what's so funny?
Speaker 5: I spent forever kind of evading and shining away from
Speaker 5: Instagram and all social media. You but but I got
Speaker 5: to tell you, Yes, I am in a relationship and
Speaker 5: she's worthy of I didn't want to hide her.
Speaker 4: Does that make sense?
Speaker 2: But there have been other women that you were willing
Speaker 2: to hide.
Speaker 4: Well, but that sounded so much. So you're you're calling
Speaker 4: me out, and I get it.
Speaker 5: I get it, I get it, and I guess that's
Speaker 5: what I signed up for. But no, this is the
Speaker 5: first time we're we're we're hitting it off. I don't
Speaker 5: know what else to say, and and we're having a
Speaker 5: lot of fun together. She's an inherently kind human being,
Speaker 5: and I don't know what else to say. I'm I'm
Speaker 5: I'm really happy. We're really happy together right now. And
Speaker 5: so I appreciate you acknowledging that, and I'll pass that
Speaker 5: along to her. So I'm so embarrassed. I'm sure I'm
Speaker 5: beat red, but I love it in I like it,
Speaker 5: you know, contrary to popular belief, I'm a really shy guy.
Speaker 5: And so I was proud to say, Hey, I don't
Speaker 5: know what she sees in me, but I'm glad she
Speaker 5: does see something.
Speaker 4: Let's go, let's hard launch this thing.
Speaker 1: Yeah, can you explain a little bit to the listeners
Speaker 1: and to Ashley myself, because you do say you called
Speaker 1: yourself a sellout, I would say you're one hundred percent
Speaker 1: not Uh, if you'd be everywhere all the time. Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: quite private is actually how I would describe you would
Speaker 1: have hit paradise. But you obviously at some point said
Speaker 1: I want to share this with the public for whatever reason.
Speaker 1: Walk us through a little bit of the details to
Speaker 1: how it led up to the point where you said,
Speaker 1: let's let's let this thing go.
Speaker 5: Well, I'll tell you what, and I'll try to make
Speaker 5: this quick. I don't want to bore anybody, like I said. So,
Speaker 5: I just jumped on Instagram maybe four to five months ago,
Speaker 5: and I'll tell you the only reason I did is, Guys,
Speaker 5: I'm over fifty years old, right, I.
Speaker 3: Can't believe it. I tried to do the math on this.
Speaker 3: I was like, how old was he when he was
Speaker 3: the bachelor?
Speaker 4: Hey? What pretty old I was?
Speaker 2: You were an old bachelor.
Speaker 5: I was an old bachelor if I remember, right, was
Speaker 5: at thirty four, thirty seven, respectively. I think so and so, Yeah,
Speaker 5: I was one of the older ones.
Speaker 2: In fact, I think had a huge age gap.
Speaker 4: Oh I'm sure that played a role with two.
Speaker 5: She didn't want to be changing my depends at at
Speaker 5: a later age, I don't know. But anyway, but the
Speaker 5: only reason I jumped on Instagram is this whole thing.
Speaker 5: And I won't bore you guys, but you know, just
Speaker 5: kind of this fitness over fifty type thing. I won't
Speaker 5: even get into because it's boring. But with being online,
Speaker 5: I didn't want my partner. I didn't want her to
Speaker 5: see that and then just to feel like, you know,
Speaker 5: I'm kind of hiding her whatever. And that's that's why
Speaker 5: I said, hey, man, if this is what this is
Speaker 5: all about, if people want to peek behind the curtain
Speaker 5: a little bit, been great. I mean, she's a huge
Speaker 5: part of my life, and that's exactly why I said, hey,
Speaker 5: let's just do this. But you're right, I have been
Speaker 5: private up to a certain point. Now I don't know
Speaker 5: what I'm doing, guys. Maybe a midlife crisis, who knows.
Speaker 6: That's all right, that's okay.
Speaker 4: I freed it.
Speaker 6: It brings me to a question.
Speaker 1: I don't know how to phrase it for you necessarily,
Speaker 1: but you were thirty four and thirty seven when you're
Speaker 1: The Bachelor. Right, You're now fifty years old and you
Speaker 1: just recently launched a relationship. Right. You went on this show,
Speaker 1: as you said at the beginning, believing the premise and
Speaker 1: wanting to find a partner. Sure you haven't, right in
Speaker 1: sixteen years?
Speaker 4: Right?
Speaker 1: What has this been like for you personally these sixteen
Speaker 1: years of still looking, obviously and still wanting.
Speaker 5: Sure, that's a great question too, man. You know I'm
Speaker 5: going to I'm going to give you the cliche answer,
Speaker 5: but it's not cliche. I was very, very, very heavily
Speaker 5: involved in my career. And I have to give my
Speaker 5: business partner's credit because they're happily married. They have been
Speaker 5: for years, and they did it right, and so I
Speaker 5: just couldn't find a way to do that, to find
Speaker 5: that balance. I'm very happy to tell you may have.
Speaker 5: Twenty twenty four, we sold our entire company. I've had
Speaker 5: a little downtime, and it brings perspective into life, you know,
Speaker 5: and and so what this woman has brought into my life,
Speaker 5: and I'm sure in your relationships too, it opens up
Speaker 5: this whole other door of of experience and and well
Speaker 5: just experiencing life. And I'm here for it. Man, and
Speaker 5: so you asked about the sixteen years. Sure I could
Speaker 5: blame it on Oh yeah, it was hard, you know,
Speaker 5: working away whatever. But maybe I had some things to
Speaker 5: work out. I don't know, you know. And but I
Speaker 5: got to tell you right when I met this girl.
Speaker 5: You know, they say when you know, you know, and
Speaker 5: I know that's a heavy statement. I know that, so
Speaker 5: let me preface this. But it feels like I'm kind
Speaker 5: of living out my when you know, you know, in
Speaker 5: a very blissful way. And so maybe it was just timing, Ben.
Speaker 5: I don't no, man, I've never subscribed to a specific timeline.
Speaker 5: So I'm feeling good about this right now.
Speaker 2: Speaking of timeline, are kids in option or a want?
Speaker 5: No, you know, that's a that's a good question. And
Speaker 5: we both have had and and you know, people have
Speaker 5: their desires. But she didn't want children. I didn't want children.
Speaker 5: I love children, I love them, and but but personally
Speaker 5: I've never wanted them, and neither does she and so
Speaker 5: and and you know, frankly, that's actually been kind of
Speaker 5: a deterrent in past relationship.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I could see that that that was something that
Speaker 3: you've always stood firm on.
Speaker 5: Well, yes, and and but and like, let's let's bring
Speaker 5: up the obvious. Emily had a.
Speaker 2: Child, yeah, six kids now too.
Speaker 4: Yeah yeah, yeah.
Speaker 5: And and when I met her, she had Ricky of yeah,
Speaker 5: beautiful child. And I had the immense pleasure of spending
Speaker 5: time with Ricky and was thinking, Okay, this might be
Speaker 5: my life and I was loving it. I wanted I
Speaker 5: want to make that very clear.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 5: But then you know, as time goes on, I just
Speaker 5: did realize and maybe it was work or whatever that
Speaker 5: maybe I'm.
Speaker 4: Just not at a point that I want children of
Speaker 4: my own.
Speaker 5: And I have some nieces and nephews that I absolutely love,
Speaker 5: and I try to play the cool uncle role, and
Speaker 5: but that's it for me and my partner. Now she's
Speaker 5: on the same page, thank god. And so where to
Speaker 5: give you this?
Speaker 2: Well, I'm glad that you found somebody, Yes, on the
Speaker 2: same page.
Speaker 4: Thank you.
Speaker 3: Now was this something like I feel like with Emily?
Speaker 3: She probably wanted a huge family always?
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 3: So back when you guys were together, did you think
Speaker 3: that you wanted kids?
Speaker 4: No? I would no.
Speaker 5: Actually I was open to the fact of let's say,
Speaker 5: take it on a family with children, and meaning Ricky
Speaker 5: of course.
Speaker 3: Yeah, you're open to taking on a family like that,
Speaker 3: but maybe not having your own.
Speaker 5: Absolutely yeah, yeah, and and you know, raising a new
Speaker 5: born and things like that. And I mean that's a
Speaker 5: big decision. And obviously, and you know, Emily and I
Speaker 5: discussed it a little bit, but let's face it, guys,
Speaker 5: I mean we weren't really together long enough to have
Speaker 5: those fundamental conversations and and you know, and and I
Speaker 5: love our time together. It was just albeit brief, right,
Speaker 5: and so but yeah, I'm sure that was discussed at
Speaker 5: one point, but I will I do again. I want
Speaker 5: to make this abundantly clear. I saw Ricky as a treasure.
Speaker 5: I want to make this abundantly clear. But yeah, but
Speaker 5: but after Emily and everything, I started realizing maybe my
Speaker 5: own children just aren't for me.
Speaker 2: Okay, Brad, you you mentioned this. This is a little bit.
Speaker 2: This is a little deep.
Speaker 4: Let's know that.
Speaker 6: Entry made me nervous.
Speaker 4: Save me ben control.
Speaker 6: This is like a marriage here. I'm just I'll sit.
Speaker 3: Back and has it freaking me out to ask the question? Okay,
Speaker 3: So on your Instagram, you know, you talk all about
Speaker 3: health and how it's affected your mental health, your your
Speaker 3: physical strength.
Speaker 2: You talk on a podcast.
Speaker 3: That you posted to your Instagram about how you were
Speaker 3: diagnosed with bipolar disorder twenty years ago. That means it
Speaker 3: was actually kind of close to your first season of
Speaker 3: The Bachelor. Yeah, can you explain how that diagnosis affected
Speaker 3: your time as the Bachelor? Both times you also have
Speaker 3: mentioned that you don't currently take medication for it, because
Speaker 3: when you did, you were a zombie.
Speaker 4: Sure.
Speaker 5: Yeah, you are very very well informed. I gotta now
Speaker 5: I'm learning. Anytime you put something out on Instagram, that's
Speaker 5: there forever, you know, so I can do to this game.
Speaker 5: So same help me anyway.
Speaker 2: You make the research easy when you post on Instagram.
Speaker 5: I know, right, And so I appreciate the question. So
Speaker 5: I don't know if you guys watched the beginning of
Speaker 5: the second season, but they actually filmed the sessions with
Speaker 5: a psychiatrist.
Speaker 4: I can't make this up.
Speaker 5: And they thought it would be very beneficial to the
Speaker 5: audience to say, hey, yeah, I mean that was part
Speaker 5: of the show. Yeah, and that was and I want
Speaker 5: to make this clear, that was actually my psychiatrist.
Speaker 4: It was show. And so.
Speaker 5: You know, it's one of those things that I talk
Speaker 5: openly about only because it can it can create some
Speaker 5: havoc and and and chaos in your personal life. I
Speaker 5: try to deal with it. I try to mitigate it.
Speaker 5: That's one of the reasons fitness and other things, the
Speaker 5: little boxes I need to check are so important to
Speaker 5: me to mitigate that and just to feel productive on
Speaker 5: a daily basis. But to answer your question, how did
Speaker 5: it affect me? In hindsight, it recavoc and especially after
Speaker 5: the ending of both seasons. You know, I do genuinely
Speaker 5: care what others think of me.
Speaker 4: And we just.
Speaker 5: Established after the first season it wasn't too good and
Speaker 5: and that and that weighed heavy on me, you know,
Speaker 5: and and caused some some a pretty big roller coaster ride,
Speaker 5: right and but I got through it. And and I'm
Speaker 5: a huge advocate to discuss anything in all things regarding
Speaker 5: mental health issues, of course.
Speaker 4: You know.
Speaker 5: And so but now I've seen somewhat regulated. Life's good.
Speaker 5: Right now, Life's really good. And it's it's steady. I
Speaker 5: like that.
Speaker 1: That is it's it's funny, Brad. I have to tell
Speaker 1: you before we jumped on with you. And I don't
Speaker 1: know if Ashley has any more questions to fall up here.
Speaker 1: I don't want to take up that.
Speaker 2: Those are definitely the big ones I've covered.
Speaker 1: We were having a little production call and our producers
Speaker 1: were like, we got what we're gonna do on social
Speaker 1: media is we're gonna post a picture of Brad's body.
Speaker 1: And I said, why are you posting a picture of
Speaker 1: Brad's body?
Speaker 6: They're like, because he is in great shape. Oh, And
Speaker 6: I was like, that's cool.
Speaker 1: And then you got on here and you're popping through
Speaker 1: your Henley and I was like, damn, Like the guy.
Speaker 5: Is look, I don't know. I think you are just witnessing.
Speaker 5: I think I said this me living a midlife crisis
Speaker 5: very publicly.
Speaker 4: That's doing it well.
Speaker 6: You at least you're doing it looking good.
Speaker 5: No, I appreciate that, man, And I think we're all
Speaker 5: doing just fine.
Speaker 2: Man.
Speaker 5: You know, I love life. I like to take care
Speaker 5: of myself. I like to be happy, and obviously you
Speaker 5: guys do too. But I appreciate the I think the compliment.
Speaker 5: I appreciate that very much.
Speaker 1: I have a couple of like just easy direct questions.
Speaker 1: See you as we close up our time here. You
Speaker 1: mentioned that you sold your business in twenty twenty four.
Speaker 1: What's next for you anything professionally? Or is this early retirement?
Speaker 5: No, it's definitely not early retirement and not at all.
Speaker 5: I mean, I want to work desperately. And so you know,
Speaker 5: my twin brother and another guy, but my twin brother
Speaker 5: was my business partner for all twenty four years of
Speaker 5: our career. And we're talking, we're having conversations now about
Speaker 5: jumping right back in just something hospitality based.
Speaker 4: I don't want to give up work.
Speaker 5: I feel alive when I'm working, and so I'm excited
Speaker 5: about I got to tell you I have enjoyed some
Speaker 5: downtime just to reflect. I love life, man, you know,
Speaker 5: and and you know, you mentioned something. I'm not gonna
Speaker 5: I promise I'm not gonna get cheesy.
Speaker 2: But we love cheese.
Speaker 4: Okay, okay, let's get cheesy.
Speaker 2: Then, okay, Gray, you mentioned.
Speaker 5: Something about being and I'm paraphrasing, but being lucky to
Speaker 5: be on the show. You it's something about that, and
Speaker 5: I do feel fortunate to be part of all of this, right,
Speaker 5: And that's what I mean about loving life and so
Speaker 5: these little experiences and so I'm experiencing this little chapter
Speaker 5: of downtime and I'm not in a big hurry to
Speaker 5: get back to work, but I do want to. Life
Speaker 5: is really good, man. So to answer your question about
Speaker 5: what's next. I'm really not in a hurry. I know,
Speaker 5: I'm going to get back to work, but I am
Speaker 5: I'm really enjoying my daily life right now. And so
Speaker 5: and it feels good to be able to say that,
Speaker 5: you know, So, life's good.
Speaker 1: How did you deal with this season, like a year ago,
Speaker 1: when everybody was putting memes out there for Brad and
Speaker 1: Chad because there's nothing your twin brother.
Speaker 5: But you know, every time, I actually sometimes my mom,
Speaker 5: I'm like, really, mom, and wanted to do that to us,
Speaker 5: like Brad and Chad, I mean and and so, But
Speaker 5: I with it.
Speaker 2: It had to be a little bit of a joke,
Speaker 2: right of course.
Speaker 5: I mean, of course, you know, and I trust me.
Speaker 5: I'm I'm all our biggest critic, and so I pile
Speaker 5: on on my brother and I more than anybody. And
Speaker 5: we can take a good joke. So yeah, we'll be
Speaker 5: a living meme. We can take it. We've got that.
Speaker 1: And then I just I want to know, did you
Speaker 1: does your girlfriend now does she know you from the show?
Speaker 4: No, I mean obviously she caught wind of it.
Speaker 5: Yeah, But but you know, it's not like I walk
Speaker 5: around identifying with it or anything like that.
Speaker 4: I don't know if i've Oh yeah, it's in my
Speaker 4: tagline actually on Instagram.
Speaker 5: I think a two time that's or failure or something
Speaker 5: or bio whatever it's called anyway. But no, we've talked
Speaker 5: about the show, of course. I mean, I think every
Speaker 5: body's fascinated with the overall experience.
Speaker 4: But no, that was not a key factor in us
Speaker 4: meeting or anything like that, thank god. You know. So, yeah,
Speaker 4: she was somewhat oblivious.
Speaker 2: And she wasn't a fangirl.
Speaker 4: No, not at all.
Speaker 5: Maybe that's why she actually likes me, you know, it's
Speaker 5: she was oblivious to my past.
Speaker 4: Who knows.
Speaker 6: Stop.
Speaker 3: I still think that you are one of the more
Speaker 3: iconic bachelors for sure. Now I've focused a lot on Emily,
Speaker 3: but I want to talk about Deanna Pappis, who also
Speaker 3: dumbed at the You dumbed her at the Altar, And
Speaker 3: she was just on our iHeart Like Family podcast called
Speaker 3: I Do Part two, and she broke down about her divorce.
Speaker 3: She was married for a long, a long time, at
Speaker 3: least like six seven years, right, and the divorce was
Speaker 3: not her choosing. Okay, and Chris Harrison told us that
Speaker 3: one day, you guys may meet up. Yeah, did you
Speaker 3: ever meet up? What's your relationship with Deanna? Any advice
Speaker 3: for her in this tough situation.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I'll tell you, and I want to say this,
Speaker 5: I love that woman, love her. We never met up
Speaker 5: in person. We did get in contact through Instagram, of course.
Speaker 5: I'm learning that's another great way to stay in touch
Speaker 5: with people. And she is still to this day, so
Speaker 5: gracious kind. We communicate relatively often, and you know, I
Speaker 5: know she was hurt by her divorce. That obviously hurts
Speaker 5: me because I do genuinely care about her. She's one
Speaker 5: of the ones I mean, aside from Emily. I'll say
Speaker 5: it that I feel so strongly connected to and always will.
Speaker 5: I feel connected to her family. Believe it or not,
Speaker 5: I really liked her family, and so anyway, I will
Speaker 5: always carry that relationship very strongly and proudly in my heart.
Speaker 5: And to know that she's still hurting kind of break
Speaker 5: my heart, to be honest. But I think she's a
Speaker 5: remarkable human being and hopefully we stay in touch for
Speaker 5: the rest of my life. Yeah, she's a good person,
Speaker 5: really good person.
Speaker 6: Actually, did you watch that season? Was that the season?
Speaker 4: You want?
Speaker 1: No?
Speaker 2: No, no, no?
Speaker 6: You were the next season, Yeah, I'm too old.
Speaker 5: I think I think that's Ashley's way of saying I'm
Speaker 5: way too old.
Speaker 6: Oh my god.
Speaker 3: No, but that season, I guess would have been like
Speaker 3: my freshman year of college, and I think your season
Speaker 3: was my senior year something like that, just graduated, something
Speaker 3: like that.
Speaker 1: I was hoping she's gonna be like I was in
Speaker 1: sixth grade and my parents wouldn't let me watch that season.
Speaker 1: Brad again, as we close up here, are you still
Speaker 1: watching the show at all?
Speaker 5: I don't, man, I still try to kind of stay
Speaker 5: in touch. I'm telling you, man, I respect the hell
Speaker 5: out of that franchise and all things that are involved
Speaker 5: with it, and so but no, I really don't, and
Speaker 5: only because I don't watch It's TV these days, you know,
Speaker 5: And so I did. I'm gonna tell myself. I very
Speaker 5: furiously googled who the next Bachelor was gonna be in
Speaker 5: case you guys were going to ask me.
Speaker 6: He seems like a nice guy, you know, so I
Speaker 6: wish him.
Speaker 4: All the luck. The only thing I would tell him
Speaker 4: is buckle up. You know.
Speaker 5: It's one of those things that Jesus man, you think
Speaker 5: you haven't figured out, and you do not and I'm
Speaker 5: sure you guys can attest to that, you know, and
Speaker 5: it comes at you quick, doesn't it.
Speaker 4: It's a fun ride.
Speaker 6: It's a fun ride.
Speaker 1: I the only when I get to talk to the Bachelor, really,
Speaker 1: the only advice I have is, uh, this is gonna
Speaker 1: be a roller coaster, but you will survive.
Speaker 6: If I can do it, you can do it too.
Speaker 6: You'll be right.
Speaker 5: Can I say something of you Ben real quick? Your
Speaker 5: time as a bacheler and again not trying to get
Speaker 5: on you guys, good side by far. I think you
Speaker 5: were the best one period. And Christ I'm not kidding
Speaker 5: at all. Just a stand up guy, solid guy, uh,
Speaker 5: genuine and and I'm not trying to use all the
Speaker 5: buzz words that we all use, you know, describing each.
Speaker 4: Other or whatever.
Speaker 5: But I've told Chris this man just job, very well
Speaker 5: done for setting the example.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean it means a lot.
Speaker 2: It does so sweet to it.
Speaker 1: I mean it, I mean it so anyway, you know
Speaker 1: what you say that and it means something to me
Speaker 1: because it is such a as you've mentioned, an important
Speaker 1: season of life one two I think, uh maybe it
Speaker 1: was decently dune because it could be related with because
Speaker 1: I think I went into it not having any idea
Speaker 1: what in the world I was doing there, and as
Speaker 1: a result, people watching there like he was kind of
Speaker 1: the bachelor.
Speaker 6: I would be the bachelor. He was kind of.
Speaker 1: Confused, kind of tried to figure out his way. Got
Speaker 1: really emotional because this thing was overwhelming. So innocent and pure, Yeah, right,
Speaker 1: innocent and pure.
Speaker 4: We needed a pure in this world.
Speaker 3: Man.
Speaker 6: Appreciate that, buddy. It means a lot and our little
Speaker 6: angel look back on.
Speaker 3: Did you watch his season in like our time on
Speaker 3: the show. Oh yeah, oh yeah, you continued.
Speaker 5: A few seasons I did watch, and I'll tell you
Speaker 5: the one season that I purposely, of course didn't watch
Speaker 5: was Emily's.
Speaker 4: Season as Bachelor Matte.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 5: I think that would just be for my salt and
Speaker 5: my own loose But yeah, of course I carried over
Speaker 5: a little bit. And I'm fans of you guys. You know,
Speaker 5: it's it's just in certain other people that have been
Speaker 5: on the show. I like this, and so I've been
Speaker 5: anticipating this conversation. You know, I'm kind of fanboying to
Speaker 5: you guys, and I appreciate you having.
Speaker 4: Me on very much.
Speaker 2: We appreciate you, Brad. Thank you so much for your time.
Speaker 6: Yeah, thanks for coming.
Speaker 4: Yeah yeah, I mean my pleasure, truly, my pleasure. Guys.
Speaker 3: Thank you a great start to our Bachelor row as
Speaker 3: I'm going to call it, our series of Bachelor interviews
Speaker 3: leading up to Grant's premiere.
Speaker 4: Let's go, good luck Grant.
Speaker 6: I'll say that, Brad, you're the best. Appreciate you, and uh,
Speaker 6: let's not now that you have.
Speaker 1: Some time on your hands, let's not make it too
Speaker 1: many more months before we have you back on.
Speaker 5: I'm yours buddy. Thank you so much, guys, it means
Speaker 5: a lot. Bye, all right, bye guys.
Speaker 2: Follow the Ben and Ashley I Almost Famous podcasts on
Speaker 2: iHeartRadio or subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts.