‘The Bachelorette’s’ Ivan Stops By

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