Podcast #406 – Interview with Big Brother 21’s Tommy Bracco, “Reader Emails,” & Transcripts – Reality Steve

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Music written by Jimmer Podrasky
(B’Jingo Songs/Machia Music/Bug Music BMI)

(SPOILERS) I begin by talking about Big Brother last night, the Justin & Susie breakup, and Claim to Fame season finale. Then Tommy joins me (8:04) to discuss this season of Big Brother, what his issue with Tucker is, who’s playing the best game so far, what he’s not liking about the season, and much, much more.

Instagram – @tommybracco

(SPOILER) Your Daily Roundup covers Podcast #406 with Tommy Bracco from BB season 21, last night’s Tucker performance was an all-timer in terms of annoyance, Justin & Susie “officially” announce their split, & Claim to Fame season finale.

You can listen to that podcast on a number of platforms, but you can also tune in here:

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts,RSS, Stitcher, Spotify
Music written by Jimmer Podrasky
(B’Jingo Songs/Machia Music/Bug Music BMI)

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Here are your “Reader Emails” for this week…

Hey Steve,

What do you think about the cold open that they do for bachelorette? And how they do the next episode preview during the credits? I know I’m a no-name Sally Sue, but I personally hate it. The cold open is too sneaky and if you’re with friends and not paying attention, then you miss it. I also missed the goofy end credits! That’s the only time we saw snippets of personality-those moments gave us Magi watching Matt awkwardly dance, Magi in the pumpkin canoe getting stuck, and Jesse Palmer in the pool telling the ladies to kick rocks while eating KFC!

Comment: The cold open is whatever to me, but I agree, them getting rid of the blooper or comedy moment from the episode at the end is a miss on their part. Why not lighten the mood at the end when they’ve taken themselves so seriously for the previous two hours?
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Hello Steve,

Have you seen the recent article that Josh Seiter did recently. Apparently they have come out as Trans, more power for living their truth, but commenting about how the show needs Trans representation, and they would like to be the first Trans lead of the show?

Thoughts?

Comment: Not giving him the time of day. And yes, I said him. He’s trolling everyone.
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Any word what happened to the podcast called Suckers with Jared and Dean? It was all of the sudden without warning. No closure!

Comment: Never followed it. Have no idea.
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Hey Steve,

Regarding the Kaitlyn drama, once the news came out that Kaitlyn and Tayshia were never friends, I changed my view on whether or not Kaitlyn violated girl code by dating Zac. Was it odd that Kaitlyn forced tayshia to open up about it on stage in an awkward scene, and then dated Zac? Sure. But if Tayshia allegedly never liked Kaitlyn, did that violate girl code? I have no problem with them dating. They were both single. But on the same point, if they weren’t friends, why did Kaitlyn contact Tayshia to get a “pulse check,” like she said? She’s not your friend. And it clearly didn’t matter to her what Tayshia thought of it since Kaitlyn was gonna do what she wanted to do anyway. Her being bothered that Tayshia was upset at her dating her ex-fiance was head scratching.

As for the comments on the pod that said Tayshia must not be happy in her relationship because she was upset with Kaitlyn over Zac, you could say the same about Kaitlyn… despite Jason moving on wayyyy later than Kaitlyn, she’s still upset that he’s happy with Kat. She allegedly blocked Shawn from paradise, and was so jealous and angry when he and his partner got pregnant. My whole main point though is if another contestant dated Shawn or Jason, we’d never hear the end of it. On her pod or on insta.

Comment: She says she isn’t bothered. Wrote that in her FB group. But she would’ve talked about it on her pod non stop if it were the other way around. That’s why I’m having trouble comprehending her reaction to this.
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Are you surprised Matt and Rachael are still together? I like them but am curious if you think he’s ever going to ask her to marry him? It’s been awhile. I would hope so for Rachael’s sake.

Do you think Sam M went in with the mindset of getting a decent edit and becoming the bachelor or did he just want to be able to dump Jenn and not be broken up with? We all knew he was leaving, but the whole episode at the radio station date was awkward.. he seemed angry he couldn’t set the narrative and break up w her. I don’t get this guy.. and his family is strange, too. I must say I think he planned to get a hometown and then tell her he couldn’t continue because he wasn’t there with her yet. Thoughts? What do you think a hometown for Sam would’ve been? Hmmmm, probably his family sitting around telling Jenn how great Sam is would be my guess.

Was Sam N (love Virgin) just being kind of obnoxious on the group date he was sent home on purpose or is he naive? I hated a lot of the other guys, they were bullies, yet why was he so tone deaf? He left a trophy on the couch and Marcus had to stand.. wasn’t it odd? I’m sure he was very naïve to the process and was strictly coming on the show to help his TikTok career.

Thoughts on love is blind or do you watch it?

Comment: This last season? UK? I watched season 6 as the first full season I’ve watched. I have trouble with the pod episodes. It just seems utterly ridiculous to me. Once they meet and “date” after engagement is more interesting to me.
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Hi Steve,

Do you have any insight about last nights Fantasy Suites? I don’t understand how Jenn ends up with Devin. She states she is in love with Marcus even after Devin tells her he is in love. She makes no comments in her interviews that she is in love with Devin, only Marcus. How does she end up with Devin, is he her sloppy second because Marcus isn’t ready.

I hope that is not the case, Devin deserves her whole heart!

Comment: Well, this was sent before last nights episode aired. You see that she told Devin she loved him when he came to visit.
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Hello Steve!

You said in your blog you felt after the overnight dates that Devin only wanted to win.. I must say I really disagree- I didn’t see that notion being reinforced at all-the total polar opposite for me.. he came off quite legit and sincere- I’d like to think I read people well- I saw no insincerity or ‘wanting to win it’ it all in him.. sorry, love you, though I think you’re wrong. He legit came off hurt. I felt for him. I know she chose him, and I would like to see them work out at this point.. and I was not a Devin fan.. I kept looking for insincerity and I must say, I am not seeing that side. We’ll agree to disagree on that one.

Do you know of Spencer was ever really considered for bachelor? He had a great edit and I thought he was pretty cute. grant is fine, though. I could see either in the lead. He seems well rounded. Depends what you mean by “considered?” Was he interviewed for it? Sure. But as I say every season, only the person who gets the gig really matters. It’s irrelevant who was interviewed or who was “close” to getting it. They didn’t. Spencer will 100% be in Paradise, assuming he’s not in a relationship.

Are they filming at the old bachelor mansion again or is that done? It’s on the market, yes? If it sold, are they securing a new regular location?! It seems like they should have a regular site for the first few episodes. Wouldn’t new mansion be in the same vicinity? They did for Joan’s season. We won’t know for a few weeks if they will for Grant’s season, so we just have to wait.

I’m kinda shocked at Kaitlyn saying the crap she did in the podcast- I still like her, still follow her.. but it seemed really off.. what do you think Zac thinks of it? Is he ok w that? It seems a bit juvenile for someone like him, who is very mature.

Thanks for spoiling the season.

Comment: Yeah, I don’t know what Zac thinks since neither of them have publicly acknowledged their relationship publicly. Until they do and start doing interviews, I don’t think we’ll ever know.
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Hi, RS!

Got a comment and a question for you.

Regarding making sense of the Devin/Marcus situation, I believe Jen doesn’t want Devin or Marcus. I believe she wants Darcus. Or maybe Mevin. In other words, she wants a guy who expresses his love for her (like Devin), but who she has the “in love” feelings for (like Marcus.)

Her feelings for Marcus took me a bit by surprise…didn’t know they were quite that strong. Probably because, overall, we haven’t seen a lot of their relationship throughout the season.

Onto my question…..Has any past lead (probably from years ago) ever confided in you regarding frank conversations that they had during their season with production? I realize that as time passes, former leads have a bit more leeway in what they can say, versus more recent leads, who will be more strictly held to the terms of their contract. And of course, these leads who speak to you would realize, given your reputation, that you wouldn’t violate that confidence.

But here’s what I’m getting at…..Say a lead knows early on or even as they enter Final Four, who they are going to pick. Of course, production would be aware of this as well. Does production say things to the lead along the lines of, “Hey, Sally, we know you’re gonna pick Billy Bob, and you’re in love with him, but we still have 3 guys here and a show to do, so please play the part during your hometown dates and your overnight dates, and say some things in ITMs that you DO like about those other guys, because we need the TV audience to believe that all four remaining guys have a chance.”

Of course, I’m not asking WHO told you exactly what…..But I’m just wondering if a lead has ever told you things along these lines, in terms of their discussions with production?

Comment: Yes, they have. And yes, pretty much what you said. They know they have a television show to make.
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Hey Steve –

You mentioned annoyance at contestants yelling “Let’s go!” when they win. I am probably wrong but I first noticed it with KC on her season of Big Brother (now on Challenge, engaged to Nani). Another one that annoys me is a contestant in the diary room referring to him/herself as “Your boy” or “Your girl”. I first remember it from a BB fan favorite named Paul. It has sort of fizzled out. I hate the diary room live eviction shout outs but like when the contestants goof around when they pass each other in the diary room hallway (zero creativity this season so far). Agree, because it’s usually an inside joke we obviously know nothing about.

I don’t watch the feeds but it strikes me as odd that MJ and Leah are not scheming together (Team Left Out) as they don’t seem to fit with anyone else. After all her statements about how she expected to win HOH, Veto, AI so she could survive and go after Tucker, I did get a laugh at Brooklyn for getting her butt kicked. Tomorrow’s AI Arena, assuming it’s something where you have to complete something faster than the other two, seems to be another Tucker whitewashing. He’s going to lose to Angela or MJ? Unless it’s a memory thing or trivia, which is way more neutral on who can win, he’s going to win again (even though on Monday he said he was throwing it and wanted to go home. He was NEVER gonna hold to that. Too much pride and too self absorbed to quit).

The Challenge: People who do not look well or like they trained for this: Brad, CT (surprise), Aneesa (no surprise), Paulie (yet Cara looks in top shape). Laurel seems particularly nasty. Leroy needs to retire for good. To win, you have to have that It Factor where you see the challenge and quickly know the trick. He doesn’t have it. I don’t believe Amanda’s son will watch his mom someday and be proud of her behavior on the show. People I thought we would see on the show: Wes, Fessy, Survivor Chris, and new champ Immanuel. Definitely some questionable people there, but overall, best cast they’ve ever had.

Enjoyed your Office t-shirt on the weekly podcast.

Comment: I think that’s the only Office one I have now that I think about it. I found more this weekend that I haven’t worn in a while so they’re going in the rotation. I’m still about 30-35 shirts away before I have to start repeating.
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I’m sure you will be addressing Jenn saying I love you to Devin, so maybe you have a new theory about what happens at the final altar. My question though is… out of these men, who do you think will be heading to Paradise? I’m glad Jonathon will be going. Thoughts on Sam M, and any of the others?

Comment: Well, we know from last night Jonathon and Hakeem are in. I’m sure Spencer and Jeremy will be there as well. There will be others there too, but remember, by the time Paradise rolls around, they’ll have 4 seasons to choose from with Joey’s women, Jenn’s men, Grant’s women, and whoever the next Bachelorette has a group of men who will be there. So we’ll see how many of Jenn’s men make it, but Jonathon, Hakeem, Spencer, and Jeremy for sure. We’ll see after that.

Sam McKinney is a question mark. Of course they’d want him. But he’s already trashed the show, producers, editors, etc. So it’d be quite hypocritical for him to then go back and work with them. However, publicity is a drug to a lot of them and I could see him saying that he’s done the work on himself, he wants to redeem himself, blah blah blah. Just hard to believe anything that guy says.
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Steve,

It seems like Jenn’s season of the bachelorette is not being given a fair shake.

First she is competing with the Olympics and then the Democratic National Convention. Last Monday night with the convention, the hometown episode didn’t start until about 9:30 pm here on the west coast.

Now the finale is on a Tuesday night? What??!!! How do they expect this season to do well in the ratings?

Why do you think the finale is scheduled for a Tuesday night? Labor Day?

Comment: Well, they can’t control the DNC. Every 4 years they’ve had to deal with that so nothing they can do there. Same with Olympics. And yes, finale is Tuesday night because they’d never show a finale on a holiday. Will it hurt the ratings? I’m sure. But this franchise has moved past looking at TV ratings as a barometer for its success because of how many different ways the audience consumes content now. How many people are talking about it on social media, what kind of coverage is it getting from the entertainment sites, how much engagement is happening on IG & Twitter, how many times are there clips being viewed, etc. While ratings definitely help, it’s just a different time now that you can’t judge TV shows anymore just by the overnight ratings, because it doesn’t tell the whole story. Grant’s season will be #50 in the franchise, they just launched the Golden franchise last year, BIP is coming back next summer – that should tell you all you need to know about how this franchise is doing. They’re adding shows, not subtracting them. If there’s another Golden season in 2025, that’s 4 franchise shows in a calendar year. So clearly, they aren’t hurting.
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Hi Steve,

What are your thoughts on seeing Noah Erb during the Men Tell All? I’m concerned. He looked very unhealthy.

Comment: He’s definitely thinner but I don’t know if that necessarily means he’s unhealthy. Looks like he just lost weight to me.
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YOUR TRANSCRIPTS FOR THE DAILY ROUNDUP 8/29 & PODCAST #405 WITH TOMMY BRACCO BEGINS ON PAGE 2…