candall

Not only was Gordo's hair dry, but we saw at least two different helicopter jumps. The first man had his feet and legs locked together and the second man (different camera angle) had his legs all akimbo. Whether either of those men was Gordon Ramsay, who knows? I'm not sure about following this show. I mainly watch cooking competitions for the food. GR employs so many ridiculous shenanigans. E.g. on Hell's Kitchen, every last showdown between the teams is a dead even tie right up to the final dish. Unless the final dish brings the teams into a tie and then they get to have a dramatic "tiebreaker"! <eyeroll> I can't even believe they're still lowering that tray of ingredients down through the "levels" of chefs. Hoot mon.

I think he's exhausting. In every gathering, he sits with a sour look on his face, then he explodes and says incredibly rude things at machine gun pace that no one can interrupt or respond to, and then he strides rapidly out of the room. A commercial break or two later, he's back. And people put up with these tantrums?? I guess you have to be ancient to remember life before cell phones, but here's one spot where landlines were helpful: When a man you'd just met was eager to give you his work number, but not his home number, it's because there was a wife at home. The reasons would be creative and amusing, but it was always, in the end, "Wife." Kwame's just a big flashback red flag to me. I'd bet money there's a live-in girlfriend (or boyfriend.)

Pelt. .

Yes, I completely agreed with you that Gemma was being inappropriate. I also agree that Matt is unusually clear about communicating his position. (I've had a relationship with exactly one person who could convey feelings with such clarity. A career therapist. It was dazzling.) #### I love that they allow the unhappy couples a graceful exit and refresh the roster with new couples. I watched only one season of the US version and it seemed ridiculous the amount of time they wasted showing us the pairs who clearly and unequivocally loathed each other. As if, with the proper encouragement, they might boot 'n rally.

I'm on Episode 15 now. It sounds, from your comments, that Matt is ultimately revealed to be a total jerk, but right now I am totally Team Matt. Good grief, Gemma was making jokes about how he was really going to be tasting a "lot of fish" on their honeymoon (which cracked up her mother!) EWWWW. If some stranger-groom is joking, at our wedding reception, about choking me out with blow jobs, there is never going to be a honeymoon he needs to worry about. And telling Matt "My fanny [British for vagina] is throbbing now!" while he's doing his best to tell her the graphic sex references are a turn-off for him? It's not cool for him to keep walking away, but I can see why he would. He's extraordinarily good at verbally communicating his response to the vulgar sex talk and then her reaction to that is to plead with him to say he finds her attractive. She's inappropriate, then she's needy, and if he tried to comfort her in her desperate neediness, isn't it likely she'd have his zipper down? No woman wants to date a man who leers at her like a horny 14-year old whenever the words "hard" or "come" are part of an innocent conversation. Gemma barely seems above that level. #### Pairing Johnathan with Sophie just makes me mad at this show and sad for the two of them. Is there some world in which the "experts" think Sophie will give up $400 dinners and designer clothes to settle down for the love of a good man in a small village as the local carpenter's wife? Even her own father says her best match will need to be a rich man. Zero points for effort, show.

I'm still bingeing the 13 hours I've accumulated, but I'm watching "Yes Week" and I can't keep my mouth shut about how much April is enjoying putting George through the ringer with his fear of heights. She says, "He needs to see what a wild girl I am!" No, I think he gets to see what a cruel bitch you are. (And I rarely ever use that word.) Phobias are real. If my new "spouse" thought it was hilarious to exploit my ir/rational fear of something, I'd tear up that MAFS contract so fast, her head would be spinning. Although, I have to add that George must be exaggerating the severity of his acrophobia somewhat or he wouldn't be rappelling down the side of the building--he'd be doubled over vomiting or zooming away in an ambulance while they tried to bring his heartrate down before he went into arrest. ###### I guess I'll throw in one other thing that bugged me, while I'm posting here all out of order. I was shocked when Zoe wouldn't taste Jenna's scrambled tofu "eggs". One partner being vegan is HUGE and will require compromises from both of them all over the place. Taking just a little taste of your brand new wife's breakfast would have been the tiniest baby step possible. But . . . nope. : (

I just watched a 2020 episode of Chopped and it was "Beat the Judges: Tiffani Faison." There were two competitors working like crazy in a 30-minute entree round to see which one would go against Tiffani for the final round. Suddenly Tiffani walks into the middle of everything from somewhere off-set. One guy is stirring something on the stove when Tiffani sticks a spoon in, tastes it, makes a "yuk" face and says something like "You're going to have to do better than that." Either Scott Conant or Mark Murphy says, "Come on, he just started! It's going to come together!" Then she wanders over to the other cheftestant and asks her "What happened? It looks like a bomb went off at your station." One of the judging panel people asks Tiffani if she's worried about competing in the next round and she says, "I don't think I have anything to worry about." Then she walks off-camera. I was astonished at how much rudeness she was able to cram into a 45-second appearance. She could have been gracious enough to say, "I see some serious talent here; I'll need to bring my best." Alex Guarn. is self-deprecating like that, week after week, to her competitors on Alex vs. The Universe, or whatever that is. Anyway, I remembered there was a discussion on this TOC thread about how much Tiffani had changed her style and stopped being such a Mean Girl. Well, as of 2020, not so much.

Good call! I can see Antonia and sunny Gabe lounging on the villa terrace, sipping wine, waiting for the next course. But if the first choice was Giada, we're not having this discussion because I never tuned in. I get obsessed with catching Giada scraping a tiny speck of food off her fork with her front teeth before the camera cuts away.

P.S. I don't know why this isn't listed in the Competitive Reality section. They're definitely competing, someone is being eliminated every week, there's a big prize. (Traveling around Italy, having the chance to apprentice with various well-known chefs, is HUGE.)

I don't know, people, I love this show. I like the challenges and that the personalities of the various cheftestants can make a big difference in outcome. The scenery, the food, the wine, beautiful Italy. I think laid-back, smiley Chef Gabe is a good co-judge for Alex, who really has her mean on, for some reason. Of course, it's a ridiculous advantage for the Dinner Team to be able to sit and leisurely ruminate about their menu, be served the Lunch Team food, hear the critique. Whose bright idea was that? Happy that Omar(?) making the best damn potatoes he could turn out secured his future "capo" position. The thing I particularly liked in this third episode was the two women on the losing team refusing to name a choice for elimination. "I hate this, I think it's wrong, I'm not doing it." Naturally Alex blew a gasket, just as she had excoriated the woman who'd accepted responsibility for the duck and choked out through her tears that she was the logical evictee. Anyway, I found it admirable to refuse to name the worst teammate. And I think it's weird that the men's team perceived that decision as a failing. "I wouldn't want to cook with someone like that." Knives out, eh, boys?

See you all in July for more Lockup Love. Take care, frens. Someone try to think of the name of that cat. : )

GoogleEyes! You're still alive!

Marcelino: Married, check. Kids, check. Been there, done that. Moving on now. Bye-eee

Now.

Geez, I can't remember anyone's name. I was trying to think of the name of that good kitty cat that the St. Louis/dungeon/toupee guy had, but then I couldn't remember his name either. I wonder if Prevagen is better than Neuriva? ##### It's a tossup whether I hate Chance or the Haribo Gold Bear executives more.

Somehow Blaine saying "The repetitive cycle! I must break it!" strikes me as inauthentic.

Get outta town--Brittzzzz's mom got internet ordained. 🧚‍♀️

Maybe Monique will turn him down! 'Cuz THAT would be shocking!!!

Is this the "shocking" part of the The Shocking Season Finale?? I was hoping for more along the lines of TayLER beats Chance over the head with his power washer and kills him.

Marcelino's modeling photos showed one of the most beautiful men I've ever seen. Now, if I may be completely superficial, he's a nerdy guy in thick glasses that seem more geriatric than hip, with narrow shoulders emphasized by the sleeveless tee that's stretched across his pot belly and clashes with his baggy camo shorts. What HAPPENED, Marce? FFS, man, make an effort.

I can forgive a lot in a man who unabashedly loves his cat.

I was delighted to learn how hilarious Jerry Springer could be after firing up one of the very early doobs. RIP, Sir.

The announcer just urged us to stay turned for the SHOCKING season finale. Hmm. I'm trying to think what could possibly happen that would shock us. . . I'm open to anything! : )

SEASON FINALE! How many women will be unimpregnated by the end? Giddy up. 🤠

YES! A Bobbie for Chance swap! Yes, please please. And if we could see Chance being loaded into the back of a squad car, it would be an excellent Season Finale.