‘The Golden Bachelor’ airs Wednesdays on ABC
Grab your snacks, get comfy and get ready for “The Golden Bachelor: Women Tell All!”
Jesse Palmer introduces the ladies in attendance: Carla, Alexandra, Lisa, Monica P., Robin, Monica B., Terri, Andra, Roxanne, Amy, Carol, Gerri, Nicolle, Cheryl and Debbie. Jesse explains that Diane can’t be with everyone because she’s in Hawaii celebrating her son’s wedding. That’s a good reason!
The ladies share their memories. Robin says the love story of the season is her friendship with the women. Gerri says she was blown away when she got the first impression rose and she’s still on a high right now. Jesse shows a video looking back at the season so far and what makes these golden ladies so unforgettable. We get a glimpse of Diane and a lot of the Nicolle drama. More to come on that.
Jen: That is one of my favorite parts of this whole series, the friendships. It’s what has endeared the “Golden” series to Bachelor Nation.
Monica P. says this is the best group of women and she loves their zest for life. Jesse asks Alexandra how she’s feeling since she couldn’t partake in the cheerleading date. She says she’s feeling much better because she has this thing – and takes out the “massager” Susan and Kathy gave the ladies at the slumber party! OMG!
Jen: Well Gina, get ready for Ryan to bring this up on this week’s podcast, ha! So funny!
Jesse says when you get 23 women together there’s bound to be some tension, then addresses Nicolle. She says she didn’t come into this with a strategy but that was just her being her. She and Mel had palpable chemistry and when they kissed, “the whole world fell away.” She also says she was the “trailblazer” of the show, the first one to kiss Mel and then the others followed. The reactions on the other women’s faces were priceless here.
Jen: I can’t decide if Nicolle wants to get a rise out of the ladies or if she just unaware of how abrasive the things she says are.
Jesse asks about the lemon bar drama that had everyone feeling sour. Roxanne explains that Debbie brought up that Mel liked lemon and Nicolle said she could make lemon bars. It was a collective effort but Nicolle spearheaded it. Nicolle said she should have told Mel she was the head chef but had all these beautiful sous chefs helping and they were made with love. Debbie notes they were delicious!
Jesse asks Nicolle if she has any regrets and she says no, she was 100% there to find love and meet Mel. She also wanted to empower women, “whether your age starts with a 6, 7,8, 9.” Several women interrupt, but she continues by saying empowering women is about finding the love of your life, but also creating a purpose or career and have both.
Debbie says she needs to address the empowering women comment. “You didn’t empower us. You dismissed us.” Nicolle says she’s sorry Debbie feels that way (not quite an apology). Debbie continues, saying Nicolle dismissed her and her connection with Mel as well as his connections with the other women, including the final two when she said it wouldn’t last. Debbie says she was always on her side and has defended her every day, but when she saw the comments about the first season (that the women on Gerry Turner’s season weren’t attractive), when she said she was there to “date America” and to be an influencer, she was disappointed in Nicolle. Then Debbie says “if you want to be an influencer, you’re not going to be if nobody likes you.” The audience is shocked. Nicolle looks angry but in control. They toss to break. We all take a breath.
Jen: I was shocked that Debbie came out swinging like this, but it was justified. It was good to see Nicolle have to take a bit of accountability for her comments and actions.
When they come back, Jesse asks Robin if she wished she would have named names to Mel, when she told him someone was there for the wrong reasons. Robin says she was proud of herself for telling the truth and her only regret is not saying something earlier. Carol interrupts and says we’ve had enough of the roasting. They all had a great time and yes there were ebbs and flows but believes they were all there for the same reason, to find love. Terri says she wants to remember Nicolle in the house. But for Nicolle to go behind the ladies’ backs, it was disappointing. She hopes going forward Nicolle can realize how much they all cared about the sisterhood. Nicolle thanks them, says she loves all the ladies and she’ll do better.
Jesse introduces a video about all the girl talk in the house. We see Nicolle, Debbie and Roxanne in the pool and Nicolle says they should cut Mel into nine slices. Debbie says she’ll take his eyes, Roxanne says she wants the muscles and Nicolle says she’ll take a part that’s unmentionable! They all get a laugh out of that. We also see the infamous slumber party with Susan and Kathy and their game of truth or dare. Terri admits she dated three guys in three different cities for three months. We also see the “mile high club” moment with Gerri, Peg doing a spot-on impersonation of Mel walking, Monica P. twerking, Susan and Kathy giving everyone the kissing advice and a pillow fight.
Jen: This is just too funny, it’s great to see that they all had such a great time. Kathy and Susan are just the best and that was a highlight of the season for me, seeing them interact with the season 2 ladies.
After the piece, Monica B. says she loved hanging with Susan and Kathy but wondered if they gave everyone the same advice. We wondered the same thing! Monica P. says her niece taught her to twerk but then told her to never try it and then she got that twerking card! Gerri laughs as she recalls her kids having some questions about the mile high comment. She says it was with their father and they were on a plane going to their honeymoon. Jesse asks Nicolle about splitting Mel into nine pieces. Nicolle notes that he is a size 14 shoe (Gerri corrects her and says 14!) and she’s going to have to leave it up to Jesse’s imagination and he makes a joke about Mel’s comfy shoes.
Jesse says two audience members made lemon bars for everyone in attendance and they are passed around as Jesse sends us to commercial break. For the record, those lemon bars did not make it back to the press area, where I was watching.
Jen: I motion that we start to have lemon bars as we watch these episodes. Official dessert of the “Golden Bachelor.”
CHERYL IN THE HOT SEAT
Before we see Cheryl, Jesse and Terri are playing with puppets (you’ll remember, Terri’s puppet Carly was in the mansion!). Jesse’s puppet gives Carly a rose and it’s very cute.
Cheryl joins Jesse as they look back at her journey. She got emotional watching back her moments with Mel. She says it was beautiful and fulfilling and she wanted to stay on that one-on-one date on the Queen Mary. She is wearing a bracelet that Mel gave her and showed it to Jesse. She had been hopeful that this was her man. She wondered what she could have done differently, admits that she’s not good at flirting and let other girls move in on him. She wishes she would have gotten to kiss him more, but she has two grandkids watching! Jesse tells her they, along with her son Tyson are in the audience. The girls say it was “interesting” watching their “YaYa” dating on TV and they were happy she was trying to find true love. Tyson says his mom is his hero and she goes over to have a sweet reunion with her family.
Jen: I was surprised that Cheryl didn’t make it further in the show, but it seems like she’s going to have a great future. I wonder if Mel regretted not getting to know her better.
DEBBIE IN THE HOT SEAT
The audience cheered as Debbie took her spot in the hot seat and they looked back at her journey on the show. She has tears in her eyes as she tells Jesse it was a roller coaster ride. She allowed herself to feel hopeful again. There are so many layers to her and she wishes she would have had more time. The People Magazine shoot where she wore the wedding dress was very emotional. The women all told her she should be the beach bride and she tears up as she says it was special. She’s proud of putting herself out there.
One more time – Debbie for Golden Bachelorette!
Jen: I second that! She has been my pick for the next “Golden Bachelorette” since the beginning! I’m not sure why, but I always felt that she had more of a friendship vibe with Mel, but I have no doubt that such a fun, charismatic, and beautiful woman will find her perfect match.
MEL IN THE HOT SEAT
Mel joins Jesse in the hot seat. Jesse jokes about his shoes saying “you’re not even going to be standing up!” Mel calls it “style.” He admits he was so nervous on night one, but all the women were gracious and beautiful. The toughest part for him was trying to get to know the women. They all touched his heart.
Jesse opens it up to the ladies. Terri says she appreciated him treating all of them with such respect and kindness. Cheryl says he’s an amazing man and taught her that there could be a fairy tale for anyone out there. He calls her brave and courageous. Nicolle says she missed him and paused expecting him to say it back but he doesn’t. She starts to cry and says she felt she had some missteps, but her feelings were genuine (Cheryl and Gerri are holding her hands for support). She continues that she didn’t want to interview him with all the moments they had together and just wanted to hang and see how they gelled and those were her favorite moments. Mel says she had a great personality and she’s beautiful and wishes her nothing but the best. Debbie asks if the fact that she was never married or had children influenced his decision to send her home and he says no. She also says she appreciates that he kickstarted her heart again. Alexandra asks Mel to introduce her to one of his friends. I love it!
Jen: I was so glad that Mel was able to answer all of their questions honestly and give each of them the closure they need to move on, while empowering them to search for their great loves.
THE ROAST
Jesse says people are still talking about the Mel roast group date. Jared Freid, who hosted that date, is in the audience and jokes that loved assisting “Tommy Bahama Frankenstein” and says the women are unbelievable. He also jokes that he’s going home with Susan and Kathy and will make some mistakes with them at the hotel later. I think Jared needs to prepare himself for that dynamic duo!
Jen: We HAVE to have Jared on the podcast! He has such great insight and is so much fun! I can’t wait to hear his take on everything Bachelor Nation.
I’m down for that, Jen!
We also get an extended look at the Roast with Jared Freid. Mel admits he’s a fan of Jared’s while Jared is joking about his shoes. Jared helps several of the women with some FUNNY lines. Robin had no reaction. Carol jokes about her skills; she can change a diaper and help Mel out of the bathtub! Monica P. says she wants to show what 60 looks like and shows off her biceps!
Gina Sirico spoke to Carol at ‘The Women Tell All’
Back in the studio, Robin admits she was stressed out which is why she didn’t react and tells Jared he’s funny. Jared jokes he’s quitting comedy and driving Uber on the way home if anyone needs a ride. He also says Monica B. has a future in comedy and that Mel took it all like a champ.
No bloopers this time around, the roast must have taken their place.
Jen: Can I make a confession, the bloopers are never my favorite part anyway. I agree that Monica B. was amazing at the roast!
LOOKAHEAD TO FINAL TWO EPISODES
Mel and his final two, Cindy and Peg, head to Antigua. Mel’s kids are there. Cindy says she doesn’t want it to end and the fantasy suites could hold the key to the greatest love of her life. Mel says love is more of a feeling than words (which might be why we haven’t heard him talk much about his feelings). Peg says the deeper she loves, the deeper she gets hurt. She says she doesn’t have another 5-7 years to waste on a bad relationship. She’s learned to look for the fireplace because fireworks burn out. Cindy wants her guy to feel like he’s struck by lightning and can’t live without her. Mel says he came for an engagement, “and that’s the unknown and the unknown is a leap of faith.” Not quite sure what that means but we’ll find out soon enough.
The two hour Golden Bachelor finale airs November 12 and next week we get overnights/fantasy suites. There’s still plenty to discuss!
Jen: I am so excited to see who Mel picks and if he ends up engaged! He was holding a ring! Also, I am very interested to see what his kids think about his final two.
