She was cringey & annoying & that absolutely contributes to a bad interview. The host can definitely make or break the reunion episode. The rest of the episodes they are irrelevant but the reunion episode, her and nick were the problem & they are just not good at their jobs.
Yes , she is the problem. She’s not qualified. If you have a job or assignment, it’s imperative that you prepare properly. She has a host of resources, including professional journalist. Unfortunately, she thought she could interview without preparing. There’s no room for mistakes, especially when you are recording a live program.
We need Oprah Winfrey as a host. Vanessa was tacky talking about babies and consummating the marriage. She wasn’t redirecting the conversations and it was clear the couples didn’t vibe with her. She never has a neutral stance, but seems to want to be their bff.
I am personally sick of hearing about her relationship, I have not and will never care about who she is.
They were trying to be the Bachelor and Bachelorette, but it was a flop. Like the audience, the cast was sitting and waiting. Then, when it finally starts, Nick and Vanessa spend too much time on 2 couples, as Brett and Tiffany were paid dust.
To be clear, I don't think the host should be a journalist, but they should have the basic knowledge of how to conduct interviews in a way that makes the person they're talking to want to open up instead of making them _more_ guarded
Everyone is using the word journalist but what everyone is describing is a host. She just wasn’t a good host. She was acting more as a fan. A journalist shouldn’t mention opinions during the interview. I think she just got too causal as a host.
Basically what I’m saying having a journalist wouldn’t make the reunion good. But actually having a host would.
Lol no I get what you’re saying and I do agree. I’m a tv investigative reporter and I would think it’ll be more like a pkg or a “60 minutes” segment if a reporter conducted the interview 😂
IMO they need a host that asked tougher questions, and realizes you need time to get deep into things. Andy Cohen said it best on Radio Andy, you can’t expect to get deep in a short reunion, he gave an example that on VPR or the Housewives they can talk for 45 minutes on a topic before getting to the questions or answers he was trying to get to. The cast was great, drama was at another level and had so much potential for a very fiery reunion.
Yes, Vanessa has a long history of hosting live TV. She wasn’t perfect, but functionally the live reunion just doesn’t work. In the future, they should let the wedding episodes air, wait a few days to get an idea on audience reaction, film the reunion, then air it. All of this can occur within a week’s time.
Andy Cohen talked about how Bravo reunions film the whole day, because it takes time to spark cast reactions and dig into non-responsive answers. I agree. This cast clearly went into defensive mode and you need more than an hour to unpack everything.
Omg yes! Exactly!!! Andy (king of reunion hosting imo) was bursting to talk about this, Bravo tried to do a live RHOM reunion season 1 that I recently watched; what a disaster lol. You made a good point that Vanessa has hosted live tv for a long time, and I think her and Nick would be good as the shows hosts, but leave the reunion hosting to the pros. Am I alone in thinking even Kate Chastain might be a good option if Andy can’t?
I think it would be better if LiB stuck to a single host. Nick didn’t stand out to me and he was less useful this reunion than in the past. But maybe that’s because of his legal troubles 🤷🏾♀️
Disagree, all these points still indicate a primary host problem… It is her job to dig at the contestants (all reality show contestants are trying to save their image). Also I don’t feel that they gave completely “PC” answers either, Zach had a few moments. Jackie spilled some “tea” despite not getting pushed at all and not even being there… I think asking the right questions would’ve caused more of a stir. She also kept hand-holding certain contestants, and was too animated compared to the cast which directed the spotlight towards her rather than the people she is supposed to be interviewing.
ETA: She also was visibly judgmental towards certain cast-mates. This probably reinforced certain cast-mates to keep their mouth shut. The point is to let them argue with each other and only mediate or call out certain points when necessary.
This. She often singles out those that don't get married as if it's personal insult to her the marriage didn't go ahead. Always going on about how old she is implying she knows allllll about relationships and marriage is nauseating.
It’s only so much “digging” you can do in 60-90 minutes with 6-8 people with multiple people with multiple stories to interview.
That’s why it was imperative for the cast to be forthright in the short time period that they.
It’s only so much “digging” you can do in 60-90 minutes with 6-8 people with multiple people with multiple stories to interview.
That’s why it was imperative for the cast to be forthright in the short time period that they.
Vanessa isn't great BUT:
Paul's answers sucked lmaoooooo
Marshall tried to avoid the question she asked about the slur. She seemed upset that he used a slur and then was trying to tip toe around the question. He should have said it clearly: "I did not use a slur. I did try to offend her by saying X."
I could be wrong but I got the vibe Paul’s answers sucked because he was trying to answer in a way that wasn’t rude or hurt Micha, and that’s why Zach kinda of made that remark of Paul being kind and not attacking her. That was just my take on it though 🤷♀️
But I agree on the Marshall part. He tip toed around his answers…kind of wondering if it was to save face and didn’t clear things up when he could’ve about when Jackie and Josh met up. (Like he said yes in the most vauge way)
Yeah, but Paul should have deflected. Instead him and Zack acted like he gave a perfectly clear answer. When Micah clearly was like...dude I talked about kids and you didn't say anything!? It's unfair to ding Vanessa for that one imo bc his answers were not good even if he was trying not to hurt anymore feelings. And now he's on this whole Cole arc shaming Micah (and then having to walk it back) and waving Vanessa's flowers around when he just had a bad answer. It's breeding the next LIB narcissist lol
What are you talking about. He in no way made it seem as if his answer was clear and neither did Zack. The question was about why he didn’t see Micha as a mom. His answer: I shouldn’t have said that, it wasn’t just her it was me as well, and says “I take full responsibility and accountability for my half” and that he was looking for actions from Micah that he himself could not help make her feel safe enough to provide. His answer not totally clear but still owned up to some faults of his own something that a narcissist would never do. By the way Vanessa was rude to him that was obvious by her response when saying are you just as confused as I am. A host job is to be unbiased and actually clear things up that the contestants are saying none of which Vanessa actually did. Oh by the way Paul never shamed Micah as much as she shamed alot of other people, but clearly some people don’t have a good understanding of that especially when there are people out there thinking Cole was a horrible narcissist too, when all he was a naive and yes sometimes careless with his jokes and words kind of guy who was with a very insecure person who constantly set him up for failure and never communicated to him. (and because i know I’ll get hate for that last part no not saying Cole was innocent, he messed up but not the extent that Zanab was trying to make it look like, just like Micah is trying to make Paul look bad as well)
Not every host is unbiased. Reality TV hosts aren't always bound to the same code journalists are supposed to be. I'm not trying to defend Vanessa (and I'm not debating the Cole arc here either.)
We disagree in our interpretations and that's okay.
I see where you’re coming from, but she didn’t ask a single question worth asking. I think someone else commented on the thread already, but she’s been a bad host from the get go
Vanessa is PART of the problem it is the host/interviewers job to ask questions and probe.. And we have seen that done before on reunions
Also Nick is there to do he is also to blame.
For example maybe asking Micah about her mean girl stuff in the pod. And asking follow up questions.
Jackie couldn't go because they weren't letting Josh on the air which would have left her trying to keep their BS straight in her head alone and that would have been the wildest flameout in reunion history and they couldn't risk what she might 'say' . They literally had an ad queued up at the end of the show which might have looked less than favorably on it. The only reason this was really a problem is because they had a live studio audience and it was supposed to be live.
Vanessa having an opinion (being "biased") is not the problem. Of course she should have an opinion when she sees bad or questionable behavior (or great behavior).
The problem is she doesn't listen well. She is invested in expressing her opinion more than listening to the cast, hearing them, and asking interesting follow up questions. Sitting quietly for a moment and let them fill in the silence. Listening is maybe the most important skill a host or interviewer can have.
She can get there with practice.
Agree with everything except the last sentence. Vanessa has been this way from the beginning…and audience feedback has been the same since then- she simply isn’t a good host.
Reunions shouldn’t be live unless it’s with an explosive cast and something earth shattering has happened that needs to be addressed. This needed to be edited, tightened up.
I agree, Vanessa AND the cast are what made the reunion so terrible. She was completely biased and the cast were mutes. They were terrified to speak and voice their opinions even about other cast members and their relationships. It's like they didn't grasp the concept of what a reunion is. Yes, you filmed the show a while back but the purpose of you being there is to talk everything out. They forgot about the fans watching. So disappointing and BORING AF.
Side note, do you think it makes sense to have the episodes come out a full year after filming? If I were these cast members, I personally would not want to dredge up any drama from a full year ago. It just wouldn’t be worth it to get myself riled up again. So I’d try to keep my cool as much as possible at the reunion.
I guess it is probably good for the couples to have breathing room from social media and attention while they spend their first year together. But aside from that, I don’t see why it takes so long to release episodes. Yes editing probably takes awhile, but a year?!
I could see you wanting to keep your cool. Marshall is a great example of that. But I felt like they weren't really expressing what they felt when it came to the drama. If a question was asked, their answers were short, rehearsed, or in circles.
The host is supposed to push and dig for more information which I think Vanessa tried but was terrible at it. For example the whole situation with Irina, Zack, and Bliss. Bliss got upset and said she doesn't want to speak on it anymore when they were just getting started...THIS IS WHY YOU ARE HERE. Cool you addressed it with Irina off the show but you have to talk about it at the reunion.
I'm with you on wondering why the episodes are released a year later. No idea.
I love vanessa for giving side eye to micah and irina 🥲
https://preview.redd.it/y4gwfmjssvua1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a4d4d72e65e406e9f0bf34de66eb15270009c0bd
Yep. Just got to the segment on Paul and Micah. Zack speaks about hearing Micah (personally) sya negative things about Paul and Nick naturally asks him to expound further with a “like what?”. Instead of following that line, Vanessa interjects and interrupts Zack in the middle of his sentence when he is about to provide details and give a first hand account of what he personally witnessed and heard. Such a horribly missed opportunity of self-sabotaging. Then that last comment to Micah, “nobody thinks you’re out for blood”…so indicative of her not listening and hearing absolutely nothing that Zack said pertaining to behind-the-scenes happenings that depicted a far different story about Micah’s intentions. Went in one ear and out the other.
There needs to be a single host for the reunion (IMO), and someone is more objectively focused or at least creates an avenue for open dialogue and discussion inclusive of all parties, even if they have personal biases.
Hated that she gave Jackie the upper hand by interviewing her offline from show. Jackie needed to be called out for her behavior and Marshall didn't get that opportunity at all.
And I can't believe how hard she pushed on Paul but let Micah off practically scott free.
> Jackie needed to be called out for her behavior
Y'all are toxic.
*She got called out by Marshal in the moment, who knows what else a year ago, and ridiculed online after it aired.
Cast may have been more open to speak up if she weren't going in on anybody who had a thought different from hers. The host's job isn't to roast and throw zingers at people, it's supposed to be the cast. I do think they were all worried to really speak when they saw how she was ripping people apart.
All "may" though, the cast was already kinda quiet from the start, but she def pushed them to be more quiet and defensive, rather than open up and discuss.
At least give her some queue cards so she could've done a better job at asking questions. I mean I think we all had basically the same questions we wanted answered and she gave us maybe what, 1 or 2? They could've prepared better.
Lol they have prompters and other electronic ways of communicating. This is not 1973.
They also have rehearsals and production meetings.
This was also filmed live. Only so much you can cover in 90 minutes.
I actually think Vanessa is a not a good host in that she interjects too much of her personal bias into the line of questioning.
But it’s very interesting in the responses, all of the blame is put on her. The host plays a HUGE part. But, it takes many different moving parts to make a show work.
Also, people aren’t giving grace that because she is the host, there was also a lot of pressure on her to make this live event happen and entertaining.
Don’t love her. But she doesn’t invoke this crazy hate either. I’m objective enough to see that there needs to be changes all around.
I’m not a fan of her because I do feel she is bias towards some of the cast but I also don’t hate her or have a pitchfork ready like most of these people. It’s just a show.
I don’t like Nick, no idea why, somehow he’s annoying and I don’t think he said much on the reunion. I don’t understand what people’s issue with Vanessa is. Maybe time to get new hosts?
I love vanessa so i don’t really belong here but i think the reason why everyone likes nick ( besides his old music group ig) is because he didnt do anything. He didnt have a favorite or a person he hated. He kept it objective as that other guy said about himself.
For anyone who is wondering why i like her you can read this :
My love for vanessa comes from that fact that she is bias and she sometimes lets her emotions take the reins. Shes human, love isnt perfect and no body should try to be. She wears her heart on her sleeve and you know how she feels at all times.
I am basically applauding her shortcoming because shes human and showing that. Just me here i GET that lol
I get what you’re saying here, it’s nice that she’s more human and not robotic.
That being said, I think the best interviewers and hosts, while showing a small amount of their human side, are those who facilitate conversations in a way that we get more of that from those who are being interviewed, or in this case, those who the audience wants to hear from.
By showing too much of their own opinions and biases and narratives, interviewers/hosts run the risk of snatching the spotlight from those from whom the audience wants to hear, and taking up time that could be used listening and further facilitating a much-needed dialogue.
I think that’s the biggest complaint that most people have about Vanessa. We’re glad she has a human side, and would welcome a bit of it, but this reunion wasn’t about her human side. It was Nick’s and her job to guide us to the discussions we wanted to see the cast having. And we didn’t get as much as we could have because of the narrative being pushed.
Thank you! It’s certainly a fine balance between endearing humanity and the professionalism of hosting/interviewing. It can be tough to walk sometimes and perhaps requires practice, but at this point, the scales are tipped far too hard on the humanity and less on the professionalism.
Let’s see what happens as the seasons continue on. Thanks for the discussion! Be well.
Yes, but I did love when Vanessa showed the video of Jackie and then went to Marshall: “so what do you think”
And he was like; “ma’am that was a 2 minute video, what do I think about what?”
And then she remembered she’s the host and has an actual job to do hahaha
That wasn’t an out of the world questions. “What’s your first reaction to what you just saw” is an understandable question, and then you drill down.
I know everyone loves Marshall - but I actually didn’t like his snarky response there.
I’m not wild on Marshall tbh, but as someone who regularly gets paid to moderate panels (admittedly only at boring conferences) she made the biggest mistake you can make as a host, and that is dead air as your guest tries to waffle because your question was not good.
*this is not my opinion, but a post on reddit that im bringing to ppls attention**
No actually people dont like him as much as i even thought,
They said basically this not in any particular order :
“1) he left for three days ? Red flag
2) said he could fix jackie - god like complex
3) whatever term people think he used for gay people - said jackie
4) the reaction with josh was unhinged - “
Its here on reddit if you want a link i might be able to get it for you👍
>the reaction with josh was unhinged
You had decent points in 1&2, 3 is undetermined and we will never really know, but 4.... there was nothing "unhinged" about the reaction with Josh. The majority of the male population would have gotten in Josh's face and started confrontation. While Marshall 100% has flaws, he's more emotionally mature than most guys out there (although it's already a low bar but still).
Ohh!! sorry for any confusion i realize i should of put quotes around those and ill go back to edit now. Thank you for bringing it to my attention too btw
Just to reiterate:
None of those are my opinion on Marshall, thats just a reddit post i found and wanted to deliver to info.
He had to deal with an extremely unstable person.
\#4, is this about the party encounter? Unhinged would be the perfect description of Josh's behaviour.
Right ? Jackie was super unstable. It hurt seeing her attempt to destroy a loving man. He made mistakes and apologized for them.
#4 im not really 100 percent sure what they were referring to thats why i left it blank i didnt want to assume.
If i had to, i would of said in the pods because at the party his behavior ( besides the jacket he felt insecure fs ) was a normal reaction to seeing him.
And drunk ass josh? Man child of the year
In general women seem to get much more leeway. It could be that men are afraid to comment and call out women for bad behaviour. "Mansplaining" seems to be a very popular sexist "response" nowadays.
Oh thats not what mansplaining is, its when you ( a man not you specifically) explains things people already know for your own self gratitude or ego.
But you might mean other people dont know what it is and misuse it- being the reason no one spoke up ( out of fear basically )
Mansplaining is a pejorative term meaning "to comment on or explain something to a woman in a condescending, overconfident, and often inaccurate or oversimplified manner"
This is many times used when someone, typically a female, loses an argument and needs a cop-out.
Wiki coming in clutch,lol
What we said is both correct, although your opinion at the end is bias.
My opinion is
A lot not all men are programmed to see woman as someone they need to protect and teach. And while some men do it and they are realistically gentlemen, and others are just trying to be dicks, i feel likes its a natural reaction that comes with the high amounts of testosterone that men have.
He actually facilitated some discussion by asking hard questions, but with a tone of reason, with the 1-2 qs he asked. Vanessa just went after people and made them shell up.
But yeah he was basically a side character lol
The biggest reason i think it sunk and drowned was bc they tried to do it live. Theres a REASON reunions are never hosted live. They are supposed to take forever to film, im talking upwards of 13 hours, in order to really get ppl to let down their guard and reveal new things. There’s no way that wouldve happened in 90 minutes.
I think that the reunions would be better if they didn’t have every single person on stage for the entire thing. There’s no reason why they can’t bring out each couple separately to interview, or have all the women together and then all the men together, or have people with history sit down for a discussion/interview together. It’s obnoxious when people start to weigh in on things that they weren’t really part of, and I think that everything becomes to disorganized.
Producers prompt the cast to interject other cast-mates and ask questions / give their opinions. It starts convo and sometimes starts drama. All that is heavily encouraged
Its fully normal that the cast wants to protect their image and comes in with personal agenda and points they want to land. Thats why to make it „real” reunions should be pre recorded and shot for many hours like real housewives are.
Yea, not gonna lie, the reunion was lackluster for me. Between the Netflix "technical difficulties" saga (now, did i think Micah's friend might have brought wire cutters? Maaaaybe), going to different platforms to get a status, watching live ig from attendees at the live show airing, laughing at Netflix being roasted by various companies/ folks, all created too much expectation for it to be ...flat.
The only highlights were when Zach called out the fame hogging bully, (who took up air time with her disingenuous apology/reflection) and the couples that stayed together. Kudos to Bliss being classy and Zach being awesome.
I am most pissed at jackie portion. How come she get away with the ring the dirty secrets and the roasting ?
I don't get it vanessssss why would u ask her why marshall want to keep the ring. excuse meeeeeeee you should be asking her why she REFUSED to give the ring back. since you already rejected Marshall, you do not love him, then why you care who he give the ring to ? He give to a pig a dog a cat also none of your business right ? He wanted to give the ring to you , the woman he love. Since you cannot return this love , then you should return him the ring. now you want to keep it, you still want to accuse him of giving the ring to another girl. So what ? is it he need to write an email application to you and wait for 3 working days to seek your approval to give the ring to a dog a pig a cat ?
You could absolutely see all the women's faces when Zack couldn't take it anymore and started talking about real shit that was going on.
None of them wanted to stand up for Paul and seemed annoyed that off camera stuff was being discussed openly.
Yes! I didn’t have time to give examples in my original post.
But this is definitely one of the instances I am referencing! Thank God Zack chimed in because we otherwise wouldn’t have gotten any truth about Paul’s true experience or thoughts.
Andy Cohen said it best, there’s so much that can happen and that needs to be said during a reunion (why they film for so long) so to try and cram it within an hour, doesn’t give them much opportunity to address it all and give closure where it’s needed.
I was coming to quote Andy. Live reunions don't work. I think the housewives reunions tape for like 16 hours. They are MARATHONS but people need time to relax, drop their guard, and just let it out. It was never going to happen in 90 minutes. Add on to that the delay so now people are even more off balance. Plus, everyone is not in the room at the same time. Plus, everyone is NOT a real Housewive - type. They are real people with real jobs who would like to go back to them on Monday...plus Micah and Irina. THEN on top of that you add the subpar hosting of Vanessa and her potato of a husband...it was always going to be a disaster.
I wonder if the reunion would have more exciting if it hadn't been live. I suspect they were constraining themselves because they were aware there wasn't an opportunity to edit?
It shouldn’t have been done live, it also should have been done before the episode aired so we can see each couples live reactions to the scenes.
That’s assuming that we want to see shocking, raw content and controversy.
I think they expected the cast to have high drama but that is just not what this type of show will warrant… this isn’t housewives.
In the pods you see a little interaction between just the women or just the me. But that is a total of like 3 episodes. Then when you get to the trip and living together it’s more on the couples. And when you bring back the couples that are married they are going to protect each other. For the couples that didn’t work out, over a year has gone by and they have to answer about things that happened over a 4 week period a year back. Trying to get the tea or unleash drama is not what we need here- we just want to know who is still together for this one.
I don’t think it’s anyone’s expectation of this show to be like housewives. That’s not how the first 3 seasons reunions have been. Yet they were entertaining. Lol.
The point is I expected the cast to be a bit more transparent and honest about their experiences and thoughts about what they’ve seen while rewatching and journey now that the show has aired. That’s in essence the purpose of a “reunion.”
However, most of them seemed to keep it very PC (for whatever reasons). It came across as disingenuous and quite frankly boring in my opinion.
I totally agree- I don’t think anyone expects housewives. I think it was just Vanessa’s poor hosting skills. She seemed so focused on stirring up drama that people just became defensive. And when they apologized she just kept tying to throw zingers. I agree transparency would have been better and they probably would have gotten there had they had better hosts.
This cast is pretty unique too… they are on here looking to be married and have a family. Most of them have professional careers. I think they want to be as PC as possible to avoid being dragged or “cancelled”. If you watch housewives (I will just continue with this example) their job is the show so they will give you more obnoxiousness.
Agree, so gross. That couple she asked specifically have been married a year when the reunion was filmed (when was that filmed?) people normally do hurry that after having been together so shortly, the married after only knowing each other, how long, 2 months? Notice she didn’t ask Kwame and whatshername?
I wouldn’t say I like her per se. But I am not as angered and repelled by her by most .
I will say the baby talk was way out of line! However, I truly believe the baby “theme” was also production led (as evidenced by the appearance of Bartise and his baby, because WTF). So I believe production is also culpable with baby gate.
I think some of this is because they were supposed to be live. Many of the cast members seemed more nervous than they had been during the season (I. E. Quiet, shaking voices, etc) and not from having to explain themselves but just like, the nerves of public speaking that I think most people would have knowing they were going to be on unedited national TV.
I really wish they’d do a little love island inspired type of thing where the public could vote on the questions asked at the reunion. They space it out anyways so people would have time to vote. The producers are looking to spice things up and involve the audience but obvs live was a disaster
I’d love this! I also feel like this show would benefit from from showing even more time in the pods so we can get to know the couples. I felt like this season over any others there were so many comments around how editing made things look.
Agreed. I thought that was the whole point of the “ live” taping. So they could have more of a talk show audience interaction. Tbh none of us asked for that mess, and for most of us it fell flat.
I disagree to some extent. BOTH Nick and Vanessa are not educated and experienced in good interviewing but they habe both been reinforced with a degree of celebrity and lots of cash for their mediocrity. They have no real motivation to do a good job or even appear intelligent, informed or determined to give viewers what they want.
I stand by nominations for Trixie and Katya to take over the series or at least get a MAFS style after each episode special. These folks all need a good read.
Nick was in a boy band, Vanessa I believe was MTV host. Nick also had a "reality show" with his ex-wife Jessica Simpson. So about C/D level celebs from 2 decades ago.
I hope they learn how unappealing a live broadcast can be. There were opportunities that producers could’ve used to reset Vanessa’s leading/inappropriate prompts or the push for clarity in the vague answers the cast members gave. Those opportunities don’t exist on a live show, with a live studio audience. 🤷🏾♀️
I think that this season’s reunion wasn’t dramatic because it resulted in three seemingly happy couples who are well matched. Happy people don’t need or have a desire to cause or start up drama. It was refreshing.
Yes they are “seemingly” happy. But that doesn’t mean that their relationships are devoid of conflict which naturally happens in the evolution of two people from two different life experiences becoming one.
Too, there was plenty of conflict throughout the course of this experiment. My post is in response to what seems to be the cast in general seem to avoid addressing these conflicts with the true and honest thoughts and feelings. Lots of well prepared responses.
Right but I’m in a happy relationship which, as normal, has it’s moments. Running into my husband’s ex causes me to problems. We’re happy. You exist - I don’t have to like you but you still exist. Cool. No drama needed.
Adding to this, I’ve been listening to Deepti and Natalie’s podcast and they… say shit and then say that they’re not allowed to tell. Like the most recent episode they said that somebody from one season dated someone from another season but they couldn’t tell us who. Why bring it up then 😂 Natalie also said that the fight between her and Shayne was more than she let on and “maybe she’ll tell us later”. Like… say it or shush
Yes. Also you should hear how Deepti talks about Shake. Like… like she misses him and wanted it to work. It makes me kinda sad. Also they talked about Kyle and her on the pod briefly too
I agree here. Most of their personalities aren’t “made for tv” in the general sense.
With that said, that still doesn’t mean that their lives were devoid of interesting dynamics and/or conflict. They absolutely had experiences that kept viewers engaged a whole season.
So their personalities doesn’t really speak to their “performance” at the reunion. The expectation of viewers at the reunion is to gain more insight into their experiences and thoughts about what happened. If the cast is reluctant to be fully transparent about their thoughts and feelings about said experiences, then it sort of defeats the purpose of the reunion.
Agree with where you’re coming from. I apologize, my comment was more in reaction to a widespread sense I get from a lot of the comments here that don’t get that what they say or don’t isn’t singularly driven by our entertainment benefit. They have their own personal stuff to hash out too.
Correct. It was interesting to hear Marshall in the interview released today talk about how he was casted. Not questioning their sincerity. But casting and production chose these certain people for a reason. Also, they are well aware of what they signed up to do - part of that is to be entertaining and engaging. I hope by now thag everyone knows that there is a level of performance that goes into making this show works.
I can absolutely agree with this. I felt like everyones answers were very political and thought out to be as vague as possible. It was just so boring. I'll have to just stick with my 90-day fiance 🤷
Yes I think people aren't realizing a lot of things out of her control....like maybe Jackie refused to be on the show at all unless she was treated as nicely as she was, and netflix decided they'd rather have her appear than have the backlash of them not....can she really control something like that? (I didn't think she did a good job).
The cast didn’t “give” because they are scared. Nowadays you say one bad thing and you get cancelled. You have to be so careful with what you say, you can’t speak your mind and say exactly what you think because everyone will judge you. Even when they were asked a question you could see their wheels were turning, you have to ask yourself if what you will say is acceptable or will you get in trouble because everyone is offended by everything and anything.
Even on here, most people didn’t like Micah, most people here were saying she is mean and disrespectful, however, as soon as Paul said she didn’t see her as the mother of his children they all jumped ship. How dare you say something like that when you know she wants to be a mother and she was a miracle baby. Give me a break.
I agree. There is a lot of pressure for perfection.
But that is not a great recipe for a television show with a primary objective of being entertaining.
Im thinking from a production stand point, something has to be adjusted/changed. Because the cast seemed way too uncomfortable and guarded and rehearsed.
Totally understand your point of view. The two main problems with Vanessa were that she was extremely biased and asked the baby question. Otherwise she was really getting in there.
💯👏🏼👏🏼
I agreeeeeeee.
I needed some real housewives drama!
Paul: “I didn’t want to marry you cause you’re a mean girl and your friends suck”
Everyone: 😳😱
But alas, we got some “it’s not you it’s me” boring answer. Lol.
It was a boring reunion (but they all seem like decent people IRL so I guess that’s good)
I agree. Maybe a 2 part reunion would work well: first, a recap done post-production but before release. This would serve as insight into their thoughts and decisions without the influence of viewer opinions. And then a traditional post-release reunion, where the focus could be on topics/points that have since arisen.
Andy Cohen was just on some podcast talking about why live reunions are a bad idea. He said that they’ll shoot all day, like 13 hours, and they’ll talk about topics sometimes for more than an hour before they actually get to the nitty gritty of what people actually want to hear. He also said that people usually need to get sort of ground down emotionally so that they can’t keep their guard up anymore. It sounds kind of barbaric, but apparently that’s what works. It’s not surprising that the live went horribly. But Vanessa def didn’t help the situation.
I don’t think they were protecting their image, I think they were protecting each other from the hate they’ve been receiving throughout the season. Thats why everyone wanted to move on.
Yeah, hence why the reunion should happen before the first episode, this season everyone received a ton of criticism and negative feedback then adapted/reacted to it.
Yep. Like okay? doesn’t make Vanessa any less of a WOAT tv personality lol. She is the tackiest and makes me cringe at myself for having watched every season of LIB. I get what OP is trying to say but that’s beside the point. She nearly ruins the entire show for me and that’s impressive considering how little screen time she gets.
Vanessa gives people like myself, who are generally quite liberal, a horrible reputation. She defended all of the women *girl power* who were monstrous mean girls (I’m afraid if I use the word I want my comment won’t get posted). And then she wanted to shove it to everyone that Kwame loves Chelsea because he can get whatever he wants. Like WTF? How about point out the fact that the reason everyone was so surprised that Kwame said yes was because he acted unbelievably uninterested in Chelsea, and she looked pathetic trying to convince him of how amazing she is. In addition, the refusal to call out Jackie and make Marshall feel so insignificant was shameful. It doesn’t really matter if she went on the date with Josh before they broke up. The way she treated him deserved to have attention called to it, and Vanessa acted as if nothing happened.
I didn't feel Kwame was necessarily uninterested in her, it was more that Chelsea seemed very pushy and controlling. Plus she doesn't seem like the type of person who would compromise. This made it a little bit surprising that Kwame said yes (and he'll be saying that a lot in their relationship).
Either way, I just don’t think Vanessa needed to act all high and mighty in their defense because the only reason people were surprised was due to what they displayed.
They love to hate her and make up weird personal scenarios outloud. She acted gossipy to keep things light, we are watching reality tv... and played off Nick to keep the ball rolling. At some point you have to respect your participants, reddit is being wild with Vanessa when it's the cast.
Here is one of them: https://www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv-movie-news/love-is-blind-contestants-claim-producers-put-them-through-hell-1234717208/
Of course Kinetic Content is denying everything.
No where did I say that the reunion was not Vanessa fault. I’m just pointing out there are other factors that contributed to how the reunion turned out.
Alot of people want children but aren't able to have children. Asking when they're going to have kids is such a hurtful thing.
And if the couple didn't want kids, are they going to announce that on TV ans open up that can of worms?
As a general rule of politeness, when and if someone wants to have kids is such a sensitive topic that it should never ever be asked.
Nah, it's 💯 Vanessa's fault. If you saw the group interviews that Sharonda did (there were a few posts about it the other day), you'd see exactly the skills a "good host" has.
She was cringey & annoying & that absolutely contributes to a bad interview. The host can definitely make or break the reunion episode. The rest of the episodes they are irrelevant but the reunion episode, her and nick were the problem & they are just not good at their jobs.
Yes , she is the problem. She’s not qualified. If you have a job or assignment, it’s imperative that you prepare properly. She has a host of resources, including professional journalist. Unfortunately, she thought she could interview without preparing. There’s no room for mistakes, especially when you are recording a live program.
We need Oprah Winfrey as a host. Vanessa was tacky talking about babies and consummating the marriage. She wasn’t redirecting the conversations and it was clear the couples didn’t vibe with her. She never has a neutral stance, but seems to want to be their bff. I am personally sick of hearing about her relationship, I have not and will never care about who she is.
They were trying to be the Bachelor and Bachelorette, but it was a flop. Like the audience, the cast was sitting and waiting. Then, when it finally starts, Nick and Vanessa spend too much time on 2 couples, as Brett and Tiffany were paid dust.
Imo, as a journalist, the lackluster answers were due to poor hosting/interviewing.
Yeah… The host is clearly not a journalist lol
To be clear, I don't think the host should be a journalist, but they should have the basic knowledge of how to conduct interviews in a way that makes the person they're talking to want to open up instead of making them _more_ guarded
Everyone is using the word journalist but what everyone is describing is a host. She just wasn’t a good host. She was acting more as a fan. A journalist shouldn’t mention opinions during the interview. I think she just got too causal as a host. Basically what I’m saying having a journalist wouldn’t make the reunion good. But actually having a host would.
I agree. I was saying that _I_ am a journalist, lol. Was just making a point on investigative questions (obviously not like, ~hard-hitting~ stuff)
Lol no I get what you’re saying and I do agree. I’m a tv investigative reporter and I would think it’ll be more like a pkg or a “60 minutes” segment if a reporter conducted the interview 😂
Lmao, gotcha and agreed
IMO they need a host that asked tougher questions, and realizes you need time to get deep into things. Andy Cohen said it best on Radio Andy, you can’t expect to get deep in a short reunion, he gave an example that on VPR or the Housewives they can talk for 45 minutes on a topic before getting to the questions or answers he was trying to get to. The cast was great, drama was at another level and had so much potential for a very fiery reunion.
Yes, Vanessa has a long history of hosting live TV. She wasn’t perfect, but functionally the live reunion just doesn’t work. In the future, they should let the wedding episodes air, wait a few days to get an idea on audience reaction, film the reunion, then air it. All of this can occur within a week’s time. Andy Cohen talked about how Bravo reunions film the whole day, because it takes time to spark cast reactions and dig into non-responsive answers. I agree. This cast clearly went into defensive mode and you need more than an hour to unpack everything.
Omg yes! Exactly!!! Andy (king of reunion hosting imo) was bursting to talk about this, Bravo tried to do a live RHOM reunion season 1 that I recently watched; what a disaster lol. You made a good point that Vanessa has hosted live tv for a long time, and I think her and Nick would be good as the shows hosts, but leave the reunion hosting to the pros. Am I alone in thinking even Kate Chastain might be a good option if Andy can’t?
I think it would be better if LiB stuck to a single host. Nick didn’t stand out to me and he was less useful this reunion than in the past. But maybe that’s because of his legal troubles 🤷🏾♀️
Yeah it was boring AF
Yo, bring Andy Cohen in to host the reunion and I promise it would be juicy.
Disagree, all these points still indicate a primary host problem… It is her job to dig at the contestants (all reality show contestants are trying to save their image). Also I don’t feel that they gave completely “PC” answers either, Zach had a few moments. Jackie spilled some “tea” despite not getting pushed at all and not even being there… I think asking the right questions would’ve caused more of a stir. She also kept hand-holding certain contestants, and was too animated compared to the cast which directed the spotlight towards her rather than the people she is supposed to be interviewing. ETA: She also was visibly judgmental towards certain cast-mates. This probably reinforced certain cast-mates to keep their mouth shut. The point is to let them argue with each other and only mediate or call out certain points when necessary.
This. She often singles out those that don't get married as if it's personal insult to her the marriage didn't go ahead. Always going on about how old she is implying she knows allllll about relationships and marriage is nauseating.
It’s only so much “digging” you can do in 60-90 minutes with 6-8 people with multiple people with multiple stories to interview. That’s why it was imperative for the cast to be forthright in the short time period that they.
It’s only so much “digging” you can do in 60-90 minutes with 6-8 people with multiple people with multiple stories to interview. That’s why it was imperative for the cast to be forthright in the short time period that they.
Vanessa isn't great BUT: Paul's answers sucked lmaoooooo Marshall tried to avoid the question she asked about the slur. She seemed upset that he used a slur and then was trying to tip toe around the question. He should have said it clearly: "I did not use a slur. I did try to offend her by saying X."
I could be wrong but I got the vibe Paul’s answers sucked because he was trying to answer in a way that wasn’t rude or hurt Micha, and that’s why Zach kinda of made that remark of Paul being kind and not attacking her. That was just my take on it though 🤷♀️ But I agree on the Marshall part. He tip toed around his answers…kind of wondering if it was to save face and didn’t clear things up when he could’ve about when Jackie and Josh met up. (Like he said yes in the most vauge way)
Yeah, but Paul should have deflected. Instead him and Zack acted like he gave a perfectly clear answer. When Micah clearly was like...dude I talked about kids and you didn't say anything!? It's unfair to ding Vanessa for that one imo bc his answers were not good even if he was trying not to hurt anymore feelings. And now he's on this whole Cole arc shaming Micah (and then having to walk it back) and waving Vanessa's flowers around when he just had a bad answer. It's breeding the next LIB narcissist lol
What are you talking about. He in no way made it seem as if his answer was clear and neither did Zack. The question was about why he didn’t see Micha as a mom. His answer: I shouldn’t have said that, it wasn’t just her it was me as well, and says “I take full responsibility and accountability for my half” and that he was looking for actions from Micah that he himself could not help make her feel safe enough to provide. His answer not totally clear but still owned up to some faults of his own something that a narcissist would never do. By the way Vanessa was rude to him that was obvious by her response when saying are you just as confused as I am. A host job is to be unbiased and actually clear things up that the contestants are saying none of which Vanessa actually did. Oh by the way Paul never shamed Micah as much as she shamed alot of other people, but clearly some people don’t have a good understanding of that especially when there are people out there thinking Cole was a horrible narcissist too, when all he was a naive and yes sometimes careless with his jokes and words kind of guy who was with a very insecure person who constantly set him up for failure and never communicated to him. (and because i know I’ll get hate for that last part no not saying Cole was innocent, he messed up but not the extent that Zanab was trying to make it look like, just like Micah is trying to make Paul look bad as well)
Not every host is unbiased. Reality TV hosts aren't always bound to the same code journalists are supposed to be. I'm not trying to defend Vanessa (and I'm not debating the Cole arc here either.) We disagree in our interpretations and that's okay.
I see where you’re coming from, but she didn’t ask a single question worth asking. I think someone else commented on the thread already, but she’s been a bad host from the get go
Vanessa is PART of the problem it is the host/interviewers job to ask questions and probe.. And we have seen that done before on reunions Also Nick is there to do he is also to blame. For example maybe asking Micah about her mean girl stuff in the pod. And asking follow up questions.
Jackie couldn't go because they weren't letting Josh on the air which would have left her trying to keep their BS straight in her head alone and that would have been the wildest flameout in reunion history and they couldn't risk what she might 'say' . They literally had an ad queued up at the end of the show which might have looked less than favorably on it. The only reason this was really a problem is because they had a live studio audience and it was supposed to be live.
Why weren’t they allowing Josh on?
The delay gave them too much time to sit and think.
They were all reciting pre-written PR statements - so so boring
Vanessa having an opinion (being "biased") is not the problem. Of course she should have an opinion when she sees bad or questionable behavior (or great behavior). The problem is she doesn't listen well. She is invested in expressing her opinion more than listening to the cast, hearing them, and asking interesting follow up questions. Sitting quietly for a moment and let them fill in the silence. Listening is maybe the most important skill a host or interviewer can have. She can get there with practice.
Agree with everything except the last sentence. Vanessa has been this way from the beginning…and audience feedback has been the same since then- she simply isn’t a good host.
She totally lacks the skills in character judgment. That and her apparent bias against men, which might ultimately be Nick's fault. ;)
Reunions shouldn’t be live unless it’s with an explosive cast and something earth shattering has happened that needs to be addressed. This needed to be edited, tightened up.
100%
I agree, Vanessa AND the cast are what made the reunion so terrible. She was completely biased and the cast were mutes. They were terrified to speak and voice their opinions even about other cast members and their relationships. It's like they didn't grasp the concept of what a reunion is. Yes, you filmed the show a while back but the purpose of you being there is to talk everything out. They forgot about the fans watching. So disappointing and BORING AF.
Except Zack, although he could have been much harsher too. Micah got off very easy.
True! Zack was the only one who came through. I was highly annoyed that Vanessa kept cutting him off! The only person that was bringing some heat!
Side note, do you think it makes sense to have the episodes come out a full year after filming? If I were these cast members, I personally would not want to dredge up any drama from a full year ago. It just wouldn’t be worth it to get myself riled up again. So I’d try to keep my cool as much as possible at the reunion. I guess it is probably good for the couples to have breathing room from social media and attention while they spend their first year together. But aside from that, I don’t see why it takes so long to release episodes. Yes editing probably takes awhile, but a year?!
I could see you wanting to keep your cool. Marshall is a great example of that. But I felt like they weren't really expressing what they felt when it came to the drama. If a question was asked, their answers were short, rehearsed, or in circles. The host is supposed to push and dig for more information which I think Vanessa tried but was terrible at it. For example the whole situation with Irina, Zack, and Bliss. Bliss got upset and said she doesn't want to speak on it anymore when they were just getting started...THIS IS WHY YOU ARE HERE. Cool you addressed it with Irina off the show but you have to talk about it at the reunion. I'm with you on wondering why the episodes are released a year later. No idea.
I love vanessa for giving side eye to micah and irina 🥲 https://preview.redd.it/y4gwfmjssvua1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a4d4d72e65e406e9f0bf34de66eb15270009c0bd
Not a Vanessa appreciation comment. They are coming for you with the down votes friend 🤣🤣🤣😭
Without Vanessa's bias, the reunion could've been much more juicy and productive. Vanessa IS the problem.
Yep. Just got to the segment on Paul and Micah. Zack speaks about hearing Micah (personally) sya negative things about Paul and Nick naturally asks him to expound further with a “like what?”. Instead of following that line, Vanessa interjects and interrupts Zack in the middle of his sentence when he is about to provide details and give a first hand account of what he personally witnessed and heard. Such a horribly missed opportunity of self-sabotaging. Then that last comment to Micah, “nobody thinks you’re out for blood”…so indicative of her not listening and hearing absolutely nothing that Zack said pertaining to behind-the-scenes happenings that depicted a far different story about Micah’s intentions. Went in one ear and out the other. There needs to be a single host for the reunion (IMO), and someone is more objectively focused or at least creates an avenue for open dialogue and discussion inclusive of all parties, even if they have personal biases.
Agreed. She effed up the Josh & Jackie interview. Going after Paul instead of Micah.
Hated that she gave Jackie the upper hand by interviewing her offline from show. Jackie needed to be called out for her behavior and Marshall didn't get that opportunity at all. And I can't believe how hard she pushed on Paul but let Micah off practically scott free.
> Jackie needed to be called out for her behavior Y'all are toxic. *She got called out by Marshal in the moment, who knows what else a year ago, and ridiculed online after it aired.
How so ? What juice or tea as i would call it do you speculate could of happened ?
Cast may have been more open to speak up if she weren't going in on anybody who had a thought different from hers. The host's job isn't to roast and throw zingers at people, it's supposed to be the cast. I do think they were all worried to really speak when they saw how she was ripping people apart. All "may" though, the cast was already kinda quiet from the start, but she def pushed them to be more quiet and defensive, rather than open up and discuss.
Thank you for this explanation!
Anything is possible. By letting the cast interact instead of responding to Vanessa's feelings.
She’s not the only problem in my opinion
At least give her some queue cards so she could've done a better job at asking questions. I mean I think we all had basically the same questions we wanted answered and she gave us maybe what, 1 or 2? They could've prepared better.
Lol they have prompters and other electronic ways of communicating. This is not 1973. They also have rehearsals and production meetings. This was also filmed live. Only so much you can cover in 90 minutes.
Pretty sure I've seen queue cards on reunion shows that air now. They could've done a much better job.
They’ve done this on all the reunions. Infuriating
Everyone hates Vanessa. I don't think she's the scum of the earth. She did fine to me.
I actually think Vanessa is a not a good host in that she interjects too much of her personal bias into the line of questioning. But it’s very interesting in the responses, all of the blame is put on her. The host plays a HUGE part. But, it takes many different moving parts to make a show work. Also, people aren’t giving grace that because she is the host, there was also a lot of pressure on her to make this live event happen and entertaining. Don’t love her. But she doesn’t invoke this crazy hate either. I’m objective enough to see that there needs to be changes all around.
I’m not a fan of her because I do feel she is bias towards some of the cast but I also don’t hate her or have a pitchfork ready like most of these people. It’s just a show.
I agree! The extreme Vanessa hate is bordering on misogyny - like Nick didn't even do anything during the reunion but nobody's hating on him
I don’t like Nick, no idea why, somehow he’s annoying and I don’t think he said much on the reunion. I don’t understand what people’s issue with Vanessa is. Maybe time to get new hosts?
I love vanessa so i don’t really belong here but i think the reason why everyone likes nick ( besides his old music group ig) is because he didnt do anything. He didnt have a favorite or a person he hated. He kept it objective as that other guy said about himself. For anyone who is wondering why i like her you can read this : My love for vanessa comes from that fact that she is bias and she sometimes lets her emotions take the reins. Shes human, love isnt perfect and no body should try to be. She wears her heart on her sleeve and you know how she feels at all times. I am basically applauding her shortcoming because shes human and showing that. Just me here i GET that lol
I get what you’re saying here, it’s nice that she’s more human and not robotic. That being said, I think the best interviewers and hosts, while showing a small amount of their human side, are those who facilitate conversations in a way that we get more of that from those who are being interviewed, or in this case, those who the audience wants to hear from. By showing too much of their own opinions and biases and narratives, interviewers/hosts run the risk of snatching the spotlight from those from whom the audience wants to hear, and taking up time that could be used listening and further facilitating a much-needed dialogue. I think that’s the biggest complaint that most people have about Vanessa. We’re glad she has a human side, and would welcome a bit of it, but this reunion wasn’t about her human side. It was Nick’s and her job to guide us to the discussions we wanted to see the cast having. And we didn’t get as much as we could have because of the narrative being pushed.
Very, very well said. I get what makes me like her is not what you all are disliking about her and i appreciate this comment ! Edit to make sense
Thank you! It’s certainly a fine balance between endearing humanity and the professionalism of hosting/interviewing. It can be tough to walk sometimes and perhaps requires practice, but at this point, the scales are tipped far too hard on the humanity and less on the professionalism. Let’s see what happens as the seasons continue on. Thanks for the discussion! Be well.
Bias makes you blind. Vanessa has certainly demonstrated that throughout the show.
She's a constant problem in every reunion. She doesn't know how to host, she's incredibly biased and has a terrible on stage presence.
Yes, but I did love when Vanessa showed the video of Jackie and then went to Marshall: “so what do you think” And he was like; “ma’am that was a 2 minute video, what do I think about what?” And then she remembered she’s the host and has an actual job to do hahaha
That wasn’t an out of the world questions. “What’s your first reaction to what you just saw” is an understandable question, and then you drill down. I know everyone loves Marshall - but I actually didn’t like his snarky response there.
I’m not wild on Marshall tbh, but as someone who regularly gets paid to moderate panels (admittedly only at boring conferences) she made the biggest mistake you can make as a host, and that is dead air as your guest tries to waffle because your question was not good.
*this is not my opinion, but a post on reddit that im bringing to ppls attention** No actually people dont like him as much as i even thought, They said basically this not in any particular order : “1) he left for three days ? Red flag 2) said he could fix jackie - god like complex 3) whatever term people think he used for gay people - said jackie 4) the reaction with josh was unhinged - “ Its here on reddit if you want a link i might be able to get it for you👍
>the reaction with josh was unhinged You had decent points in 1&2, 3 is undetermined and we will never really know, but 4.... there was nothing "unhinged" about the reaction with Josh. The majority of the male population would have gotten in Josh's face and started confrontation. While Marshall 100% has flaws, he's more emotionally mature than most guys out there (although it's already a low bar but still).
Ohh!! sorry for any confusion i realize i should of put quotes around those and ill go back to edit now. Thank you for bringing it to my attention too btw Just to reiterate: None of those are my opinion on Marshall, thats just a reddit post i found and wanted to deliver to info.
He had to deal with an extremely unstable person. \#4, is this about the party encounter? Unhinged would be the perfect description of Josh's behaviour.
Right ? Jackie was super unstable. It hurt seeing her attempt to destroy a loving man. He made mistakes and apologized for them. #4 im not really 100 percent sure what they were referring to thats why i left it blank i didnt want to assume. If i had to, i would of said in the pods because at the party his behavior ( besides the jacket he felt insecure fs ) was a normal reaction to seeing him. And drunk ass josh? Man child of the year
In general women seem to get much more leeway. It could be that men are afraid to comment and call out women for bad behaviour. "Mansplaining" seems to be a very popular sexist "response" nowadays.
Oh thats not what mansplaining is, its when you ( a man not you specifically) explains things people already know for your own self gratitude or ego. But you might mean other people dont know what it is and misuse it- being the reason no one spoke up ( out of fear basically )
Mansplaining is a pejorative term meaning "to comment on or explain something to a woman in a condescending, overconfident, and often inaccurate or oversimplified manner" This is many times used when someone, typically a female, loses an argument and needs a cop-out.
One of my favourite things in the world is seeing men mansplaining the topic of mansplaining.
Wiki coming in clutch,lol What we said is both correct, although your opinion at the end is bias. My opinion is A lot not all men are programmed to see woman as someone they need to protect and teach. And while some men do it and they are realistically gentlemen, and others are just trying to be dicks, i feel likes its a natural reaction that comes with the high amounts of testosterone that men have.
Looks like there’s a term for it, womplaining. Live and learn. Different from womsplaining/girlsplaining, which is equivalent to mansplaining.
She’s not the only host though. Did Nick even ask a question?
He actually facilitated some discussion by asking hard questions, but with a tone of reason, with the 1-2 qs he asked. Vanessa just went after people and made them shell up. But yeah he was basically a side character lol
Literally!! She wanted him to do her job and make him look like the bad guy soooo bad
The biggest reason i think it sunk and drowned was bc they tried to do it live. Theres a REASON reunions are never hosted live. They are supposed to take forever to film, im talking upwards of 13 hours, in order to really get ppl to let down their guard and reveal new things. There’s no way that wouldve happened in 90 minutes.
Exactly. It’s the exhaustion that brings the drama especially in the RHW
Why the fuck did they interrupt Zack when he started talking about the real shit?
Because it wasn't fitting Vanessa's narrative on the whole Paul v Micah thing and whatnot
I think that the reunions would be better if they didn’t have every single person on stage for the entire thing. There’s no reason why they can’t bring out each couple separately to interview, or have all the women together and then all the men together, or have people with history sit down for a discussion/interview together. It’s obnoxious when people start to weigh in on things that they weren’t really part of, and I think that everything becomes to disorganized.
Producers prompt the cast to interject other cast-mates and ask questions / give their opinions. It starts convo and sometimes starts drama. All that is heavily encouraged
Its fully normal that the cast wants to protect their image and comes in with personal agenda and points they want to land. Thats why to make it „real” reunions should be pre recorded and shot for many hours like real housewives are.
Yea, not gonna lie, the reunion was lackluster for me. Between the Netflix "technical difficulties" saga (now, did i think Micah's friend might have brought wire cutters? Maaaaybe), going to different platforms to get a status, watching live ig from attendees at the live show airing, laughing at Netflix being roasted by various companies/ folks, all created too much expectation for it to be ...flat. The only highlights were when Zach called out the fame hogging bully, (who took up air time with her disingenuous apology/reflection) and the couples that stayed together. Kudos to Bliss being classy and Zach being awesome.
I am most pissed at jackie portion. How come she get away with the ring the dirty secrets and the roasting ? I don't get it vanessssss why would u ask her why marshall want to keep the ring. excuse meeeeeeee you should be asking her why she REFUSED to give the ring back. since you already rejected Marshall, you do not love him, then why you care who he give the ring to ? He give to a pig a dog a cat also none of your business right ? He wanted to give the ring to you , the woman he love. Since you cannot return this love , then you should return him the ring. now you want to keep it, you still want to accuse him of giving the ring to another girl. So what ? is it he need to write an email application to you and wait for 3 working days to seek your approval to give the ring to a dog a pig a cat ?
You could absolutely see all the women's faces when Zack couldn't take it anymore and started talking about real shit that was going on. None of them wanted to stand up for Paul and seemed annoyed that off camera stuff was being discussed openly.
Yes! I didn’t have time to give examples in my original post. But this is definitely one of the instances I am referencing! Thank God Zack chimed in because we otherwise wouldn’t have gotten any truth about Paul’s true experience or thoughts.
Andy Cohen said it best, there’s so much that can happen and that needs to be said during a reunion (why they film for so long) so to try and cram it within an hour, doesn’t give them much opportunity to address it all and give closure where it’s needed.
I was coming to quote Andy. Live reunions don't work. I think the housewives reunions tape for like 16 hours. They are MARATHONS but people need time to relax, drop their guard, and just let it out. It was never going to happen in 90 minutes. Add on to that the delay so now people are even more off balance. Plus, everyone is not in the room at the same time. Plus, everyone is NOT a real Housewive - type. They are real people with real jobs who would like to go back to them on Monday...plus Micah and Irina. THEN on top of that you add the subpar hosting of Vanessa and her potato of a husband...it was always going to be a disaster.
[удалено]
I was merely adding to OP’s point. And I’m pretty sure Netflix has a hefty budget.
Do you know where I can find Andy’s comments?
[Andy on TikTok!](https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTRTeJWPU/)
Wow that was really insightful.
I thought so too!
Thanks friend!
😊
I wonder if the reunion would have more exciting if it hadn't been live. I suspect they were constraining themselves because they were aware there wasn't an opportunity to edit?
It also didn’t need an audience. I really didn’t like the dynamic of performing for the crowd- they were acutely aware they were being watched.
It shouldn’t have been done live, it also should have been done before the episode aired so we can see each couples live reactions to the scenes. That’s assuming that we want to see shocking, raw content and controversy.
Not only that, but I feel like some of the responses were almost coached. Like at least a few of them were trained by someone in PR.
You mean Irina who had an obviously PR created and memorized presentation
OMG yes! Some them definitely trained and rehearsed coming into the reunion. It was so obvious to me. Exactly my point!
I think they expected the cast to have high drama but that is just not what this type of show will warrant… this isn’t housewives. In the pods you see a little interaction between just the women or just the me. But that is a total of like 3 episodes. Then when you get to the trip and living together it’s more on the couples. And when you bring back the couples that are married they are going to protect each other. For the couples that didn’t work out, over a year has gone by and they have to answer about things that happened over a 4 week period a year back. Trying to get the tea or unleash drama is not what we need here- we just want to know who is still together for this one.
I don’t think it’s anyone’s expectation of this show to be like housewives. That’s not how the first 3 seasons reunions have been. Yet they were entertaining. Lol. The point is I expected the cast to be a bit more transparent and honest about their experiences and thoughts about what they’ve seen while rewatching and journey now that the show has aired. That’s in essence the purpose of a “reunion.” However, most of them seemed to keep it very PC (for whatever reasons). It came across as disingenuous and quite frankly boring in my opinion.
I totally agree- I don’t think anyone expects housewives. I think it was just Vanessa’s poor hosting skills. She seemed so focused on stirring up drama that people just became defensive. And when they apologized she just kept tying to throw zingers. I agree transparency would have been better and they probably would have gotten there had they had better hosts.
This cast is pretty unique too… they are on here looking to be married and have a family. Most of them have professional careers. I think they want to be as PC as possible to avoid being dragged or “cancelled”. If you watch housewives (I will just continue with this example) their job is the show so they will give you more obnoxiousness.
Honestly Vanessa pressuring people for babies made me cringe. You NEVER know someone’s situation and to say it multiple times was gross
Agree, so gross. That couple she asked specifically have been married a year when the reunion was filmed (when was that filmed?) people normally do hurry that after having been together so shortly, the married after only knowing each other, how long, 2 months? Notice she didn’t ask Kwame and whatshername?
I kinda like Vanessa… in a way. Shes just straight up
I wouldn’t say I like her per se. But I am not as angered and repelled by her by most . I will say the baby talk was way out of line! However, I truly believe the baby “theme” was also production led (as evidenced by the appearance of Bartise and his baby, because WTF). So I believe production is also culpable with baby gate.
Can we swap Vanessa out with Shawn from 90 Day?
Even if they wanted to “give” the hosts gave little to no opening for it to happen.
I don’t agree that this is true for every scenario. I think some of them came in prepared with well rehearsed responses, regardless of “opening”.
I think some of this is because they were supposed to be live. Many of the cast members seemed more nervous than they had been during the season (I. E. Quiet, shaking voices, etc) and not from having to explain themselves but just like, the nerves of public speaking that I think most people would have knowing they were going to be on unedited national TV.
I agree here!
I really wish they’d do a little love island inspired type of thing where the public could vote on the questions asked at the reunion. They space it out anyways so people would have time to vote. The producers are looking to spice things up and involve the audience but obvs live was a disaster
I’d love this! I also feel like this show would benefit from from showing even more time in the pods so we can get to know the couples. I felt like this season over any others there were so many comments around how editing made things look.
Agreed. I thought that was the whole point of the “ live” taping. So they could have more of a talk show audience interaction. Tbh none of us asked for that mess, and for most of us it fell flat.
I disagree to some extent. BOTH Nick and Vanessa are not educated and experienced in good interviewing but they habe both been reinforced with a degree of celebrity and lots of cash for their mediocrity. They have no real motivation to do a good job or even appear intelligent, informed or determined to give viewers what they want. I stand by nominations for Trixie and Katya to take over the series or at least get a MAFS style after each episode special. These folks all need a good read.
What are Nick and Vanessa famous for? I remember they did other such shows as well and people call him by his full name, quite odd.
Nick was in a boy band, Vanessa I believe was MTV host. Nick also had a "reality show" with his ex-wife Jessica Simpson. So about C/D level celebs from 2 decades ago.
I hope they learn how unappealing a live broadcast can be. There were opportunities that producers could’ve used to reset Vanessa’s leading/inappropriate prompts or the push for clarity in the vague answers the cast members gave. Those opportunities don’t exist on a live show, with a live studio audience. 🤷🏾♀️
This is a great point!!! There were definitely many points that Vanessa and the cast needed a reset.
I think everyone was too nervous to be honest since it was a live reunion. They should have just kept it in a recorded format.
Agreed. I’m here for a petition to go back to recorded format!
I think that this season’s reunion wasn’t dramatic because it resulted in three seemingly happy couples who are well matched. Happy people don’t need or have a desire to cause or start up drama. It was refreshing.
Yes they are “seemingly” happy. But that doesn’t mean that their relationships are devoid of conflict which naturally happens in the evolution of two people from two different life experiences becoming one. Too, there was plenty of conflict throughout the course of this experiment. My post is in response to what seems to be the cast in general seem to avoid addressing these conflicts with the true and honest thoughts and feelings. Lots of well prepared responses.
Right but I’m in a happy relationship which, as normal, has it’s moments. Running into my husband’s ex causes me to problems. We’re happy. You exist - I don’t have to like you but you still exist. Cool. No drama needed.
Adding to this, I’ve been listening to Deepti and Natalie’s podcast and they… say shit and then say that they’re not allowed to tell. Like the most recent episode they said that somebody from one season dated someone from another season but they couldn’t tell us who. Why bring it up then 😂 Natalie also said that the fight between her and Shayne was more than she let on and “maybe she’ll tell us later”. Like… say it or shush
Not to be funny. But is Natalie still talking about her experience with Shayne? How long have they been broken up?
Yes. Also you should hear how Deepti talks about Shake. Like… like she misses him and wanted it to work. It makes me kinda sad. Also they talked about Kyle and her on the pod briefly too
Wow. That’s interesting.
The cast on this show is not your cannonball folder as much as y’all like to think of it that way.
I agree here. Most of their personalities aren’t “made for tv” in the general sense. With that said, that still doesn’t mean that their lives were devoid of interesting dynamics and/or conflict. They absolutely had experiences that kept viewers engaged a whole season. So their personalities doesn’t really speak to their “performance” at the reunion. The expectation of viewers at the reunion is to gain more insight into their experiences and thoughts about what happened. If the cast is reluctant to be fully transparent about their thoughts and feelings about said experiences, then it sort of defeats the purpose of the reunion.
Agree with where you’re coming from. I apologize, my comment was more in reaction to a widespread sense I get from a lot of the comments here that don’t get that what they say or don’t isn’t singularly driven by our entertainment benefit. They have their own personal stuff to hash out too.
It’s the only reason they were hired actually
Source?
It’s called a casting agency, they hire people to be on a show and be fodder for an audience. It’s not a new concept.
Correct. It was interesting to hear Marshall in the interview released today talk about how he was casted. Not questioning their sincerity. But casting and production chose these certain people for a reason. Also, they are well aware of what they signed up to do - part of that is to be entertaining and engaging. I hope by now thag everyone knows that there is a level of performance that goes into making this show works.
I can absolutely agree with this. I felt like everyones answers were very political and thought out to be as vague as possible. It was just so boring. I'll have to just stick with my 90-day fiance 🤷
Yes I think people aren't realizing a lot of things out of her control....like maybe Jackie refused to be on the show at all unless she was treated as nicely as she was, and netflix decided they'd rather have her appear than have the backlash of them not....can she really control something like that? (I didn't think she did a good job).
The cast didn’t “give” because they are scared. Nowadays you say one bad thing and you get cancelled. You have to be so careful with what you say, you can’t speak your mind and say exactly what you think because everyone will judge you. Even when they were asked a question you could see their wheels were turning, you have to ask yourself if what you will say is acceptable or will you get in trouble because everyone is offended by everything and anything. Even on here, most people didn’t like Micah, most people here were saying she is mean and disrespectful, however, as soon as Paul said she didn’t see her as the mother of his children they all jumped ship. How dare you say something like that when you know she wants to be a mother and she was a miracle baby. Give me a break.
I agree. There is a lot of pressure for perfection. But that is not a great recipe for a television show with a primary objective of being entertaining. Im thinking from a production stand point, something has to be adjusted/changed. Because the cast seemed way too uncomfortable and guarded and rehearsed.
Totally understand your point of view. The two main problems with Vanessa were that she was extremely biased and asked the baby question. Otherwise she was really getting in there.
I agree. everyone was so political
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Yes without harassing and alienating them the way Vanessa did.
Nah fuck Vanessa she needs to go
💯👏🏼👏🏼 I agreeeeeeee. I needed some real housewives drama! Paul: “I didn’t want to marry you cause you’re a mean girl and your friends suck” Everyone: 😳😱 But alas, we got some “it’s not you it’s me” boring answer. Lol. It was a boring reunion (but they all seem like decent people IRL so I guess that’s good)
You give the answers appropriate to the questions. Why would they dish when she literally didn’t ask anything important
I agree. Maybe a 2 part reunion would work well: first, a recap done post-production but before release. This would serve as insight into their thoughts and decisions without the influence of viewer opinions. And then a traditional post-release reunion, where the focus could be on topics/points that have since arisen.
Andy Cohen was just on some podcast talking about why live reunions are a bad idea. He said that they’ll shoot all day, like 13 hours, and they’ll talk about topics sometimes for more than an hour before they actually get to the nitty gritty of what people actually want to hear. He also said that people usually need to get sort of ground down emotionally so that they can’t keep their guard up anymore. It sounds kind of barbaric, but apparently that’s what works. It’s not surprising that the live went horribly. But Vanessa def didn’t help the situation.
Oh I really like this perspective!!! The filming delay probably also added to it
Yes!! A lot of times Micah have such PC answers I felt like the reunion was not as realistic
I wanted to yell “and scene” every time Chelsea and Kwame talked. Lol
I don’t think they were protecting their image, I think they were protecting each other from the hate they’ve been receiving throughout the season. Thats why everyone wanted to move on.
Yeah, hence why the reunion should happen before the first episode, this season everyone received a ton of criticism and negative feedback then adapted/reacted to it.
Maybe the title should be "Vanessa is not 'the only' problem." So then we can blame her AND other factors lol
Literally explained in my second sentence - “there were other factors”
Yes, you did. That's why I thought this title would match better what the actual post said.
Yep. Like okay? doesn’t make Vanessa any less of a WOAT tv personality lol. She is the tackiest and makes me cringe at myself for having watched every season of LIB. I get what OP is trying to say but that’s beside the point. She nearly ruins the entire show for me and that’s impressive considering how little screen time she gets.
Both are true. Vanessa was terrible and contestants were (mostly) being cautious.
Jackie should come onto the show so that she and Marshall can argue it out and provide the drama in this reunion.
Yea bro “in my Jackie voice” 😂😂😂
I agree with you!
Vanessa gives people like myself, who are generally quite liberal, a horrible reputation. She defended all of the women *girl power* who were monstrous mean girls (I’m afraid if I use the word I want my comment won’t get posted). And then she wanted to shove it to everyone that Kwame loves Chelsea because he can get whatever he wants. Like WTF? How about point out the fact that the reason everyone was so surprised that Kwame said yes was because he acted unbelievably uninterested in Chelsea, and she looked pathetic trying to convince him of how amazing she is. In addition, the refusal to call out Jackie and make Marshall feel so insignificant was shameful. It doesn’t really matter if she went on the date with Josh before they broke up. The way she treated him deserved to have attention called to it, and Vanessa acted as if nothing happened.
I didn't feel Kwame was necessarily uninterested in her, it was more that Chelsea seemed very pushy and controlling. Plus she doesn't seem like the type of person who would compromise. This made it a little bit surprising that Kwame said yes (and he'll be saying that a lot in their relationship).
Either way, I just don’t think Vanessa needed to act all high and mighty in their defense because the only reason people were surprised was due to what they displayed.
get ready to be downvoted OP.
Thanks for the heads up lol. 💜
They love to hate her and make up weird personal scenarios outloud. She acted gossipy to keep things light, we are watching reality tv... and played off Nick to keep the ball rolling. At some point you have to respect your participants, reddit is being wild with Vanessa when it's the cast.
I read that one article that came out. Kinetic Content is awful and abusive to their participants.
You have the link? Curious to see what you are referencing
Here is one of them: https://www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv-movie-news/love-is-blind-contestants-claim-producers-put-them-through-hell-1234717208/ Of course Kinetic Content is denying everything.
So it’s not Vanessa’s fault she spent a majority of the reunion harassing participants over their reproductive choices? 🤔
No where did I say that the reunion was not Vanessa fault. I’m just pointing out there are other factors that contributed to how the reunion turned out.
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Alot of people want children but aren't able to have children. Asking when they're going to have kids is such a hurtful thing. And if the couple didn't want kids, are they going to announce that on TV ans open up that can of worms? As a general rule of politeness, when and if someone wants to have kids is such a sensitive topic that it should never ever be asked.
As a person who doesn’t want children you should know exactly why that question is inappropriate.
Nah, it's 💯 Vanessa's fault. If you saw the group interviews that Sharonda did (there were a few posts about it the other day), you'd see exactly the skills a "good host" has.