One To Watch (46 page)
Authors: Kate Stayman-London
He went to hug her, but Bea stepped back, wobbling in her heels.
“Okay!” Johnny clapped his hands. “There will be plenty of time for you two to catch up, but right now, we need to make some decisions. Bea, I need to ask you whether you’d like for Ray to join you on the show, or if you want to send him away right now?”
Bea’s head was spinning, but before she could respond, Asher stepped forward.
“No—I’m sorry, no.” He turned to Bea. “Is this the guy you told me about?”
Bea nodded, no longer able to stop herself from crying, her body quaking with sobs.
“And you just, what, you forgot to mention he was engaged?”
“Asher—” She started toward him.
“I can’t
believe
you,” he seethed. “After you met my children, after I told you about Vanessa, after you promised to be honest with me, you lied?”
“No.” Bea shook her head. “No, Asher, I didn’t—we were on camera, and I thought they were still engaged, I couldn’t say what happened on TV, it wouldn’t have been right—”
“You’re still lying,” Asher snapped, “you’re lying to me right now. You didn’t tell me what happened because you wanted to protect your image, and you wanted me to protect you.”
“That’s not fair.” Bea’s voice was ragged. “I made a mistake, Asher, please, it was a long time ago—”
“No,” he shot back. “It was two nights ago. To think how bad I felt for not spending the night with you, when this whole time, you’ve been hiding who you really are.”
“Hiding who I am? Are you serious?” Bea cried. “Asher, maybe if we’d had some time together off camera, I could have explained, but you didn’t give us that chance.”
“I see.” He pressed his lips together. “So, I’m responsible for your lies because I made a decision to put my children’s interests first? I’m sure you would have preferred I rush right into sharing a room with you, but fortunately for both of us, I’m not Luc.”
“Is that what this is about?” Bea was irate. “Tell me, Asher—and don’t you lie to
me
. Are you angry because I withheld one piece of information that I had a right to keep private? Or are you angry that I slept with someone else?”
Asher looked at her coldly, his eyes filled with derision.
“I’m not angry, Bea. I’m grateful I got to see your true colors before this went any further.”
And with that, Asher turned on his heel and marched out of the courtyard. Bea thought of running after him, of screaming for him to wait, to come back, but she knew, as surely as she’d ever known anything, that he was gone—and even worse, that he was right. All this time, she’d told herself she was cursed, but maybe that wasn’t true at all. Maybe she was just a liar, just a cheat, finally getting exactly what she deserved.
“DECISION”
(2 men left)
Shot on location in Paris, France
TMZ BOMBSHELL EXCLUSIVE:
MAIN SQUEEZE
PRODUCER SLEEPS WITH CONTESTANT, PRODUCTION SHUTS DOWN
PARIS, FRANCE: Most dramatic twist ever????? TMZ has learned EXCLUSIVELY that the reason French chef (and fan favorite)
Luc Dupond
departed
Main Squeeze
is that star
Bea Schumacher
wasn’t the only woman on the show he’d slept with! Multiple sources confirm that Dupond was having a secret on-set affair with
Main Squeeze
executive producer
Lauren Mathers
. One source contends that Bea caught Dupond and Mathers
in the act,
but TMZ cannot confirm that story conclusively at this time. What we do know—for sure—is that Bea was aware of Dupond’s infidelity before the kiss-off ceremony where she dismissed him. Both Dupond and Mathers declined to comment for this piece, but we’re hearing Mathers is in hot water with her bosses at ABS—particularly since PRODUCTION HAS HALTED IN FRANCE!
The cast and crew of
Main Squeeze
arrived in Paris last night for their planned final week of filming, but as of yet, no shooting unit has left the hotel. After Bea walked out in the middle of her previous kiss-off ceremony, the company drove from Amboise to Paris on schedule, but today’s planned shoots were all canceled. No word yet on when production is expected to recommence or whether next week’s season finale will air Monday night as scheduled. We’re also still awaiting word on whether attorney
Ray Moretti
will join the cast as one of Schumacher’s final two men, or if
Sam Cox
will win this season by default.
(WHO IS RAY MORETTI? CLICK THROUGH FOR SLIDESHOW.)
If you’re reading this from Paris or have any inside information to share, send all tips and photos to [email protected].
BOOB TUBE
PODCAST EPISODE #056
Cat: | How are you holding up, Ruby? |
Ruby: | Cat, as the kids would say, I’m shook. |
Cat: | The people who make |
Ruby: | I feel like you didn’t adequately prepare me for just how low this show would stoop to deliver thrills to its viewers. |
Cat: | There are some lessons you can only learn firsthand. |
Ruby: | Okay, let’s take a minute to process everything that just happened. First, can I just say, we really nailed it with our respective picks for Bea. |
Cat: | Did we?? I picked Asher, who ABANDONED her at the first sign of trouble, and you picked Sam— |
Ruby: | Who’s the only man left from the original cast. I win! |
Cat: | Wow, so that was just a backdoor way for you to brag? |
Ruby: | I am crafty and clever like a reality TV producer. |
Cat: | SPEAKING. OF. WHICH. |
Ruby: | Okay yeah—so for those who haven’t heard, TMZ broke the news that Luc actually had an affair with the executive producer of the show, which seems absolutely crazy to me. Cat, as our resident |
Cat: | I mean, I have no idea how often it happens, but this is certainly the first time it’s been exposed by the national media. |
Ruby: | Do you think she’ll be fired? |
Cat: | I’ve got to imagine that’s a fireable offense, but who knows? This is reality television, not a symposium on ethics and moral philosophy. |
Ruby: | Is it wrong that I would watch that? |
Cat: | Um, it’s called |
Ruby: | Okay, so let’s recap: We’ve got Asher, who seemed like a nice grown-up option for Bea, except he quit the show. Do we think he’s really gone, or is he coming back? |
Cat: | We don’t know anything for sure, but from what I’ve read on the |
Ruby: | Oh, Cat. |
Cat: | Don’t judge, you’re part of this fandom now too. Anyway, according to the Redditors, this isn’t the producers messing with you—Asher really did leave the show. |
Ruby: | And I presume we’re also done with Luc forever? |
Cat: | Farewell, Luc, you beautiful, beautiful douchenozzle. |
Ruby: | Do you think he was good in bed? |
Cat: | Men that good-looking rarely are, but Bea certainly seemed happy the next morning, so I guess maybe? |
Ruby: | Plus the whole slap/kiss thing in New York was vaguely kinky, I bet he’s not totally vanilla. |
Cat: | Well, hopefully for Bea’s sake, she at least got to have some good sex before she got totally blindsided. |
Ruby: | So the two men she has left are Sam and this other guy, Ray, who’s like sort of her ex but also was apparently engaged to another woman until very recently? |
Cat: | All of Ray’s social media feeds have been set to private or deleted entirely, which isn’t surprising considering the circumstances of his newfound fame. But some intrepid bloggers dug through his friends’ feeds, and they found out that he’s an attorney living in Atlanta, that he and Bea worked together in Los Angeles in their early twenties, and there are pictures of him with a perfectly lovely looking woman who we can guess is the recent fiancée in question. |
Ruby: | Has anything like this ever happened on the show before? |
Cat: | We’ve seen exes show up from time to time, but they’re usually dismissed pretty quickly, like, “Oh God, Brian, why would you think this was a good idea?” Very occasionally, we’ve seen men ask to be members of the cast, and sometimes they even get to be, but that usually happens way earlier in the season. To have this guy show up on the precipice of the finale is pretty unprecedented—not to mention that Bea actually walked out of the ceremony before asking him to stay, so we have no idea if she’s even going to! |
Ruby: | So if she doesn’t, then what, it’s only Sam for the finale and I automatically win everything? |
Cat: | That’s one way of looking at it. |
Ruby: | It’s the way I choose, Cat. |
Cat: | Speaking of choice, we know that you have lots of options for cook-at-home meal kits, but “Je ne sais quoi” kits offer something special: a secret ingredient to add to every recipe. I’ve been using the kits at home, and they’re super fun—you get a little envelope with a red “X” to add to your meal, and they do always have that extra something special—if you will, that “Je ne sais quoi.” |
Ruby: | Wow, so you literally do not know what … is in your food. |
Cat: | You literally don’t! It’s just as much of a mystery as next week’s |
Bea hadn’t spoken a word since Ray’s arrival and Asher’s abrupt departure. Over Johnny’s pleas and Lauren’s protests, she simply walked out of the courtyard, then holed up with Alison and refused to leave the wardrobe room until the producers gave in: They declared that they were finished filming in Amboise and would drive to Paris the next morning as planned. Bea didn’t leave Alison’s side for the entire trip, and she ignored anyone else who tried to speak to her.