Clare Crawley’s season of The Bachelorette hasn’t even begun filming yet, but it’s already shaping up to be the most dramatic season ever. (But, like, really.)
Production is on hold indefinitely due to the coronavirus pandemic, but we’ve already got a bit of feud brewing between Crawley and contestant Matt James, who also just happens to be BFFs with Tyler Cameron. The whole thing’s a bit messy, confusing, and low-key ridiculous, so we’re here to break down what’s got Bachelor Nation so frustrated with next season’s lead.
This all started with a couple of tweets from Crawley on April 25. “If you are doing interviews and creating Cameo accounts before you are even on my season… you are in it for the wrong reasons… #dontwasteyourtime,” she wrote. “Respect the opportunity you’ve been given. Respect the rules. Respect me. @BacheloretteABC ❤️”
Fans strongly believe these tweets were about James even though she doesn’t mention him by name. Why? James told E! News that he is very much looking forward to meeting Crawley when the show can start filming. “There’s a very beautiful young lady in Sacramento right now who’s quarantining and who is patiently waiting for production on a show to pick back up and I’ve been waiting as well,” he said. “I’m hoping after everything settles down and everyone is safe that I’ll finally get to meet her. I’m looking forward to it.”
And yes, James is on Cameo—but fans were quick to point out he’s been using these opportunities to promote his charity. “Clare… Clare… in this house we stan Matt James. He is doing interviews to promote his charity, ABC Food Tours which is producing tablets and meals for kids in underprivileged areas. And he said he is looking forward to meeting you so where’s the problem,” one person tweeted.
After Crawley’s tweets, James posted a video message in his Instagram Stories about why he’s on Cameo, according to Us Weekly. “For those of you who may have missed the message earlier this week, myself and Alex Bachman, my former teammate and current New York Giants wide receiver, pledged all of our Cameo earnings to the Robin Hood Foundation to fight this fight,” James said.
Bachelor Nation appears to be firmly on Team Matt in this situation, and many pointed out that he might be more well known than she is at this point. “Lol I knew who Matt James was before I knew who Clare was,” one fan tweeted. “So it’s pretty funny she thinks he has a following bc of her.” Just as a reminder, Crawley did not actually name names.
Of course, there are some coming to the lead’s defense. “I think it is very clear that Matt is only coming on to try and become the Bachelor,” one fan replied to the backlash. “But to fault Clare for not wanting to risk people coming on for the wrong reasons after the last few seasons we have had seems WILD.”
Clare Crawley has yet to respond to the backlash—but we’re sure this will all be hashed out when the show finally airs…eventually.
You know how Tyler Cameron won millions of hearts on Hannah Brown’s season of The Bachelorette? Well, now it’s his best friend’s turn to accept some roses.
On March 10, the Bachelorette Facebook page shared the names and ages of Clare Crawley’s32 contestants. Despite some initial rumors, there were still plenty of boys in their twenties. This is somewhat disheartening, considering Crawley, 38, is likely looking for someone who is just as ready to settle down as she is. Like many Bachelor Nation fans have begun pointing out, 23 through 25 just seems too young.
Still, one of those 20-somethings is a somewhat familiar face and giving folks at home something to get excited about. Matt James, 28, is not only extremely cute, but he’s also Bachelorette alum Tyler Cameron’s BFF and roommate in New York City. They also run the charity organization ABC Food Tours together. Cameron even joked way before the cast was announced that he’d like to see James in Bachelor Nation (specifically, the next Bachelor).
“I can’t wait to watch him next year,” he told People back in August, pointing to James.
“With everything going on with ABC, I can’t really talk about it,” James replied at the time.
Seriously, Cameron really likes this guy and posts about him all. The. Time. I’m sure James also posts about Cameron, but like all the newbies, his Instagram account is currently set to private.
“We have finally made ourselves a home together thanks to our friends over at @raymourflanigan! (#MYLER is forever) This whole set was customizable to the tee,” Cameron wrote in a caption as recently as February 27. “We have come a long way from living on the bean bag.”
Luckily for us, there are plenty more posts of the pair, who refer to themselves as #MYLER a lot…
“Happy birthday to my fellow cookie lover,” Cameron wrote on James’s birthday. “Keep impacting the world.” I seriously love these two. Here are some more posts from Cameron:
Cameron isn’t the only one who wants to see James as the next Bachelor. While many Facebook commentators are excited to see James join the cast, there are a lot of comments suggesting he may be too young for Crawley but perfect to lead the following season. “Love this for Matt but only if he doesn’t end up with Clare and is the next bachelor,” one commenter wrote. I, personally, would love to see it.
It’s taken 67 years, but when 90 beauty pageant hopefuls strut their stuff across the stage for the Miss Universe competition this Sunday, December 8th, they will be joined by the pageant’s first openly gay contestant—and it’s about time.
The pageant world isn’t especially known for its inclusivity. Contestants have historically been overwhelmingly thin, white and model tall. But times are changing. Last year Miss Universe had their first openly trans contestant and this year, for the first time ever, Miss America, Miss USA, and Miss Teen USA are all black women.
By being the first out gay woman in Miss Universe’s history, Miss Myanmar Swe Zin Htet is helping to write the next chapter in pageant representation. She’s also leaving a lasting and hopefully change-inducing mark in her own country, where same sex relationships are illegal. “A majority of people in Myanmar are not accepting of this,” Zin Htet says of her sexuality. “But my goal is to make them look at me and others that are like me just the same.”
According to the Myanmar Times, members of the LGBTQ+ community can still be prosecuted for being who they are and loving who they love. They are verbally teased and beaten, and being gay is, “punishable with a lengthy stint in prison.”
That’s what makes Zin Htet’s bravery so impressive. “LGBTQ people in Myanmar do not have equal rights and I want to change that,” she says of her decision to come out despite knowing it could create a backlash in the country she calls home. “I feel like if I am open about my sexuality others will open up, too.”
By choosing to come out on such a public stage, she is opening the door for increased inclusivity—while also putting herself at risk. Of course, coming out so publicly wasn’t easy. “This decision was a little bit difficult for me because I’m shy,” she said, recognizing that coming out would increase the public’s interest in her private life.
At a speaking event, a little girl in a wheelchair, no more than seven, asked me: “Do you think someone who looks like us could ever be considered pretty enough to compete in Miss USA?” That comment hit me hard. What should I tell her? That of course a girl in a wheelchair could be Miss USA—even if I wasn’t sure I believed it? I realized that up to that point, I honestly hadn’t thought that was possible. I was competing in pageants for women in wheelchairs. As much as they’d been new to me, I didn’t have to worry about being completely different.
Still, I wanted to prove to that little girl—and myself—that people like us can be Miss USA. That I can be an example.
Last year, I entered Miss North Carolina USA—the first woman to ever compete in a wheelchair in that pageant—and it was one of the most difficult and uncomfortable, experiences that I’ve ever had. But it was also amazing. Picture being backstage with girls who are towering above you, with legs for days. I felt so insecure. I truly had to overcome a lot of that to be able to go out on stage. I didn’t win but I did make the top 15 and I left determined to come back for the crown.
Ryan Miles / Sage Media Group
That’s exactly what I’m hoping to do this weekend—my second go-around at the Miss North Carolina USA pageant. During the past year, I’ve been prepping to earn the title. I’ve been working with a designer on a gown that incorporates my wheelchair. (It has a long train but won’t get caught in my wheels—a true fashion miracle!) I’ve been working with a trainer to feel strong and confident. (This is the first time in my life I feel comfortable enough to wear a bikini in public—a shift that’s not so much about where my body is as where my mind is.) And I’m working to manage my incontinence. (I can’t be sitting in a $3,000 dress on stage and have something happen so I’ve been working with Aeroflow Urology, a company that supplies catheters and pads, to make sure I have all the right products.)
But the most important thing I’ve done to prepare for the pageant is to work on my mental game. I have to believe 100% that I am worthy, I am deserving. That’s the hardest thing for me. It’s a challenge not to compare yourself to others, especially when you’re surrounded by some of the most beautiful women in the world. But if there’s one thing my disability and living with incontinence has taught me, it’s that no matter how hard we try to be perfect, it’s our “flaws” that really connect us. For me, it might be that I pee in my pants every once in a while. For you, it might be something else. So we’re imperfect—that doesn’t make us any less worthy. Right now, I’m working my hardest to go into the pageant with the knowledge that I deserve to be there, that I’ll shine on stage, and that regardless of outcome, something good will come out of this.
If I win Miss North Carolina USA and advance to Miss USA, I will be the first girl in a wheelchair to ever make it to that stage. And if I don’t win this year, it’s my full intention to go back next year and give it another try—I’m in it to win it. I know it’s a challenge, but I think it would change a lot of people’s minds about how someone who looks different—particularly someone who uses a wheelchair—is beautiful and strong.
Madeline will compete for the title of Miss North Carolina USA this weekend. Cast your vote for the pageants people’s choice award here.
If you’re a regular viewer of The Bachelor or The Bachelorette, there’s a good chance the name Ken Fuchs rings a bell. As director of the show, he estimates he’s overseen at least 350 episodes of the franchise and counting. “I did the math once, and I counted all the roses I’ve seen handed out, and it was an obscene number,” he says. “But I don’t remember that now. I’ll have to go back and figure it out.”
We can forgive Fuchs—who also works on Shark Tank, Family Feud, and Deal or No Deal—for not knowing his final rose count. After all, there are more pressing matters to keep track of each week. From following all the drama in the house to packing up and moving locations every week, Fuchs is lucky if he knows what time zone he’s in. “Think about a traveling carnival, and that’s us,” he says. “Everything you’re watching, we’re either in the next room or a few rooms over.” For Fuchs and his technical department, sometimes that means building a makeshift a tent in Bali that can keep the equipment cool, or finding a way to get cables to the 50th floor of a skyscraper. “The team is tremendous because it’s such an undertaking. From the art department to the lighting department, we work closely together just to figure out how to make the show.”
After nearly 17 years on the air, it’s safe to say they’ve more than figured it out. And now, with season 23 of The Bachelor about to premiere (January 7 on ABC), Fuchs is opening up about some of those production secrets and more. Read on.
Glamour: How often are you actually in contact with the contestants?
Ken Fuchs: It really depends on if I need to communicate something or if I need to reach somebody that I can’t reach from afar, because I’d rather not be [on set]. The more we can do that, the better for the content of the show, so we really make an effort of staying in the background. Obviously the cameramen are there, but I try to stay away because we want them as much as possible to forget the cameras are there. Every time they see me, it’s like, ‘Uh-oh.’ It’s a little bit like when they see [Chris] Harrison…something’s up. Sometimes I come through the kitchen and steal some of their appetizers, but that’s about it. However, the lead Bachelor or Bachelorette for that season, I’ll get to know because I’ll see him or her everyday. Every now and then we’ll give them television instruction, but it’s very, very minimal and we try to keep it that way.
PHOTO: Ken Fuchs
During a rose ceremony, it takes forever for the Bachelor or Bachelorette to announce each person’s name. Is that just editing, or are you instructing them via an earpiece when to call out names?
KF: I can tell you one thing: Yes, we’re making a TV show, so there is some of that [suspense we want to create]. No, the person never wears an earpiece themselves. They’re not driven in that way at all. There are occasions where we’ll cue them to do something or we might have to wait to do something, but it’s as simple as a camera has to change its battery or sometimes it’s a mundane reason. It’s not like we’re purposely extending it. We may have called two names back-to-back and in editing we can open up the time it takes for dramatic purposes. So, again, a huge credit to our post [production] department. That’s where all of that is created, and I’m sort of involved in that a little bit, but not terribly much so.
You’re basically saying they’re not counting, ‘One Mississippi, two Mississippi…’
KF: No, no. [Laughs] I know it must feel that way for sure and there is a little bit of a television contrivance, but no, it’s never that way. Also, we don’t want the Bachelor or Bachelorette thinking about us as they are holding a rose [deciding who to give it to]. We want them thinking about the faces in front of them and the emotions that they’re feeling. That’s the most important thing. And I can promise you all the music is added in post [production].
As the director of the show, which past Bachelor or Bachelorette did you find most captivating?
KF: Oh boy…I think Ben Higgins was very captivating. There’s something so earnest and sweet about him that really I think captured people’s imaginations. I think you root for all of them along the way, but some of them have been more divisive. There’s been years where people have questioned our decision. I’m not on the inside of that decision-making process, but in general I think our casting has been great. The suitors that show up for night one are always fascinating and crazy and weird and fun. So I think it’s a good mix.
Two recent ‘characters’ that come to mind are Jordan Kimball from Becca’s season and Krystal Nielson from Arie’s season. What intrigued you about them?
KF: There are so many great ‘characters,’ like Bekah Martinez. I’m always looking for great reactors and people who can be in the scene and not always talking, but reacting and listening. In other words, just engaged in the process, whether they are goofballs or serious or nice girls or mean girls…really just listening and being a participant in the process. If it leads them into strange territory, then that’s up to them—and all the better for the show. It really runs the gamut of emotions.
You make a great point about Bekah Martinez, because her expressions were priceless.
KF: Right. Right. And truth is stranger than fiction. Things come out of their mouth, and we sit around and say, “We couldn’t possibly write that. No one would believe it.” It would be too farcical for us to have a character say those lines, but here they come! Comes right out of their brain, out their mouth, and God bless ‘em.
PHOTO: ABC
The show has changed a lot since those early days in the beginning. Anything you miss about those times?
KF: I do cherish those early years because we were such a close-knit family, and now it’s quite a juggernaut. We’re going to sometimes six different countries on two or three different continents, and that requires an army of production. We have a few more cameras and audio and lighting. Things have grown a little bit more, but even for a fairly big group, it’s still pretty small. But there were some great friends and people those first few years and figuring it out together and being in the trenches together. A highlight was Trista and Ryan’s wedding; I’ll never forget that.
Is there a location that you’d love to visit again?
KF: I’d love to go back to New Zealand. And I think about Cape Town, South Africa a lot.
Do you have kids, or nieces or nephews, and if so, would you let them go on the show?
KF: I have three sons. People always say, ‘If you had a daughter would you let her be on the show?’ but I have three boys in their 20s, and I’m having a little baby girl after all these years. So I’m really excited about that. In 18 or 20 years, I don’t know if she’ll be allowed to watch the show.
Would you let your sons go on the show?
KF: Yeah, maybe it’s a double standard in that I think I would. I see a lot of good things on this show. I see a lot of camaraderie, a lot of friendships made, a lot of self-exploration, and I see [these guys] asking questions and figuring things out about themselves. It’s really a beautiful thing. So I think if you’re outgoing and an up-for-anything type of person, I would say it’s a great experience.
Is there a piece of advice that you wish you could give these contestants? Even if their mistakes make for good TV, what would your one piece of advice be to them?
KF: You have to really, really bring your true self, because that’s the only way you’re going to stick around. If you become friends with the rest of the house, then your focus really isn’t where it should be. It’s a balance. I think some of the guys on The Bachelorette can’t figure out that balance quick enough and just fall behind.
PHOTO: Paul Hebert / ABC
Like poor Grocery Store Joe.
KF: Yeah, yeah, right. And then there are guys that go to the other extreme and are like, ‘I’m here for her, I’m here for her, I’m here for her,’ and they make no effort to just be a regular guy. You don’t have to make best friends, but you might as well make friends since you’re going to be living and traveling with them hopefully.
Finally, with all the time you spend on set, do you ever bring home extra roses to your wife?
KF: Oh man, I tried that early on. I don’t know, not all women like leftover roses. They’re a little cheesy. But on our studio [reunion or tell all] shows, where we have roses everywhere, sometimes an arrangement will wind up in my car. I’m not too proud. Yeah, free is me. [Laughs]
The new season of The Bachelor premieres on ABC on Monday, January 7.
When Angela Ponce takes the stage during this year’s Miss Universe pageant—all tan lithe limbs and radiant blowout in a hot pink bikini—it’s easy to see why she’s favored to win the competition, currently underway in Thailand. Tall, blonde, soft-spoken and impeccably glamorous, she’s a walking archetype of what you might imagine one Donald J. Trump envisioning as the perfect pageant queen. (He owned Miss Universe from 1996 to 2015.) But Ponce, who currently holds the title of Miss Spain 2018, is much more representative of the pageant’s future than its past—she’s the first openly transgender woman to ever compete for the crown.
Ponce during the swimwear portion of the preliminary Miss Universe competition in Bangkok.
Amorn Pitayanant
The very fact of Ponce’s candidacy is historic. Being on the world stage as an openly transgender woman in a role that’s traditionally been held up as the the ultimate embodiment of womanhood is damn impressive (and overdue). “It’s important that people can see you to feel that they have a positive reference,” Ponce says. “It’s important that people see women like me to know that the ideas they may have about transgender people aren’t always true.”
But Ponce isn’t interested in simply being a silent symbol. She’s taking advantage of her moment on the global stage to speak out about the issue of gender identity—specifically, the rights of transgender adults and minors to be able to define their correct gender on official forms of ID. “It’s about [fighting for] the right to be,” she says. “It would diminish bullying and prejudice and the pain that society puts on us, unintentionally, for not knowing more about being transgender.”
The thing is, these simple semantics matter. The right to be addressed and identified correctly, would have made a big difference for Ponce growing up, she says, citing the total sense of vulnerability and rejection she felt when her childhood doctor continued to refer to her by her previous (male) name.
That brings us, inevitably, to Donald Trump, whose long history with the Miss Universe pageant, and of making disparaging comments about transgender individuals, loom large over our conversation. Earlier this year, the Trump administration signaled it would attempt to roll back civil rights protections of transgender individuals under federal law—effectively erasing the estimated 1.4 million adults who identify as trans in the U.S. In Trump’s view, gender is an unchangeable fact defined by the genitalia you are born with.
Ponce onstage representing Spain during the National Costume Show.
Amorn Pitayanant
Despite this—or likely, let’s be honest, because of it—Ponce says she’d love the chance to sit down with President Trump. “I really don’t know what might cross his mind…but I would like to have a conversation one human being to another and try to explain to him that the rights I am fighting for are simply the rights of every human being,” she says. “I would try to make him feel in his heart the importance of understanding other people. And I would try to help him understand with the position that he’s in, he could help save lives.”
In a pageant that’s already had a cringe-worthy controversy, Ponce’s platform of understanding and equality might be why some reports have her favored to win the crown. “I’m working very hard to win and I would be very proud to achieve that,” she says, “not only for my country nor for myself but for all the people whose situation in the world could change if they called my name.” With her historic role and fight to be seen, Ponce has already proved that trans people are a minority that can’t be ignored—or erased.
The Miss Universe pageant will air live December 16 at 7:00 P.M. ET on FOX.
