Lexi’s Back for Love!

00:00:01
Speaker 1: Hey, everyone, welcome back to bad You're Happy Hour. I'm Joe and I'm Serena, And like we said, we are doing interviews this week and we have Lexi coming on the podcast. She's a pretty big person in episode one.

00:00:14
Speaker 2: Yeah, I feel like definitely a fan favorite on Joey's season of The Bachelor, we were lucky enough to have her on during that season to learn more about her, and she was a big part of episode one as well. You know, we see her kind of getting close with Justin, who is a fan favorite.

00:00:31
Speaker 3: He was on Paradise before.

00:00:32
Speaker 2: And there's a little bit of drama starting there with the potential of Susie joining the cast as well.

00:00:37
Speaker 1: Yeah, and her first day gets canceled. Was Yeah, what like canceled?

00:00:43
Speaker 3: Sorry, guys, it's raining. We can't proceed.

00:00:45
Speaker 1: I just wanted them. I was like, at least like let him go hang out in the room, or we can't set up.

00:00:49
Speaker 3: An indoor dinner, Like we don't have a rain plan.

00:00:52
Speaker 1: Yeah, Like the lobbies are like a lobby with a fireplace where they could have like a glass of wine, like get to know each other a little bit.

00:00:58
Speaker 2: That was that was shocking, But we can't wait to get her take on justin, her date and everything to do with episode one.

00:01:06
Speaker 1: Yeah, let's bring her in. LEXI. Welcome back to Battery Happy Hour. How are you?

00:01:13
Speaker 4: Thank you happy to be back. I'm doing well. How are you guys?

00:01:16
Speaker 1: We're good, We're good. Before we get into episode one, a little background. You are from Joey's season. Man, it's been a while, Joey has been a while. You were on Joey's season. Where are you now? Where do you live? What's kind of been going on pre paradise.

00:01:39
Speaker 5: Yeah, so I was on Joey's season and I came back to Atlanta, which is where I'm still currently living. And I came back to my corporate job. So nothing too crazy in terms of changes, but I did start a business which has been really exciting, and so I just quit my corporate job recently and I'm doing the business.

00:01:55
Speaker 4: Full time now.

00:01:56
Speaker 5: So I've been traveling a lot, and yeah, it's kind of been awind. I can't believe it's been as long as it has since the season. It's time is crazy right now.

00:02:06
Speaker 1: What is the business?

00:02:07
Speaker 5: The dating business? So it's called in the Wild and it's in person dating. So we do matchmaking in person dating events FED dating, and yeah, it's been fun. We've there's, you know, three couples that are engaged and we have over one hundred couples that are dating and it's only been a year, so it's definitely working. But it was fun to kind of get to play matchmaker on the beach just since I've been doing that for the last year.

00:02:30
Speaker 3: So that's crazy.

00:02:31
Speaker 2: So what are some things that you look for when you're trying to set people up?

00:02:35
Speaker 4: You know, you try to look at the person as a whole.

00:02:37
Speaker 5: I think so much is like list driven these days, like I want them to be this height, that they want them to look like this, I want them to have this type of job. But I think if you strip some of that away, what I'm finding through all of this is like in person people meet individuals and they're actually very surprised, like from a personality connection, like they wouldn't have matched with them on a dating app. But once they get talking to them in a room and you know, don't have like a checklist in front of them of like their height occupy all of that, they are more open minded to meeting different people. And so I've definitely been trying to lean into that as well, as you know, I was dating before the.

00:03:07
Speaker 4: Show, seeing someone as the whole and not just a list.

00:03:12
Speaker 2: Yeah, where could people find your website, your services? I want to take advantage. And is it across the US? Is it just Atlanta.

00:03:22
Speaker 5: We're about to kick off a tour and so we're going to be going to major cities across the US and basically bringing this pop up activation there. You guys can find us on Instagram, in the wild dating and TikTok, and then our website as well, which is linked in all of those social platforms. But yeah, we're excited to bring it to other cities like Charleston, Nashville, LA.

00:03:42
Speaker 4: So it should be fun.

00:03:43
Speaker 3: I love that. That is so fun.

00:03:45
Speaker 1: Have you dated since Joey's season?

00:03:49
Speaker 4: Yeah?

00:03:49
Speaker 5: I dated someone briefly after Joey's season, and you know, a good guy, but just kind of not on the same page that I was on. And I think I talked about that a lot on Joey's season what I'm looking for, and so it's good experience. But I kind of, you know, dated him right after the show, and then I jumped right into building this business.

00:04:05
Speaker 4: And so when Paradise came along.

00:04:06
Speaker 5: I had a lot of mixed feelings about it, but I hadn't dated in a little bit, and so it was, yeah, we'll talk about that more, I'm sure, but it was definitely a different as a stretch for me.

00:04:16
Speaker 2: Yeah, I was thinking about you the other day because I knew we were probably going to have you on the podcast, and one of my girlfriends called me and is getting the surgery done to see if she has endometriosis.

00:04:28
Speaker 3: How are you doing with all of that?

00:04:30
Speaker 5: It's been, you know, transparently, it's every day it has its own challenges. I'm coming up on having another surgery at the end of the summer, and so before that, I'll have to freeze my eggs one more time. I froze them right before I went on Joey's season, and so, you know, I know, is a systemic disease with no cure, and so unfortunately, you know it ebbs and flows definitely have worse weeks than others. But luckily I have an amazing team of doctors and hopefully eventually, you know, a supportive partner and my eggs are frozen and we can you know, come up with a plan that's best for our family, but.

00:05:01
Speaker 4: Yeah, thank you for asking.

00:05:02
Speaker 5: It's it's just a part of me at this point, not going anywhere, but I'm trying my best to stay positive.

00:05:08
Speaker 2: Did it impact your experience filming Paradise in any way?

00:05:12
Speaker 5: Yeah, I think it was the second day and time there is obviously, you know, everything feels like you're living ten days in one and on the second day I had a really bad flare, and so I just like, for some reason, on Joey's season it was a little like easier because I could wear like, you know, a flowy dress, but we were on the beach and bikinis, so you know, I was like kind of dying inside because I mean, obviously all the girls are in such good shape and then I'm over here like I looked like eight months pregnant. Obviously out of my control. It was an endo flare. Great doctors on the show. I've always had such a good experience. They take such good care of me. But it did feel in a bathing suit. I was like, this is worst case scenario, but out of my control.

00:05:51
Speaker 3: Yeah, no, that totally makes sense.

00:05:54
Speaker 1: So you get the call for Paradise, where's your head at? You an instant Yes, we're what are you thinking?

00:06:04
Speaker 2: No.

00:06:04
Speaker 4: I think I was an instant no at first.

00:06:06
Speaker 5: And I think a lot of people when they found out, you know, when they dropped the cast, were surprised, and I was like, I was surprised too. I think when I first heard about it, or you know, got that invitation from from production, it was I don't know if it's the best fit for me, just because of, you know, exactly the reason why I left Joey's season. What I'm looking for, Like, are these guys truly ready for that? And then you don't know who the guys are ahead of time, and so I wasn't sure there would be someone there that was, you know, maybe a little older and more ready for that next step.

00:06:34
Speaker 4: You know, who knows.

00:06:35
Speaker 5: I'm sure a lot of the guys, depending on their age, could be ready for different things. But and I also am just not an aggressive personality, and so I was like, I don't even know if I'll do well there, because if someone's fighting over a guy, I would just be like, you know, you can have them, like I just I couldn't even It would just give me anxiety. So at first I was like, I don't think it's for me. So that's kind of where we started.

00:06:55
Speaker 1: Did you watch Bachelor and Paradise going into this?

00:06:59
Speaker 4: I have not seen it in so long.

00:07:01
Speaker 5: I have not seen it since like Hannah and Dylan's like season, and so I know Paradise, but I had not watched it in a year, so I felt like I was a little behind. But then they kept saying this season was going to be so different and so id they were like kind of scrap everything you know about it before, and so that.

00:07:18
Speaker 4: Made me feel a little better.

00:07:19
Speaker 1: Yeah, so what were your initial thoughts when you got there and everything was very different.

00:07:25
Speaker 5: They kept saying there's going to be these challenges, and I was so nervous we were going to be on like wipeout or something. I was like, I am not like prepared for survivor like wrong, wrong contestant.

00:07:34
Speaker 4: But once I got.

00:07:35
Speaker 5: There, I mean, it was such a It's such a beautiful resort, like truly really, you know, they upgraded, they have air conditioning, which I'm sure you guys probably are.

00:07:42
Speaker 4: Jealous that you didn't have air conditioning.

00:07:43
Speaker 5: I heard from like Kat who had done Paradise before that this was infinitely nicer. And so I'm in the beach is the beach, but I was grateful to have air conditioning and the goldens. You know, knowing they were coming was fun and having handed there was like a really nice mix up. So it was positive like energy walking into it. For sure, it felt very fresh.

00:08:03
Speaker 2: When you guys got to Costa Rica, did you I'm like kind of breaking the fourth wall with this question, but like you obviously stay in a room for a few days before they send you down. Did you stay at that hotel or did you stay somewhere else and they brought you onto set?

00:08:17
Speaker 5: Say, somewhere else and they brought us onto set. The other hotel was it was very close. I mean it was a less than a ten minute drive, but you are in isolation until you get called down to the beach. And when you do get called down, you don't know if people have been there for you know, days, one day hours.

00:08:33
Speaker 4: So same as I.

00:08:34
Speaker 1: Guess before, were you at all worried that you may not be original cast, that they could drop you?

00:08:40
Speaker 5: I did, yeah, and I expressed those concerns to production, And it was mostly I wasn't trying to be like I want to be there first. It was really because of one my personality being a little bit more like mellow.

00:08:51
Speaker 4: I was nervous.

00:08:51
Speaker 5: I'm not I'm not the bombshell, like, don't bring me in later, it will I just would. I don't think I would do well on that, and so they kind of reassured me that I would. They're early on to be able to establish a connection, so I was like, okay, maybe one first day, second day, but I've heard in the past they bring in people so much later, so you never know.

00:09:09
Speaker 3: Yeah, and that's totally fair.

00:09:11
Speaker 2: I think anyone going on the show that's like really serious about finding a genuine connection, the earlier the better.

00:09:17
Speaker 3: I mean, that's no.

00:09:18
Speaker 2: Secret, totally Okay, So you get down there, you were kind of down there earlier in the day for sure.

00:09:27
Speaker 4: Early.

00:09:28
Speaker 2: What are your original thoughts, what are those first conversations?

00:09:31
Speaker 5: Like, Yeah, it was so hot, that was my first thought. I was like, how does everyone look good on this show? Like I just could not stop thinking about this wedding. But it was you know, we walked in. There's two other people there, Spencer and Alex. Spencer from Gen season, Alex from Grant season. I had known Spencer like just through you know, social media before this, and he's such just a great guy, and Alex was so vibrant, like very energetic, so it was really good energy when we walked in. But I think it was we were all just waiting to see who was coming down next, So it.

00:10:00
Speaker 4: Was kind of just like a waiting game.

00:10:01
Speaker 5: And I think at that point, like Wells wasn't there, Hannah definitely wasn't there, so we were all just kind of like scoping it out. We didn't know if the Goldens were coming that day, like, we didn't know anything.

00:10:18
Speaker 2: So going down, obviously we see you kind of form a connection with Justin, But who were kind of the guys that you were looking to talk to are interested in?

00:10:29
Speaker 5: Yeah, so I didn't have a specific name, but I definitely wanted someone who was a little bit older and maybe someone that I hadn't met before. And there was a guy down there at Kyle, and I was really excited because I didn't know who he was. I didn't know what season he came from, so it was just like very intriguing to get to know him better. But otherwise I think I knew all of the guys at least from social media besides Kyle.

00:10:51
Speaker 3: Okay, yeah, that's interesting. We asked just that too.

00:10:53
Speaker 2: We're just trying to get a vibe on like how well everyone knew each other going in, because I feel like it's different every season.

00:10:59
Speaker 1: Totally, which I think was good this season that it was more like we kind of know of each other, but we all don't really know each other. Yeah. Always, that's always better. I think one of the past few seasons, it just seemed like everyone like.

00:11:12
Speaker 3: Had met and been.

00:11:15
Speaker 4: It was like the stage coach thing, right, Like I didn't go to stage Coach this.

00:11:18
Speaker 2: Year, so yeah, it was probably for the best. So down there the first day, all the cast is there. Who are the people that you're closest with.

00:11:29
Speaker 5: I'm really close to Jess, She's from my season. She's amazing, And I think that was from a girl perspective. She was the only one that I knew from from my season. But I really started to get close to Bailey and Zoe and Alex and so so nice having them there. And Jonathan I had talked to on social media a little bit before, and so it felt like kind of talking to a friend. So I think at first we were all like kind of grouped together and then people started to pair off. But it was nice to have some familiar faces, so we made it a little more comfortable.

00:11:58
Speaker 1: Was there a romantic spark at all with you and Jonathan?

00:12:01
Speaker 4: Ever, No, you know, I never got to explore it.

00:12:03
Speaker 5: I that first day was so chaotic just with you know, getting to know everyone, and then I got that one on one on the first day, and then it got rained out and so they swiftly bring you to your room and you got to get ready and hurry, hurry, hurry, And so I actually ended up waiting in the room for like five and a half hours because every time I think, they had to wait, wait, wait, And so I missed those five and a half hours. Where I was in the room was when everyone else was like mixing and mingling, and so Jonathan and I never really had a chance to go deeper that first day, which was now I'm starting to learn, like in Paradise, day one is so critical, So I kind of missed that.

00:12:40
Speaker 3: God that's such a bummer.

00:12:41
Speaker 2: I mean, like that is just how it goes with the rain obviously, but it probably sucks because you're like I can't even hang it with Justin. I can't even like get to know all these people and like them. By the time day two hits and you've been chilling in your room against your will. Everyone's a little more coupled up totally.

00:12:58
Speaker 5: And then the thing about day two, it was we had the makeup date, so like all the whole night when I'm in my room in isolation, and then day two we went on our day date to make up the date from the night prior that got rained out, So I missed a lot of that early time.

00:13:12
Speaker 2: You must have been like, thank god I have a rose this week, because at least I know I've got you know that next week to have more time.

00:13:19
Speaker 4: Totally.

00:13:19
Speaker 5: Yeah, I was. I was when we found out that the woman had the roses. First, I was so happy for a lot of reasons. But when the timing shook out with like my date being canceled and rescheduled, I was like, thank god, otherwise I'd be freaking out. I was like, I don't know who I get a rose from?

00:13:31
Speaker 1: Yeah, did you know? So justin comes to your room AND's like, hey, bad news, dates canceled? Do you already do you guys already know that it's going to be rescheduled? Like, oh not?

00:13:41
Speaker 5: At that point, I was actually the whole thing was so crazy because I was in my room for so long, I actually fell asleep, And so when he knocked it fully in a dress, like full makeup, you.

00:13:49
Speaker 4: Know, ready it again.

00:13:50
Speaker 5: So when he knocked on the door, I thought I was production or a handler, and it was him. He was like, you know, we'll try to figure something out for tomorrow, but we had no clue if we were going to be able to make it up.

00:13:58
Speaker 4: Just with filming and the schedule being so.

00:14:00
Speaker 2: Tight, was any part of you like, I'm on the Bachelor, why do we not have a rain plan? Like we're at a hotel, Like couldn't we go to dinner? Or was it just like so late by the time they made the call, it was.

00:14:12
Speaker 5: So late, you know, new season, new vibes, new cameras, like it's so many elevated points with that, but also comes with pain points like I think that, yes, I'm sure it would be nice to have a plan, being a rain plan, but I.

00:14:23
Speaker 4: Don't think anyone anticipated these storms.

00:14:25
Speaker 5: I mean they were insane, like I've never seen anything like it. So I and then the staff, the you know, camera crew had been working so late. It was midnight at that point. So even if I if I went on the date, I'd be exhausted.

00:14:37
Speaker 3: Ye want to know that makes sense?

00:14:40
Speaker 5: I can.

00:14:41
Speaker 1: It was like our first date was it raining? It wasn't raining, but we were both sick and it was late, Like.

00:14:47
Speaker 2: Yeah, I was like running out of our shuttle to like go throw up before our.

00:14:51
Speaker 1: First day and it was like late too in the week we had to like wrestle.

00:14:54
Speaker 3: It was like, yeah, it was.

00:14:57
Speaker 4: It was.

00:14:58
Speaker 3: It was not sexy.

00:15:00
Speaker 2: I'll tell me about that, but it makes sense. They're probably waiting being like, Okay, you know it's gonna let up. It's gonna let up. It's going to let up, and then all of a sudden it's midnight. It's like, well, I guess you're on a bed. How did you feel though, were you really disappointed?

00:15:12
Speaker 5: I was disappointed because I wish that we had been able to wait with the rest of the cast outside and not in our rooms.

00:15:19
Speaker 4: I felt like I lost a lot of time.

00:15:21
Speaker 5: And then as a girl, like I was like I got all ready, you know, it's just in especially the beach, I was like I had cool hair and I had to, you know, do the whole thing. And so it's such first world problems. But I also wanted to spend time with Justin. I was excited at that point. I was like, oh my god, the first one on one of Paradise, Like how fun, you know, and especially you're in isolation for so long. I was like, let's go do something like I wanted to do an activity. I was like ald zip line. I anyways, so it's okay. We made up the date the next day.

00:15:48
Speaker 3: Yeah, tell us about how the date actually ended up going once you had it.

00:15:52
Speaker 4: Yeah.

00:15:53
Speaker 5: So he had talked to Hannah and was like, hey, you know, explain the situation, and she they like brainstormed and created this little day date went and like sat on a bench, got to talk a little bit, ate some lunch, and then we swam. So I think Justin was like so disappointed because he's like, this is so lame. We could have done this like at the Paradise set. But it was nice to have the uninterrupted time and you know, being removed from the cast. But like the timeline, you know, as a viewer, I don't think you realize like we woke up, got ready for the date, did all of our interviews, went on the date, did post date interviews, and then we had maybe thirty minutes to get ready for that first row ceremony, So we missed an day and again the second day is so important.

00:16:34
Speaker 1: Yeah, so are you what are you after this date? During this date, what are you feeling? Are you liking him? What's your intuition telling you, like I can marry this guy?

00:16:44
Speaker 4: Or I wasn't there yet? I think I was. So.

00:16:47
Speaker 5: I I had talked to Susie before coming up to Paradise, just because her and I are like very similar life stages and so and so that's.

00:16:56
Speaker 2: Wild that that's the person you went to for advice and I ended up on a date with you.

00:17:00
Speaker 5: Walked quite a bit and so you know, I had never could have anticipated justin asking me on the date he pulled myself and Alex and I think I'm open minded. It's day one, Like, of course I'm going to say yes, But I definitely had hesitations in my head just being having that conversation with Susie and kind of you know, understanding they have this history. I know she's in holding at the hotel at this point, so at any point she can come down like her and I flew there on the same day, so I knew she was there.

00:17:27
Speaker 1: Are you are you and Susie friends or did you just kind of like reach out to her for a time.

00:17:32
Speaker 5: We just reached out and kind of we became We've definitely became very good friends through this, But at this point before, I think it was more kind of you know her and I just saying, you know, how what are we looking for in this and you know we're.

00:17:43
Speaker 4: Both at this age and who do we think is coming?

00:17:46
Speaker 5: Which as soon as I told Justin that we had the phone call, I think his like whole demeanor change because he was like, you're kidding me, Like I picked the one girl here who's like, you know, friendly, has talked to my ex that it was very you know, a recent breakup. So I definitely hesitations, I will say, is how I kind of felt about him. But I was like, let's go, let's see what he's about. I know he's funny and something I'm looking for in my partner, and so but I had hesitations.

00:18:10
Speaker 1: So going into the rose ceremony, are you like because it's you, it shows you're like a little hesitant on giving Justin your rose? Who would you have given it to? If you didn't give it to Justin?

00:18:26
Speaker 5: It I would have given it to Kyle or Jonathan. I think Kyle, just from what i'm the very brief conversation we had, he seemed like there was potential there, but I didn't get enough to be, like, you know, really dive in more about what he's looking for in his story. And then Jonathan, I just think because I, you know, we had this like friendship and we've talked before, and I know he's a good guy, that felt like maybe it would have been a safer option. He's more available rights his ex isn't coming down to the beach. But because I had that time with Justin and we had the conversations where he reassure me so many times that he is healed from this relationship with Susie, I ended up giving him the rose. We had the most time together and he really really really reassured me.

00:19:11
Speaker 1: Interesting, Yeah, Dale Moss gets yeah going down there, and he's Dale's older, he's thirty six. Were did you have a conversation with him at all? Because it seems like that.

00:19:23
Speaker 5: Could have been a So I think Dale's a great guy. I was not expecting to see him there. That was probably the biggest surprise for me from a cast perspective, but he you know, I guess what. I what I've gathered from talking to all these guys post show is that they all just assumed Justin and I were coupled up. And so because we had that date once Dale had already Dale arrived, Dale arrived, and we had already gone on the date, I believe I don't.

00:19:47
Speaker 4: Really, Okay, I think so.

00:19:49
Speaker 2: I think he had asked you on the date that first day, That's what it is, and then Dale came down, So you were kind of already locked in on that date with Justin and they're friendly.

00:19:58
Speaker 5: I think that, you know, have similar circles outside of this, and they've hung out, and so I think that, you know, Dale kind of just stayed away. And I heard that from Jonathan after I heard that from Kyle. I've heard that from multiple guys saying that they just kind of saw I was with Justin and didn't want to get involved because we had that date early on.

00:20:16
Speaker 3: Yeah, it is wild how that happens.

00:20:17
Speaker 2: I feel like that kind of happens every season, even on ours, where it's like, oh, I thought you were in a couple, and people get really cautious about like stepping on toes, even if it's like, oh, we're just getting to know each other, it's only been two days.

00:20:29
Speaker 3: Like, I'm still open.

00:20:39
Speaker 4: You know, Dale's a great guy and he is older.

00:20:41
Speaker 2: Yeah, in terms of your relationship with Justin, did you feel worried about what the dynamic was going to be when Susie likely came down.

00:20:55
Speaker 4: I was worried. I was so worried. It's all I talked.

00:20:57
Speaker 5: If you asked Jess like she was my roommate, it's all I talked about. To the point where I was starting to get a little frustrated because it's just not what I signed up for.

00:21:04
Speaker 4: It's not Justin or Susie's fault. They both deserve a.

00:21:07
Speaker 5: Chance to meet someone new and get a you know, relationship that's right for them. But I started to feel like I was in the middle. And at this point, she Susie still hasn't hasn't come to the beach, But whenever Justin talked about her, his whole demeanor changed, where I started to have a gut feeling that there was still something there. Which is there? They just broke up. They dated for a long time. It's not the craziest thing.

00:21:28
Speaker 2: What was the timeframe we see in your interview you're kind of like, I think it's only been two to three months?

00:21:33
Speaker 3: Was that what it had been?

00:21:35
Speaker 4: I think?

00:21:35
Speaker 5: So that's coming from him when I when I talked to Susie after, you know, we've connected since, like it almost seems like it was more recent they that they together. Yeah, but again not sure to tell. And you know, I just really didn't want to be involved.

00:21:49
Speaker 2: Yeah, but also crucial information for you and kind of other people dating them on the beach. I mean, if they say that they're ready, obviously you want to take them at face value and trust that. But I mean I can understand, and I'm sure Justin could also why you had your hesitations totally.

00:22:07
Speaker 5: But again, like when I had the rose, he stood ten toes down that he was fully moved on from this relationship and ready to meet someone new, or he wouldn't have.

00:22:15
Speaker 4: Come to the beach.

00:22:17
Speaker 1: Why not. Maybe this is just because I am a gambler, but why not roll the dice and be like, you know what, I didn't have much time with Jonathan or Kyle, but we are only a few days in. Maybe something will form within the next couple of days. Maybe take a shot on one of them.

00:22:40
Speaker 3: Yeah, but then Justin would have gone home. I know. Oh, you're saying, like, I'm justin go a different direction.

00:22:45
Speaker 1: Yeah, if if internally the Susie thing you knew was always gonna bother you, why not maybe pivot and take that chance.

00:22:54
Speaker 4: Yeah, I regret it.

00:22:55
Speaker 5: It's one of my I don't have a lot of regrets, but that is a regret. And I was talking to my mom about that recently. I wish I think because I had that one on one with Justin, for whatever unknown reason, I felt like I owed him the Rose because we got to open up about things. I had the most time with him, and I just didn't have that.

00:23:15
Speaker 4: With with Kyle or Jonathan.

00:23:16
Speaker 5: But I think if I could go back, I would pull Justin right before the rose ceremony and say, exactly what you just said. These hesitations aren't going anywhere, and it's kind of actually affecting me to be able to immerse myself in this, and so because of that, I'm going to take a chance on Kyle or Jonathan and I just in the moment, it all feels so much pressure and we'd had the one on one.

00:23:38
Speaker 4: It just I don't know.

00:23:39
Speaker 2: Yeah, Well, in hindsight, it's always twenty twenty. I mean, you're now looking back on it kind of yeah, understanding that maybe he wasn't as ready as you thought he was that first week, and like maybe you could have furthered something with Kyle. But I think in that moment, you're probably well, I've invested so much time in this person, and I kind of know where their head is at at least what they're telling me, Like, let's kind of see where this can go.

00:24:02
Speaker 4: Totally that's literally exactly what happened.

00:24:05
Speaker 1: Okay, So going into the Rows ceremony, who would you say is the strongest.

00:24:13
Speaker 4: Couple going into the Rose ceremony?

00:24:16
Speaker 5: I would say Jess and Spencer, And I was her roommate, so I got like a front row seat. They were just instantly connected. She has a very similar personality to him. They're both so bubbly, Like it was just so obvious, like I think since I would like go to war for Jess, like, and this is after knowing her for two days, Like, it was just really sweet to watch.

00:24:35
Speaker 2: Yeah, they had really really good chemistry from that first conversation.

00:24:39
Speaker 5: Oh good, Like it was just like two pieces that fit together and made a lot of sense, and I love them both, so I was really just happy. I was so happy for her and him, you know, but I was over in the corner, just like on the show X on the Beach pretty much.

00:24:52
Speaker 3: Yeah, I've been there.

00:24:57
Speaker 2: What did you think of Yeah, that's okay.

00:25:03
Speaker 3: What did you think of the game?

00:25:06
Speaker 5: I think it was great to do the compatibility challenges, like you get to see more of the person.

00:25:12
Speaker 4: And yeah, I thought it was actually really fun. I think some people were a little stressed about you could like tell who was who with the silhouettes too.

00:25:19
Speaker 3: Sorry, that's what Jess was saying.

00:25:21
Speaker 2: She was like, based on like heights, anyone that was in the standing pose, you could immediately kind of seemly.

00:25:27
Speaker 5: Yeah, but it was so fun, Like I think that's the type of things we need to be doing, as fun as it is to like sit in the pool and talk like you know that we get to know them on a little deeper level.

00:25:36
Speaker 4: And yeah, it was cute.

00:25:38
Speaker 3: What did you think of the Hakeem Ricky fight?

00:25:41
Speaker 2: Yeah?

00:25:41
Speaker 5: Yeah, I like I really enjoyed both of them. I think Hakim is like very He's passionate. He's a passionate man, and I respect him for that, I, you know, I do. I don't think I needed to get to that point. It was a little heated in the moment, but you know, everyone's on edge. Hakim was invited to this quite a while.

00:26:00
Speaker 4: He's been waiting so long.

00:26:01
Speaker 5: I'm sure because of that, he had what feels maybe more pressure right because he was announced earlier.

00:26:07
Speaker 4: So I tried to give him the benefit of the doubt. It was squashed pretty quickly.

00:26:10
Speaker 2: Yeah, it kind of translated as if you were watching it. To me, it looked like Ricky kind of made like a casual dig at a keem, probably not thinking anything of it. Key might have been feeling some sensitivity and like insecurity throughout that challenge and just that day in general, and it just escalated way past maybe where either of them thought it was going to go exactly.

00:26:33
Speaker 5: And I think they both, from what I remembered, didn't have like a strong, super strong connection, like an immediate connection. So there's probably some you know, feelings there too, because there's so much build up to this, you know.

00:26:44
Speaker 3: Yeah, definitely, who.

00:26:48
Speaker 2: Were you surprised went home? If anyone or were there any roses that were handed out that shocked you.

00:26:55
Speaker 5: I was surprised Sam m went home. I think he is, you know, he's great personality. He had the one on one card, but he kind of had a disadvantage because he came in and gave the date to Jess and she had already established a connection with Spencer. So I think, you know, Jess had so much fun on that date. I think she just had a stronger connection with Spencer, and so I think Sam was a little bit at a loss, Like he came in and he was like, well, who who am I? You know, who am I connecting with here? It's all about timing too, Like when he came down to the beach, it was just kind of like a weird time because I already had been a lot of formal connections.

00:27:31
Speaker 2: Yeah, he was in a tough spot because I guess he kind of like missed out on that first day and then he comes down, he immediately takes Jess and he doesn't really have time to like get to know anyone else, to have like a secondary possibility to get a rose.

00:27:47
Speaker 3: So that's hard.

00:27:47
Speaker 2: We were actually bummed to see him go so early because we thought there was like maybe something for him to find someone.

00:27:52
Speaker 5: I think he also deserved like a chance to retell his story. I think on gen season he was portrayed in a light that's not who he is. He seemed, you know, he's come to Atlanta times. His friend Thomas lives there from his season, and so I've seen them out and he is a really sweet guy. So I was bummed he didn't get a chance to have like his redemption story moment.

00:28:10
Speaker 4: But that's okay. You know, he can live his life how he wants after this.

00:28:13
Speaker 3: Yeah, and you know it's still.

00:28:16
Speaker 2: He got a mini redemption, you know, like his time on the show was short, but like he came across like a gentleman and everyone seemed to have good interactions with him, and like it least not enough, not enough, but I feel like it leaves the audience at least with a good taste in their mind.

00:28:28
Speaker 4: Yeah.

00:28:28
Speaker 1: I'm gonna throw out a hypothetical for you. Let's say you know who Justin is, but you don't follow him on Instagram or social media. You never spoke to Susie. You know who she is, but you don't even know they date it and you and Susie never never talked. Do you think that would have changed everything for you?

00:28:53
Speaker 5: I think it would have had a significant impact on how I was feeling.

00:28:58
Speaker 2: It's super complicated. I think had you in this hypothatohole not known about the Suzui situation, do you think Justin would have brought it up on his own? Like what was his approach to handling it?

00:29:10
Speaker 5: A really good question because I believe I was the first one that brought it up, because I brought up the phone call. I talked to Jess the night before our rescheduled date and I said, how do I bring this up right? Like? And so I was like, I'm going to just be really honest because I had the call with her. We talked for a really long time, and I wanted to get that out there. And so, yeah, I don't know. I think the whole thing was just kind of it was really making me spiral, is.

00:29:38
Speaker 1: What I Yeah, I get that. I think, not that you're asking for my advice, but I'm gonna I don't want to throw it out there. I think the best way to go into Paradise is with the attitude of fuck all these people, and I'm here solely for myself to see if I could find a connection, because there is a lot of that where you meet people, you're half assed friends with people, and it could potentially ruin something great for like this bullshit friendship.

00:30:10
Speaker 2: I know, but I do feel like it's harder with women and female friendships a little bit.

00:30:14
Speaker 1: You always say that, but I'm a good friend. I'm just saying. We all go on a dating show to date each other, you know, it kind of has to be like, you know what I'm doing me for everyone?

00:30:29
Speaker 5: I guess yeah, you Honestly, Joe, if I had done that, I wouldn't have given him the roads I would have given me Eyler Jonathan and I can say that with a hundred confidence.

00:30:38
Speaker 4: Yeah.

00:30:38
Speaker 1: Interesting.

00:30:39
Speaker 2: Yeah, well, we are very excited to watch the rest of the season that the first episode was great, you look great in it, and we're excited.

00:30:48
Speaker 3: You know, to see where the rest goes. So thanks so much for coming on.

00:30:51
Speaker 4: Thank you. I'm excited. Should be a good journey.

00:30:54
Speaker 1: And good luck with your company and to all our listeners, thank you guys for tuning into bets You're happy hour. Make sure you download and subscribe.

00:31:01
Speaker 3: We have new exclusive interviews coming every single week. Thanks so much for listening.

00:31:05
Speaker 4: Bye