Speaker 1: Hello, and welcome to Outspoken. You're joined by journalists Amy,
Speaker 1: Sophie and Kate Torbert, and today we're talking all things
Speaker 1: Bachelor now. New Bachelor Matt Agnew has had the difficult
Speaker 1: task of coming into the Bachelor franchise after what was
Speaker 1: probably the worst series, which involved the Honey Badger last year,
Speaker 1: and his shock decision to pick nobody. Kate and Sophie,
Speaker 1: what were your thoughts on the first and second episode.
Speaker 1: I've actually been really enjoying it. I mean, we're two
Speaker 1: episodes in so far. I love the fact that Channel
Speaker 1: ten have selected an unknown bachelor. It's the first time
Speaker 1: since twenty fifteen, since Sam Woods was the Bachelor, that
Speaker 1: we're meeting someone for the first time. It's not just
Speaker 1: some rehashed ex contestant or supposed celebrity like the Honey Badger.
Speaker 1: I have to agree, I do love the selection of
Speaker 1: Matt Agnew is refreshing. I mean, I love Tim Robards
Speaker 1: in the first series of The Bachelor, But I have
Speaker 1: to say I've been quite disappointed. I was pretty bored
Speaker 1: watching it. I've got to agree with Amy. I actually
Speaker 1: found it really boring. I was excited to see how
Speaker 1: Matt would go, and I think he's a breath of
Speaker 1: fresh air. But the female contestants again are just old
Speaker 1: hat like. They're exactly what they're always like. They're bitchy
Speaker 1: and a little bit crazy, and it's just I just
Speaker 1: find it boring. It's very one dimensional. It is interesting
Speaker 1: the women that they've chosen this year, because Matt, of course,
Speaker 1: is a lovely guy, and it seems that maybe they've
Speaker 1: had to choose these outrageous figures because they fear Matt
Speaker 1: might get a bit boring by the end of it.
Speaker 2: I disagree.
Speaker 1: I think that he's clearly the star of the show
Speaker 1: this time. Whoever's picked as a bachelor, who is going
Speaker 1: to determine whether ratings are good or not. I think,
Speaker 1: even though it's transparent what they're trying to do this year,
Speaker 1: I think they're right on the money with it. They're
Speaker 1: choosing someone who women actually like. It's a very smart
Speaker 1: guy who's actually looking for love this time around. He's
Speaker 1: a bit of a dog, he's just so lovable. I
Speaker 1: think it's a really clever move by Channel ten. Yeah,
Speaker 1: but so no one's saying that they don't think he's good.
Speaker 1: We're saying that the concept is old, So let's get
Speaker 1: some hot guy and then have all these crazy women
Speaker 1: fight over him. It's like, can't we portray the women
Speaker 1: a bit better? I mean, he's an astrophysicist. Yeah, they've
Speaker 1: got some smart women on there, but we're just degrading
Speaker 1: them to the point where they're just having scrag fights
Speaker 1: the whole time. Like I actually want to hear about
Speaker 1: what they do. And I think that's a good thing
Speaker 1: about the American series. You actually have the full video
Speaker 1: where you see who these girls are, where they're from,
Speaker 1: and that they actually genuinely seem to be in it
Speaker 1: for love. I don't think I get that vibe with them.
Speaker 1: I just think they're all crazy stalkers that we all
Speaker 1: think are pathetic and we're all laughing about it. I'm
Speaker 1: not saying that the format's not got. I'm just saying
Speaker 1: that Amy suggested that the reason that they're choosing at
Speaker 1: these outrageous characters and Bachelor rec contestants is because Matt
Speaker 1: is bland. Let's be honest, though, if you look at
Speaker 1: the Americans series of The Bachelor, with Colton Coleton's you know,
Speaker 1: really cute looking. Everyone loves him, but he is also
Speaker 1: a bit like Matt. He's a bit one dimensional. He's hot,
Speaker 1: but if you had to sit down and watch him
Speaker 1: for two hours, he's a little bit boring. That's why
Speaker 1: you've got to add spice with the women. I'm not
Speaker 1: saying Matt is a really boring guy, but I'm sure
Speaker 1: the astrophysicist thing is going to run a little bit dry.
Speaker 1: And it looks like the Bachelors are trying to create sorry,
Speaker 1: the Bachelor producers trying to create all this drama to
Speaker 1: keep us entertained. Well, I mean it was clear that
Speaker 1: the astrophysicists thing was running dry in the first episode
Speaker 1: when they had to use every pun about space. I
Speaker 1: don't know if it pissed anyone else off. Yeah, so
Speaker 1: I think we all agree that they got the casting
Speaker 1: of the Bachelor right, but they've just, you know, then
Speaker 1: surrounded him by bitchy women that you know that format's
Speaker 1: worked before, but it's just not It's.
Speaker 2: Just not exciting.
Speaker 1: And it's funny because I suppose the new thing that
Speaker 1: they've done this season is introducing these intruders on episode two,
Speaker 1: but I just didn't get it. It was almost like, oh,
Speaker 1: we've got all these sad no Hoper stalkers in one area,
Speaker 1: and then they add these very overtly sexual women in
Speaker 1: stir the pot, and it's just like, I just don't
Speaker 1: like any of them. I want a Georgia love I
Speaker 1: know she was the Bachelorette, but I want someone that
Speaker 1: I'm rooting for to win, Like I don't want to
Speaker 1: be just hating on everyone and thinking, oh, I totally agree.
Speaker 2: We want a love story.
Speaker 1: And that's what's fantastic about the US Bachelor because by
Speaker 1: the end of it, I have to admit I'm nearly
Speaker 1: crying at some of the proposals, and you just don't
Speaker 1: feel that with the Australian one.
Speaker 2: It seems fake.
Speaker 1: And as you're saying, the formula for it is let's
Speaker 1: keep the audience entertained, because the Bachelor producers perceive us
Speaker 1: as wanting these bitchy women to go on and then
Speaker 1: the last week they're in love. But we've not seen
Speaker 1: any of that love story. What is promising this year
Speaker 1: is we are going to see a love story. The
Speaker 1: Bachelor producers have been very clever in the fact of
Speaker 1: trying to remind us of all the beautiful love stories
Speaker 1: that we have seen in the series. When I saw
Speaker 1: Anna and Tim meeting for the first in the little
Speaker 1: promo video. To be honest, I got a bit nostalgic
Speaker 1: looking at it because it was such a great series
Speaker 1: and it's one that I suppose I'm hoping we experience
Speaker 1: again this year. And that's what's so disappointing about the
Speaker 1: first two episodes, is it we might get the love
Speaker 1: story near the end, but we want it from the start.
Speaker 2: Do you know what?
Speaker 1: Was one thing that I didn't miss? That they didn't
Speaker 1: do those Tachy and w photo shoots where they all
Speaker 1: dress up as characters in the go. That was so
Speaker 1: glad that was missing. But I mean I did fall
Speaker 1: asleep in it, so I'm assuming that didn't happen. I'm
Speaker 1: just trying to think what they would have dressed an
Speaker 1: astrophysicist up at something overtly sexual. I can't really think,
Speaker 1: what do you pawn star or something. It was interesting though,
Speaker 1: because it did have great ratings. That had eight hundred
Speaker 1: and twenty eight thousand viewers, which made it the most
Speaker 1: viewed show in that time slot that night compared to
Speaker 1: The Honey Badger and He kicked off the series with
Speaker 1: nine hundred and forty thousand viewers. It was actually the
Speaker 1: highest launch episode that the franchise has ever experienced, but
Speaker 1: then again, it was the most dissa pointing finale. And
Speaker 1: isn't that interesting to see that it's dropped off by
Speaker 1: nearly one hundred thousand people? And is that the honey
Speaker 1: Badger effect? Have people switched off because they no longer.
Speaker 2: Buy this love story?
Speaker 1: From a ratings perspective, I think we've got to look
Speaker 1: at the American series. I know we are og Bachelor fans.
Speaker 1: Sophie and I actually discovered the show. I remember what
Speaker 1: We were twelve, and we were cleaning out our bedroom
Speaker 1: and it was school holidays, and I think it was
Speaker 1: probably about nine thirty at night and we were flicking
Speaker 1: stations and we came across this show where there was
Speaker 1: this guy sitting in a spa with ten girls, and
Speaker 1: we were immediately hooked to the show. I just remember
Speaker 1: it was just the biggest treat to watch it. So
Speaker 1: that's old now, eighteen years ago, and that's crazy. I
Speaker 1: remember in the episode that there was a vegetarian woman
Speaker 1: and just to get the Bachelor's attention, she ate meat
Speaker 1: from his hand, and.
Speaker 2: God, oh yeah, I was gonna say, what was we
Speaker 2: worrying where that was going.
Speaker 1: The thing I loved about The Bachelor was, you know,
Speaker 1: back in the day when we watched it as youngsters,
Speaker 1: was that Mum would sit down and watch it with us.
Speaker 1: You think that coming down and seeing her daughters watching
Speaker 1: a man in the spa with eight women would probably
Speaker 1: horrify her, but she's say, oh my god, girls, what
Speaker 1: are you watching? Back to that, it's just it's never
Speaker 1: gotten old, Like we still watch it with mum and
Speaker 1: we still get excited about it, whereas I don't feel
Speaker 1: like that. I've never felt like that with the Australian one.
Speaker 1: It's always not quite right. And I think a big
Speaker 1: part of that is I think we touched on it,
Speaker 1: but it seems fake the Australian one, and I think
Speaker 1: that's also a big part of it. And I'm interested
Speaker 1: to hear your thoughts. Is they don't do the fantasy suites.
Speaker 1: That's kind of the best part. And for those who
Speaker 1: haven't seen The American Bachelor, the fantasy suite is when
Speaker 1: you get down to the final four no sorry, but
Speaker 1: the final three, and they usually take them away to
Speaker 1: this beautiful exotic location and they have a full day
Speaker 1: date and then at dinner, they get the choice whether
Speaker 1: to for go their individual rooms or go.
Speaker 2: To the fantasy suite.
Speaker 1: Well, according to New Idea, we might be getting that.
Speaker 1: A New Idea article has come out today saying that
Speaker 1: a Bachelor insider claims that Matt had sex with a
Speaker 1: contestant that he doesn't give the final rose to. Did
Speaker 1: they say that was in a fantasy suite. They haven't
Speaker 1: clarified whether it was a fantasy sweet situation, but they
Speaker 1: did say that it happened on the set. Well, that's
Speaker 1: odd because there's always been reports that it's so that
Speaker 1: they don't even get alone time really with the Bachelor.
Speaker 1: And it's quite interesting because I was listening to the
Speaker 1: New Bachelor US podcast, which features Ali and Rachel, who
Speaker 1: were the American bachelorettes, and I would highly recommend it.
Speaker 1: It's amazing, And they were talking about their time as
Speaker 1: bachelorettes and the fantasy suite dates specifically, and they were
Speaker 1: saying that in Ali's series, the producers actually left them alone,
Speaker 1: but in Rachel's, which was only a few years ago,
Speaker 1: they were there the whole time. They stayed in another room.
Speaker 1: Spri me was they act like they're so in love
Speaker 1: when they're in their fantasy sweet date. But she was
Speaker 1: actually saying she was quite grossed out by this guy
Speaker 1: and that she actually wanted to leave.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that actually surprised me a lot.
Speaker 1: And it does, you know, with just saying how the
Speaker 1: American one is so much more real. But I was
Speaker 1: just thinking about the timing of this news coming out
Speaker 1: about Matt having sex with on the contestants. Does it
Speaker 1: not scream of being fake and for publicity and trying
Speaker 1: to spice it up a bit. I personally feel like
Speaker 1: it seems something that's been leaked from the production team
Speaker 1: to try and make him, you know, the good boy,
Speaker 1: be a bit more of a bad boy. Maybe it's
Speaker 1: like when suddenly a new idea gets a leak of
Speaker 1: a pregnancy test at the Batchi mansion.
Speaker 2: It's so fake.
Speaker 1: Something that's been a bit of a hot topic is
Speaker 1: Channel ten's portrayal of diversity. What do you guys think
Speaker 1: about it this year? I think it's great that they've
Speaker 1: tried to get a more diverse cast, but again, I
Speaker 1: feel like they've missed the mark. It's almost like they
Speaker 1: haven't really thought it through properly. They just think by
Speaker 1: chucking in a couple of of different nationalities that they've
Speaker 1: done their job, but the actual fact is it's kind
Speaker 1: of come across.
Speaker 2: As a little bit racist.
Speaker 1: I definitely think the portrayal of Kristen, who is known
Speaker 1: as the China Girl, is very problematic. She every time
Speaker 1: she's on screen we have Chinese music playing. I mean,
Speaker 1: did anyone else think it was odd that she one
Speaker 1: gave him a fortune cookie and then continue to go
Speaker 1: on about her box the whole time? Can we just
Speaker 1: add that, for those who haven't actually seen it, this
Speaker 1: girl is not actually Chinese. She's a white, blonde Australian
Speaker 1: girl who speaks Mandarin fluently. And yeah, I was a
Speaker 1: bit appalled by her suggestions about her box, like it
Speaker 1: was just cringe.
Speaker 2: And what's more.
Speaker 1: Troubling about her portrayal on the show is they've only
Speaker 1: ever had two Asian contestants. Now that was Judy, who
Speaker 1: I don't even remember from Tim Robard's series, and Vanessa's
Speaker 1: sun Robart.
Speaker 2: Isn't that his robarts.
Speaker 1: Rot? I's gonna say, and this, yeh, Vanessa Sunshine. What
Speaker 1: I find a bit troubling also about it is if
Speaker 1: so they think it's acceptable to make fun of this
Speaker 1: girl because she likes China. But I'm like thinking, would
Speaker 1: they put that music on for a Vanessa Sunshine, you
Speaker 1: know what I mean? So the China Girl wasn't the
Speaker 1: only one that had music attributed to her. We also
Speaker 1: had the two Persian princesses that had Middle Eastern music playing.
Speaker 1: And what was even weirder was that they were pitted
Speaker 1: against each other. That was almost like the producers are saying,
Speaker 1: we can only have one Persian princess.
Speaker 2: So it was just bizarre.
Speaker 1: An absolute favorite contestant her I think that everyone has
Speaker 1: been celebrating is the kup. Now if you don't know
Speaker 1: who I'm talking about, she has been compared to Tyra
Speaker 1: Banks and she is the contestant that rolled the red
Speaker 1: carpet out And when she left Matt she said to him,
Speaker 1: once you go black, you never go back.
Speaker 2: I must admit.
Speaker 1: When I first saw her and she rolled out the
Speaker 1: red carpet, I just thought it was a bit wanky.
Speaker 1: But she does seem like a nice, strong, strong woman.
Speaker 2: But I don't know. There was just something about bit cringe, like, oh,
Speaker 2: I'm a model. I'm a model, Amma model. But I
Speaker 2: might be wrong. She might grow on me. I loved her.
Speaker 1: Though She's been pretty popular on social media and across
Speaker 1: Facebook and people are making meme saying.
Speaker 2: That she's a mood.
Speaker 1: I just think she's fantastic.
Speaker 2: I don't remember because I actually felt aslave well.
Speaker 1: She She wasn't in the rose ceremony, which raised a
Speaker 1: few eyebrows because she was unwell, so maybe you didn't
Speaker 1: see her look, probably because the Rose ceremony stretches over
Speaker 1: two days. I'm gonna put it out there if it
Speaker 1: does not get better this week, I'm gonna be searching
Speaker 1: for Hannah Bee's series on.
Speaker 2: The internet because I heard that went off.
Speaker 1: I don't want to spoil it for anyone, but it
Speaker 1: sounded even it was apparently more epic than Colton series.
Speaker 2: That must be said. I'll leave it at that she's
Speaker 2: not a virgin.
Speaker 1: But well before Kate jumps ship and goes and watched
Speaker 1: The US Bachelor, I thought we'd run through some of
Speaker 1: the most entertaining headlines this week about Matt Agnew and
Speaker 1: may I add. I don't know if anyone else is
Speaker 1: feeling this, but Matt, do you know who he reminds
Speaker 1: me of? Oh Gimber dr Alex from Love Island last year.
Speaker 2: Oh, I can see.
Speaker 1: The similarities there, except he's actually got women interested in
Speaker 1: him this time around. I loved Alex a little less
Speaker 1: burnt than Alex, but anyway, that's because no one was
Speaker 1: on Alex's intellectual level.
Speaker 2: No are You're exactly right? He was definitely my favorite.
Speaker 1: So the first headline is the Bachelor's Matt Adnew reveals
Speaker 1: how many women he slept with. That was of course
Speaker 1: on Kyle and Jackie.
Speaker 2: O ho any was it? I haven't heard well.
Speaker 1: Kyle was shocked when Matt revealed he'd slept with seven women.
Speaker 1: That makes me like him even more. He actually revealed
Speaker 1: that was a question on the Bachelor application form, which
Speaker 1: is pretty interesting. I wonder how many of the honey
Speaker 1: Badgers said, I'm just gonna make two points, Versie, how
Speaker 1: old is he?
Speaker 2: He's thirty one? Okay, cool and second night? I like that.
Speaker 1: I think that's great. Can we talk about double standard?
Speaker 1: Would they have done this for the women? Oh? Yeah,
Speaker 1: you can never imagine. Ali Otagin reveals how many men
Speaker 1: she slept with. That would never be a headline if
Speaker 1: he slept with seven girls? Were meant to believe this
Speaker 1: new headline that's come out this week from the obviously
Speaker 1: from the Bachelor producers that they've leaked saying that he
Speaker 1: slept with someone on the show.
Speaker 2: I mean ridiculous.
Speaker 1: I heard as well that he had to ring his
Speaker 1: mum up to apologize for the teaser of him making
Speaker 1: out with girls on the beach, So it is quite
Speaker 1: a jump for him to then be sleeping with contestant.
Speaker 2: That was pretty over the top. I saw a photo
Speaker 2: of it before and I was like, Oh.
Speaker 1: Did anyone see the teaser of him sitting in a
Speaker 1: little bath tub covered in chocolate and the panned placement
Speaker 1: of the I don't know which contestant it was, but
Speaker 1: it was like they'd gone They know, they've gone back
Speaker 1: to basics. They can't afford a massive bath tub that
Speaker 1: they had Ritchie and Alex in, but they can afford
Speaker 1: a little chocolate bucket. So the next earth shattering headline
Speaker 1: was how tall is the Bachelor's Matt Angnew His exact
Speaker 1: height revealed and then the leaders, yes, this is important. Well,
Speaker 1: I don't know how they rate that. How tall was he?
Speaker 1: It says and his response was I'm six ' three
Speaker 1: but six six on tinder. That actually shocks me that
Speaker 1: he's six foot three. He doesn't look that tall. I
Speaker 1: thought he looked quite tall anyway. I thought he'd be sure.
Speaker 2: It's quite funny.
Speaker 1: It seems like everyone is now obsessed with his appearance,
Speaker 1: which is I suppose it's kind of refreshing because women
Speaker 1: get it all the time, but this time they There
Speaker 1: were a lot of articles that I saw popping up
Speaker 1: on my newsfeed on social media about the before and
Speaker 1: after of his social media pictures verse now what he's
Speaker 1: looking like, and everyone's saying he looks a lot hotter. Now,
Speaker 1: I mean that's just a difference. Taking some glasses off
Speaker 1: in a haircut makes not like he's had plastic surgery
Speaker 1: or anything. Yeah, the next headline is actually before and
Speaker 1: after fans reckoned bachelor Matt Agnew has had quite the transformation.
Speaker 1: So I find that a bit ridiculous because I'm looking
Speaker 1: at his picture and it's basically he's taking his glasses
Speaker 1: off and had a haircut. I don't know if people
Speaker 1: are gonna hate me for saying this, but if anyone's
Speaker 1: seen the sein Felt episode where there's the two face,
Speaker 1: remember the woman that Gerry dates and at the coffee shop,
Speaker 1: she looks good in the particular light, and then she
Speaker 1: looks a bit different in the other light. And not
Speaker 1: saying he looks bad, I actually think he looked great.
Speaker 1: In some lights he looks a bit geeky, and then
Speaker 1: others he looks like a model.
Speaker 2: So essentially, when we look.
Speaker 1: At the before and after, it's literally a haircut, taking
Speaker 1: his glasses off, and he's wearing a suit. It's not
Speaker 1: like he's had plastic surgery or botox in his head
Speaker 1: like a lot of the bachelorette contestants.
Speaker 2: Is he the only non stripper we've had as a.
Speaker 1: Bachelor, so we've had Tim Robard's, Blake Garvey.
Speaker 2: Sam Wood? Was he a stripper as well?
Speaker 1: Well, I know he's got a hot bod, so I
Speaker 1: don't sorry, don't you mean topless waiter? So we're going
Speaker 1: to retract that statement. Sorry Sam, but you do have
Speaker 1: a hot body, but you were not a stripper. I
Speaker 1: swear there were more who were strippers hanging, but who.
Speaker 2: Was after Sam Wood?
Speaker 1: There's other I think they're just other bachelor contestants in Sorry,
Speaker 1: bachelorete contents might be confusing, As you say, my topless
Speaker 1: waiters like Anton from Love Island into this mix. Well,
Speaker 1: let's just put it out there. We've never had an
Speaker 1: astrophysicist before, so yeah, slightly better than a stripper. Maddy
Speaker 1: Jay wasn't a stripper.
Speaker 2: That's another one. Here's in marketing job.
Speaker 1: That's funny you say that because now he is a
Speaker 1: stupor he was on that stupid course for wanty oh.
Speaker 1: I actually think we were raising money for a good cause.
Speaker 1: Actually we're not really complaining about that. Why not we
Speaker 1: Let's just say he definitely hasn't got a dad bod yet,
Speaker 1: but we'll keep you posted on how that one goes. Well.
Speaker 1: Thank you so much for joining us. If you'd like
Speaker 1: to continue the conversation, please come over and join us
Speaker 1: on Instagram at Outspoken Underscore The Underscored Podcast. We're also
Speaker 1: on Facebook under the same name, and this week we
Speaker 1: will be recording a special episode all about love and relationships.
Speaker 1: So if you have any questions about your relationship or
Speaker 1: you want to know something about men, we've got a
Speaker 1: special expert coming in. He'll be able to answer all
Speaker 1: of your questions. So please feel free to DM us
Speaker 1: on Instagram or email us on Facebook or wherever you
Speaker 1: can find.
Speaker 2: Us and let us know your questions.
Speaker 1: Thanks so much for joining us, and we'll see you
Speaker 1: in our next episode.