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I can't speak for that dipshit's actions, but as a redhead who went to the Philippines with an auburn freckled guy from indiana, I can offer some perspective. I knew I had to protect my skin, and went through a bottle of sunscreen a day. He made fun of me constantly, particularly so when we spent a day snorkeling from a catamaran on day 3. I reapplied regularly, while he said "You're totally overdoing it - I ran around in the sun with my brother and never wore any sunscreen as a kid". He wouldn't listen when I said, "yeah, but the sun here is more intense and I don't want to ruin my vacation". The same thing could have happened in the Maldives. Suffice it to say, my date learned his lesson, and spent the next 3 days recovering from a severe sunburn that included his buttcheeks because he decided nude un-sunscreened snorkeling would be funny. Vacation successfully ruined. A lot of people don't realize how different the sun can be in a tropical place and learn the hard way. I'd count this guy as one of those. I think they didn't wait to make the swim because they wanted to get the swim done so they could start on a shelter and couldn't be guaranteed that seas wold remain calm and there weren't storms coming. It makes sense to me, and i think it would have been a mild sunburn if his skin had been protected before the swim or if he had sought the shade shortly thereafter. But he really made a lot of fool decisions - I think the guy just wasn't very bright.

I'm a bit embarrassed to admit how much I know about this, but this was discussed extensively in the Bachelor TWOP forums while his season was airing. He was born here to Venezuelan parents, but moved back to Venezuela when he was a toddler. He lived there through high school, then came back to play college soccer in New York. Spanish is his first language. After college, he played professional soccer with the Miami team of MLS, but wasn't great. In Miami, he appears to live in a primarily spanish-speaking community, with a lot of his Venezuelan family and his beautiful ex and gorgeous kid. He lives with his parents (or to some extent, shares a house with them). He got his beautiful telenovela star girlfriend pregnant and quit playing soccer, ostensibly because he couldn't play soccer and help raise his kid. Rumor has it he was dumped by the mother of his child because he couldn't provide for them very well with his weird 'I get sports paraphernalia from Venezualan sports stars for a museum' gig. He went on the Bachelorette as a lark, and was picked to be the Bachelor because he was hot and 'foreign' and 'ethnic' (as in hispanic enough to solve the show's race issue, but blond and blue eyed so that as not to scare away the women or the viewers). Is he playing up the foreigner thing? No. He's really quite Venezuelan, and from his stint on the Bachelor, doesn't seem to understand American culture or American women very well. But that's not because he's playing at it, it's because he's really really dumb. Like REALLY really dumb. He went a whole season without appearing to have anything interesting, insightful, or curious to say. On top of that, he seems to have been coddled to some extent as a kid (whether that's because he was a male child in a son-loving culture or because he was a talented soccer player in a country that LOVES soccer), and doesn't seem to think he is ever wrong, criticizable, or anything other than just "Venezuelan", so you have to accept that. I'm watching this show for the first time because I am here for HIS train wreck. He may be comedy gold (see "thats the beauty of the fantasy suite" comment while sitting right next to one of the impacted women) or a total waste of space who can't form a coherent thought. Nikki seems to be a spoiled brat of some order with a head on her shoulders and a nose for cameras and fame. She's a bunch savvier than he is, PR wise, and may be interesting too. Or she may just become utterly hate-able. I don't know which, but Im on for the ride.

Yeah, I feel for Robert a bit too. I can relate to the type that says I'm tired because I want to go to sleep. And if you're in bed together, it doesn't mean its time to play. So I feel like Sarah used her one arm and her insecurities to throw him under the bus wearing only his jeans. Though he probably could have communicated more clearly so she wouldn't read the situation the wrong way, though I understand how she interpreted things the way she did.

To me he comes across as sexless. Not asexual, because I think he probably has a sex drive, but he seems sort of divorced from his sexuality. I went to high school with some Mormons and strict Catholics who struck me as similar. I am certain that for anyone with sexual urges, separating themselves from those urges as strictly as Mormonism wants you too until you get married is neither easy or easily reversible. The result (to me) is some fully realized adult version of a tween heartthrob. A full grown Bieber who never went bad. So my struggle with him being on the show is that I think this is a really weird place to explore that. And I really don't understand adults who have crushes on him. I understand liking him, and liking his sense of humor, and thinking he's gorgeous. But when i use the word 'crush' as an adult, it involves sexual thoughts and feelings. When pointed at someone sexless like Brooks, they seem really pervy and creepy and so they end instantly. This I don't necessarily agree with. I think a lot of people are so deep in denial that other people who know them and are close to them can figure out the truth before they know it. But yeah, I don't think TV viewers can figure it out with any real insight.

I have to disagree… its way better to have one person sit at the house and stew and pout while their partner is on a fabulous date. Particularly if it's an overnight and they get to worry about whether they're sharing a fantasy suite. If they're on dates at the same time, you lose the pouting because they'll both try to be polite, with any luck, to their dates. But definitely send them on dates on the same week… and make sure they can't catch up in between /evil_grin. This, I like! - there could be some awesome surprises.

Couldn't agree more, haydensterling! I can't imagine being stuck with him. I have a hard time understanding how he let himself get sooo sunburnt to begin with. Obviously, they had no control over the sun exposure during the swim, but why wasnt he coated in sunscreen to start? He looked like he was getting burnt before he even got off the boat. And then it didn't seem to seek the shade much at all that first day. And then the failing to boil water, and the poop. Sigh. He was awful.

Couldn't agree more! I think part of the problem is the combination of her deep tan and the poor lighting on this show. She looks very monotone, and she 'fixes' that with intense makeup. And the stupid head jewelry, which I am convinced she is being paid to wear and tout on twitter.

Lol. Well I'm laughing too, because I know exactly what you mean. I do think production could class her up if they wanted to, but 3 Bachelor pad/in paradise stints can make anyone seem pretty trashy and desperate. This photo, from her SI photo shoot during the Brad season is what I see in the Beauty department.

I am 100% behind Michelle Money for Bachelorette! She's beautiful, confident, would be a real draw for guys, and genuinely entertaining. I love Claire on this show, but I think her awkward cadence would grate if she were the lead. My main concern is if the guys in her realistic age range would take time off from their jobs to go on this dippy show.

I figured the chilly weather was exacerbated by her being sick. Dysentery can cause a fever, and when you have a fever you often 'feel cold' even thought your body is hot. Plus, if she had made clothes earlier, she would have gotten diarrhea all over them.

I have to think Ashlee is just wrong about this… Between Ashlee's weird head/neck connection and Graham's propensity to wear jackets without collared shirts, I imagine their babies will look a lot like bobble-head dolls.

Yes. And arguably, turning down a rose (that would have let him stay on free vacation and allowed him to play the field) was the most selfless thing anyone has done since Ames escaped the Bachelor Pad with Jackie. He even told her in advance to allow her time to plot and plan and save herself embarrassment once he realized she might give him the rose. Not douchey in my book. Chris Bukowski? douchey.

YMMV, but, I read that whole thing really differently. I thought Dylan was pretty clear at first, indicating that the relationship was too intense and he wanted to ease off and spend time with the crowd at large. If Elise had just mingled, instead of implementing plan make-Dylan-jealous, they might have drifted back towards a -thing-. But she tried to make Dylan jealous, and went way too far by making out in the ocean with Chris in front of everyone. Dylan was both embarrassed and grossed out, and became a lot more invested in having nothing to do with her, but her inability to read that was infamous. So, IMHO, Dylan wasn't a douche, but Elise was clearly reading way too much into a summer vacation romance.

I concur, though I feel the need to hold off on my ultimate judgement until we're more than 2 episodes in. The first show was mostly about intros, and then the second had the major distraction of the Michelle K drama. It will be interesting to see what they do with the show when there's a little less time dedicated to stuff that advances nothing going on in 'Paradise'.

As much enjoyment as I obtained from the ridiculous presentation of the Michelle K drama, I found the way they handled it pretty enlightening. 1) Chris Harrison eaves dropping by listening through a mic pack placed on the handler in Michelle's private room after she left the show? pretty unnecessary. 2) The handler being shocked that Michelle was wearing a towel in her private hotel room and insuating that something untoward must be going on because of it... (Hello, people do things like shower in private hotel rooms, and that don't necessarily mean they are in their with a sex partner). 3) The handler who was all kind to Michelle's face was such a mean girl talking behind her back and going out of her way to humiliate Michelle once they had gotten what they wanted. I guess it was just pretty enlightening glimpse of what goes on behind the scenes. They are all slimy hollywood people trying to take advantage of the participant's desire for fame. Note to anyone considering applying. This was a great moment to watch to learn what the production team are really like.

Yuck. I have never hated Nick, but he just fails on the two most important aspects of being the lead: he's not likable and he's not articulate. He'd be the Deanna of the Bachelors. No thanks.

Yup, Pictures of Emily in high school clearly indicate a nose job and cosmetic dentistry ala Hilary Duff, and I think theres some consensus she also has new boobs. Jillian has had a nose job, but she did the show first. Shayne Lamas was a whole world of work. Vienna's work is so infamous its been in tabloids that she used her ex's money while he was deployed to buy new boobs. And thats only scraping the surface. But Tierra's eyebrows? She was born with that sparkle.

We never got to hear a discussion about Nick's opinions on sex, but I think the fact that he comes from a family with 11 kids is pretty telling. Even if he doesn't fully espouse the sexual morays of his family, he clearly lived for years in a world where sex was about procreation. I think its clearly something he takes seriously, and I don't think he would have had sex with Andy if he didn't think he was the final one. I don't think he thinks she was slutty for having sex with him, I think he was upset that she didn't take the circumstances and the decision to sleep with him seriously. That said, I think he sort of set himself up for that… he was telling her in Belgium that he could tell she was in love with him… before he even said he was falling in love with her. I think this clearly shows he's not great at reading her, or maybe this is an aspect of being a salesman? You have to believe that you can sell everyone or you won't sell anyone. I feel bad for Nick, but I still don't like him much.

Its weird, because on her season, Michelle Money looked fabulous in the tropics (Costa Rica, I think) while the other girls looked like their faces were melting off. The she started helping them, and they started to look better and have their hair last a little longer. I think you've nailed the Graham situation. I think he is the rare guy who plays nice with women even when he doesn't want anything from them. The type of women who go on this show aren't the kind of women who are used to that. So they swoon. While I'm sure he's a nice guy, there's something a little weird about him doing that repeatedly to the same end. I think he likes the attention enough to not be straightforward with the women, which makes him a player of sorts, which is why I think he's always grated a bit for me.

I agree with everything above, and will add that I think I would try to acclimatize to the temperature. Turn up or off the heat depending on if you're going to the Maldives or Argentina. I would definitely do some careful woman-scaping so that I would be comfortable, tv ready, and yet hairy enough to prevent as many bug bites as possible. (I am always jealous of my hubby's hairy legs during mosquito season!). But maybe wax my armpits so I wouldn't have to worry about them?

Lacy looks pretty busty, but its hard to tell in a blazer in this shot from before JPs season. And in this relatively demure promo shot. I think she's had those girls for a while, though the fact that her ex is somewhat of a himbo who's famous for his body makes me think its possible she has run in pretty vain circles where augmentation isn't unusual. …edited because his and hers are not the same word.

This was so satisfying! My husband and I have decided, thanks to Courtney Robertson, that the Bachelor Phrase "Been in the Ocean with ___" is now a euphemism for sex. Yay. Watching Clare and someone watch Dylan and Elyse in the ocean was meta-gold. I can only hope that the editors continue to be on their game. The raccoon, the lightning strikes, everything AshLee said while miked up and off camera? all genius.

No Kidding. The blond guy who got the horrific sunburn in the Maldives will probably get skin cancer. They can't draw simple straight lines from one sunburn to a skin cancer, but the amount of sun damage he sustained was unreal. Though I feel free to admit that the show made it pretty clear that his decisions seemed as much to blame for the sunburn as the conditions. The other really pale person on a tropical island (in Fiji) got some sun but never burned, in large part because she seemed pretty careful to seek shade and cover when the opportunity presented.

I would guess that if you don't make the extraction point, you don't 'complete the challenge' and it impacts your PSR negatively. Also, then you're stuck in the wild another night, except now you're miles from your shelter, your fire, and your water source, which would be really depressing. But yes, generally, I think the boat/helicopter/jeep will will return for you in reality :)

She's a Texan, and realistically Hypothermia is not something that most Texans spend a lot of time worrying about. You do have a point, but the broad term 'physical trainer' refers to a lot of people who are kind of notorious for not knowing a lot about the body and how it works. (There are great personal trainers, but there are plenty of terrible ones too).