The Bachelor Breaks the Cardinal Rule!!!!

Jamaica Mon, on The Bachelor!

Ben has three women left at this point and all three women are in love with the hunky software salesman from Indiana. Or they think they are. It's my opinion that at this point they have a form of Stockholm Syndrome and are in love with the only man they've seen for months, a man who is made out to be the next James Bond and their feelings in this captivity have led them to believe they love Ben. It's clever how the producers limit their time with the Bachelor and control the women's experiances. That's why the Fantasy Suite dates are essential. They actually get to spend uninterrupted hours to find out who this guy really is. Forget the bed. The women don't have cameras in their faces, directors telling them where to stand, producers prompting them for dirt on another girl.

The first date last night was Caila and Ben's float on a raft down a river to the Jerky Center where they ate barbeque and drank from coconuts. Caila was worried and quiet and not herself and Ben sensed it. Conversation was stilted.
Later, at the dinner table, she confessed her worry about the other relationships. He basically told her to trust him so she did, and bravely revealed that she loved him. Fireworks went crazy in the background as they stood in thigh deep (probably cold) water to pose and kiss. They woke up the next morning and blissfully kissed, drank coffee, and smiled a lot, like lovers do.

Lauren's date with Ben involved releasing newborn sea turtles to the ocean, an activity I missed doing by one day recently in Nicaragua. (There were no new hatches the day I was at the turtle beach.) Lauren and Ben had loads of one day old Hawksbills to watch as they hobbled to the sea instinctively. Who wasn't moved to almost tears to see these babies head to what will probably be their early demise in the ocean. Not many make it. Not like in Finding Nemo.
That night, Lauren and Ben found a reggae band on the street and sat at the Bachelor dinner vignette to read the Fantasy Suite card. Lauren told Ben that he's the man of her dreams and also revealed that she loved him. For the first time in Bachelor history the Bachelor said it back and I almost fell off my chair and spilled my two buck Chuck. Are they allowed to say that? He did! These two seemed very much in love and I pretty much had this contest all sewn up at this point but wait...

The next day with Jo Jo went swimmingly. She wears skimpy, sexy clothes, have you noticed? Her bikini at YS Falls was strange and highlighted her assets. She and Ben swam and talked and kissed and when she revealed she loved him, Ben said he loved her too. Jo Jo's mouth feel open. WHAT? She took this to mean that she is the ONE, I was pretty sure, and fell the rest of the way in love with Ben. Isn't this the Bachelor Cardinal Rule #1? Do not say those love words until your propose to that one girl at the very end??? Whether the show's psychologist warned Ben or not, we'll never know.

The Fantasy Suite card presented itself at dinner and off they went to the Romeo and Juliet room for privacy. In the morning, they fed each other fruit, declared their love for each other and off Ben went to ponder what to do after telling two women that he loves them. He forgot to tell Caila that he loves her! But wait. He doesn't exactly.
When Caila decided to surprise him with a visit to his guest house on the other side of the island, he sat her down on the cold hard stairs outside his suite and delivered the cold, hard truth. She had to leave. She started to, then got out of the car to ask him when he knew he wasn't in love with her. Good move, Caila! She got a satisfactory answer and cried all the way to the airport.
At the rose ceremony sisterwives Lauren and Jo Jo wondered where Caila got to until Ben arrived to say he'd sent her home. They toasted awkwardly, group hugged awkwardly, and tried to smile even though all three of them knew that one of them would be crying their eyes out in the next few days. Well, maybe two of them. Ben is a soft-hearted guy.

The Women Tell All was filmed Saturday night in Los Angeles and the Chicken Enthusiast was invited to attend--and Sheila, the little chicken who she loves. Sheila had to fly cargo, unlike a tiny dog who can go under the seat in front but the little chicken handled her trip to Hollywood like a trooper. Tiara, the chicken enthusiast had never been more proud of a chicken in her life. Sheila was held by Chris Harrison and Elan Gale for selfies, got on-camera time and even squawked at an appropriate moment during the taping. We aren't sure if Tiara will get edited out but the fact that they invited someone who was let go the first night, was an exciting honor for our girl from Washington State.
Tune in Monday to see if Sheila the chicken gets air time, if they cut away to Tiara's mid-riff showing outfit or if they call out Leah for lying about throwing Lauren B under the bus!

Tears and Orthopedics on The Bachelor

Monday night on The Bachelor, we followed Ben Higgins to Warsaw Indiana, the orthopedic capital. I'd always wondered where that was and now I know!
Warsaw looked postcard pretty and so much more interesting than Chris Soules' town with five buildings, and one of them shut down. I'd move to Warsaw!

Autumn in Indiana looks very picturesque and both my hubby and I wondered if those amazing Bachelor set designers scattered red and gold leaves everywhere to make the town look so pretty.

Ben picked up the few girls left in his family's party boat and drove them around the large lake to their rented house, which was apparently just down the shoreline from the Higgins' family digs.

The first date was a one on one and Ben grabbed Lauren from the group of girls on the couch to tour the town in a quaint old red truck. Unlike my tour of Hubby's hometown 24 years ago where he pointed out all the places he got in trouble, Ben took Lauren to where he volunteers time to an after school kids' program. The kids remembered him even though he now lives in Colorado and has a real job. Very cute. Two Indiana NBA stars joined them for basketball and Lauren fit in like she grew up in the Orthopedic capital.

When the sun set, they ended up in matching jeans and leather jackets at Ben's old apartment, I believe he said. A moment to clear the air about Lauren's commitment to Ben, had them smooching and all was well in Ben/Lauren world.
Back at the house though, tears flowed from the girls left behind. "Why am I here if I don't get a one on one?" This is the type of thinking that can lead a contender straight to the Limo for One, if you're not careful. Sheesh! Lasting relationships take time to grow. Five weeks to be exact.

Ben and Jo Jo had a date the next day and drove to Chicago, (really close to Warsaw) to visit Wrigley Field, home of the Cubs, Ben's favorite sports team. They played a bit of baseball, hung out on the grass, tried to eat a romantic dinner on the mound and we never heard any references to Ben trying to get to third base with Jo Jo.


The group date next day was a fun/morose jaunt to a picturesque farm where Becca, Amanda and Caila coupled up and tried to row boats on the farm's pond. Becca and Caila were too distracted with Ben in the other boat to figure out how to row. Then, they went in the barn where the set designers had made a barn look prettier than it had a right to and I was sure Becca had a terrible flashback of another Bachelor barn where her heart was broken by Chris Soules. She looked a bit traumatized, especially when the rose went to Amanda.

Off went Ben and Caila on the second half of the date that included a town carnival where the mayor declared Ben a town treasure and Amanda declared Ben a french frie stealer. (Another McDonald's ad!)

Emily got the last one on one date and was thrilled to get her alone time with the tall hunk. They took off in the party boat and docked at Ben's family home where Emily proceeded to dig herself deeper and deeper into the "I'm too young to get married" hole. She actually said that she'd always wanted to be an NFL cheerleader to Ben's parents like there was still plenty of time to chase her dream. Which there is, but not with Ben and he had to cut her loose after the date. I happen to think Emily is a sweet kid but she's a kid, still. She had to ask if the birds on the lake were swans. Endearing, but not wife material for Ben.
More tears ensued when she packed, left and got in the Limo for One.

 The girls proceeded to get ready for a chilly rose ceremony amongst the red and gold maple leaves on the county courthouse lawn in Warsaw.
Coats were in order, probably something most of the girls didn't foresee needing to wear over a sexy cocktail dress. Becca did not make the cut and was a bit snarky over him "blindsiding" her. Hey, Becca. Blindsiding is when you don't see it coming and you spent most of this episode talking about how you'd probably get cut.



Next week is hometowns and it looks like the mean brother syndrome rears its ugly head at JoJo's. Oh Oh!

Bachelor Producers Give Olivia her Own Show!

This week on the Bachelor the star of the show was Olivia, the News Anchor from Austin Texas who likes to hold her mouth open for long periods of time to show surprise. We saw Olivia in blue, Olivia in red, also plaid, Olivia with curled hair, straight hair, no makeup, fully made up, etc. You get the idea. It was like The Olivia Show. Sixteen times, we cut to a private interview to hear what Olivia thought. SIXTEEN TIMES!

The episode began with the flight to Mexico City! "Viva La Mexico" Ben yells for the camera. It's interesting to note that the Bachelor person always flies separately from the girls. I believe this is purposefully done to keep these women chomping at the bit to see their "boyfriend"... reminds me of the Stockholm Syndrome.
The ladies check in to the opulent Four Seasons Hotel in Mexico City and we begin the Olivia Show with a cut to her head and neck telling us that she and Ben have a special love, unlike all the others. She feels it. She's special.

Amanda, the petite mom with the small voice gets the one on one date and then we cut to Olivia to hear her comments on this. Not happy.

At 4 a.m. the next morning, Ben is let into their suite and with a flashlight, wakes them up, calling their names, looking for Amanda who amazingly sleeps in full makeup, hair done, and wearing a cute outfit.

Don't tell me she didn't know this was happening. The others had their weaves on the nightstand, were wearing retainers, had teddy bears in their arms and had "dragon breath" - Olivia
The date takes Ben and Amanda to board a hot air balloon where they cruise over the pyramids and cuddle and talk and kiss. I thought Amanda looked frightened, either of Ben or the balloon experience but that could just be me. At the picnic spot, they looked perfectly in sync and talked about Amanda's ex husband who is now probably trying to do damage control for being outed as a bad dad on national TV. That night, after suiting up in fancy duds, they sat at a table for two, sipping drinks, talking about how it's hard for Amanda to switch from Mom mode to sexy siren mode. Fair enough.

The group date included everyone but Lauren H who almost spilled red wine on a white couch when she heard her name not being called. It meant that she'd get the last one on one. Again we cut to Olivia for her opinion on this and she made some faces and did some minor trash talk.
The date began with a Spanish Lesson by a teacher who held one of those old fashioned pointers. Ben learns how to say "I love you, will you marry me and will you accept this rose." How about "back off Olivia"? (that's what I was kind of hoping for) Olivia gets more camera time, Emily drops in for her comments on Olivia and we see that the producers are creating a cat fight moment in the works. Jubilee is not happy with Ben having 10 other girlfriends. Not at all.
They walked to a restaurant & market where a scary-looing woman in tight braids and her brother divided them into teams of two and gave them each a shopping list. Olivia and Jubilee grabbed Ben and wouldn't let go. Finally Olivia "claimed him" and they all went downstairs to shop for ingredients. It's a cooking competition and no one in the group but Ben likes to cook, apparently. Olivia got more air time, hung off Ben, fed him food and they drank tequila as they shopped.
Strangely, we cut to a commercial that features Sean and Catherine, Desiree and Chris and Ben, touting McDonald's food. What???? How much did they get paid to do this? I have to think Catherine is thinking "this will buy all the baby nursery furniture" as she pretends to eat Mickey D food.

Back at the restaurant, the girls pretty much failed at cooking. Olivia put dried crickets on her and Ben's food and didn't get the laugh she hoped for. Lauren B and Jubilee won the competition with an edible fish dish but they got absolutely nothing for their effort.
That night at the cocktail party, Olivia grabbed Ben mid-sentence and claimed him once more, making her the most hated girl in the house. Maybe not most hated girl ever because she hasn't faked a panic attack yet. Oh, wait. She did that last week.

Emily got more riled and talked about telling Ben that Olivia is a bully. "I'm not afraid to say that," she says. Jubilee is not good in a group date setting and her insecurities made her bitch material when Ben tried to take her aside for a talk. She's pissed to be sharing Ben and the writing on the wall had Ben asking her to leave the show. She exited tearfully and we are sad to see her go. We liked her but she just couldn't separate her relationship from the other girls' relationships. Crash and burn.

JoJo takes Ben aside for a talk and is real and sweet and truthful and of course, Olivia doesn't like that someone else in talking to her man. I'm kind of sick of hearing from Olivia at this point. I wouldn't mind hearing from Leah or Jennifer please. But Olivia got the rose, flaunted it and we dislike her.

The next one on one date is Lauren H, the blonde kindergarten teacher with the funny faces. It happened to be Fashion Week in Mexico City and they ended up modeling for a designer in his fashion show. Both Ben and Lauren did a stand up job with their soft elbows on the runway. They looked bored as hell (as models do!) while they walked the walk and did a fine job. "Holy Shoot!" Lauren says (in case parents of students are watching) Ben does the sexiest little wink at her as they pass on the runway and it's worth finding that moment on your TV to see. Here's the last 1/4 second of the wink below...

Their twosome dinner/drinks went well and Lauren H got the rose. Because they both sleep with a retainer, they found common ground that bonds them beyond a physical attraction, you see.

At the rose ceremony on a rooftop patio, Olivia is still getting oodles of camera time and when she said hearing Amanda's story of her kids reminds her of an episode of Teen Mom, Olivia buries herself, socially. Ben isn't there to hear but the girls decided that is the final straw. Emily went off to tell Ben about Olivia who is still acting all haughty after her inappropriate comment. Mid-cry Emily saw Olivia coming down the stairs to crash Ben and Emily's moment and Emily runs off like the place is on fire instead of confronting her. This is totally expected from a girl who sleeps with a teddy bear.
Amanda also tells Ben that Olivia is a bully (when he specifically asks her) and he's shocked. Well done, Amanda. That gets the Bachelor thinking maybe Olivia isn't all she pretends to be. He should just ask her outright because of course she will tell him the truth.
Okay, this is the moment on every show where the girls hate one girl, the Bachelor can't see it and he keeps her on in spite of what he's been told. RED FLAG! I have to think the producers insist that the hated girl has to stay for another week and give some excuse that satisfies the Bachelor because this happens every time!!!!
When Ben asks to speak to Olivia privately, we see To Be Continued on the screen but we know. She'll fake ignorance, he'll feel badly for her and she'll stay. After all, she has that rose in her clutches. Next week we'll see this all go down but I don't need to wait on pins and needles. I know.
They didn't give Olivia 16 cut to camera shots this week to let her walk away. And I counted how many times we had to hear from the mouth from the south about her overly competitive attitude.

Note to Olivia: This is what good sportsmanship looks like...

I do not watch the after party live show anymore as it makes me lose all respect for myself by wasting a perfectly good hour.

This is Ben's Charity and probably one of the reasons he did THE BACHELOR -- to raise awareness.
Humanity and Hope


Kim Hornsby is a Bestselling, Award-Winning Suspense Author who can be found on Amazon here. She uses this blog to exercise her funny muscle and because she loves to hear herself talk.

Spoiler Alert! The Bachelor has begun filming.

According to what I know, and what I can say, The Bachelor began filming in California this week and Ben has chosen his first group of ladies.
The girls were housed at the Agoura Hills Sheraton for four days and spent Thursday with hair and makeup people getting ready to begin the first rose ceremony that night. Filming begins at 9:30 ish, after they hose down the driveway, plant all the flowers in the garden and get the press there to watch on closed circuit TV's behind the scenes.
You may think that it's just a crew and the people we see on camera that first night but I believe they have a big press gathering behind the scenes to get the media in their inner circle of love and secrecy. Ben comes back to the production area and meets these people, eats from craft services and schmoozes.
His presence at the 7 hour cocktail party is sketchy. The girls don't have free access to him, apparently. You almost have to take a number. He's carefully managed by producers.
If you enjoy finding out tidbits of info, go to RealitySteve.com. He seems to get all kinds of tips on what's going on. Like today they are filming at a high school in the Los Angeles area. And the producers and production assistants control the girls and the happenings to the nth degree. Very little is spontaneous.
I understand it's a TV show but I was hoping it was a bit more like what you see on TV. The Bachelor and the girls all sit around and talk for hours and no one influences the man's choice on who to pick at the rose ceremonies. Now I doubt that. I have a theory that the producers tell him to choose about 7 girls he really likes and then fill up the roster with girls who'd be good on TV. It could happen.
What do you think?

The Bachelor Begins Filming This Week!

Twenty-five young ladies are packing their two (only!) suitcases this weekend with enough dresses to last them through a bunch of rose ceremonies, beachwear, snow wear, boots, skinny jeans, cute tops, bikinis and enough hair products and makeup to potentially sink Malibu into the ocean.
Filming begins later this week for The Bachelor! But don't get too excited because we won't actually see the episodes until January 4th and until then we need to try to get to like Dancing With the Stars.

The new Bachelor, Ben Higgins, must be in the midst of his own prep to meet all these women-- like obsessively exercising for those shower scenes, having his back waxed (work with me here) and pressing his tuxedos. I'd like to think that Ben won't fall into those traps that make us think we're too old to watch this stupid behavior on the show. You know, those scenes they shoot like two men scrubbing each other's backs in the shower to promote a Brokeback Bachelor publicity stunt, or a woman obsessively kissing a parrot. You have to know some young, hungry producer who just got hired is behind those ridiculous moments. And if you're like me, it's those moments that make me think I might not watch The Bachelor. Boxing dates where someone goes to the ER, Roller Skating when you only have one arm. Those unfunny, humiliating things the producers make the contestants do in reality TV.
WE DON'T LIKE THEM!!! If you follow twitter, not only do people think these scenes are stupid, they lose interest. Men are not your audience and women don't like to see other women humiliated.

Note to Bachelor producers: You are losing the middle age woman as an audience. Just take a look at who sits out there behind Chris Harrison on After the Final Rose. Is it the fans of PUNK'D? Nope. It's middle-aged women. If you're going after the MTV crowd, keep staging stupid schticks like walking topless through L.A. and professing to be a Disney princess but if you want to keep us watching, cut out the stupid shctick.

That said, I'm excited for Ben and all the lovely ladies who will first stay in separate hotel rooms to attend the first rose ceremony then will get to move to the mansion if they make the cut the first night. Out of 25, it's usually about 15 who stay, right?
You have to know that producers are brainstorming right now about how to make girls show up with a heart in a cooler, drive a giant cupcake car, and come in on a horse to make what they believe is better TV. I, for one, think it ruins the show.
What do you think?