The QuaranT Diaries #3: Bachelorette Edition

Hello Everyone :)

I hope that you’re all having a fantastic day so far. As some of you may (and some of you do) know, I had the opportunity to be part of an online dating show for youtube last week (super exciting I know 🙈 definitely a twist in my daily quarantine schedule lol).

First off, before we dive on in, I would like to thank all those involved, I had an amazing time. It was a super fun experience and I’m glad that I put myself out there to be a part of it.

I know what y’all are thinking, you guys are probably wondering how this even came to be lol.

Last Monday I was scrolling through Instagram and looking through some people's stories when Brian’s popped up. In his instastory, he had mentioned how he had an idea to do an online dating show for one of his YouTube videos for the week and was wondering if people out there were interested in being a part of it. The only major qualification being that you had to be over 18 years of age. I was intrigued by this idea because as mentioned in his story, we live in a time where online dating is all around; whether it be through actual dating apps such as Tinder or Bumble, dating sites, or even social applications (I know some of you slide into those DMs). Especially with everything that is currently going on in our world, it makes it extremely hard to date someone, unless you are already in a relationship. You can't see them in person, and face to face, so the online dating world and business are now thriving more than ever with zoom calls in living rooms.

After seeing this, I thought what the heck, regardless of what was to happen it seemed like it would be a really fun thing to do. I’ve been on dating apps before, and never really went into them with the mindset that something would for sure happen. It was more for me to put myself out there, and just see where everything goes. With the potential to be in this video I was kinda doing the same thing. If something were to actually happen from it at the end, relationship-wise, awesome; and if not that's ok too. And I'm not even talking romance wise..I'm talking platonic. I could end up leaving it with friendships, as the online world is great for allowing people to connect with one another regardless of the relationship level that is being sought; and in my opinion, that's pretty freaking cool that you can connect with someone at the tip of your fingers.

With that, I sent in my “application” as you will, which really was just a message response to his story stating my age and why I was interested/should be chosen lol. Which if I’m gonna be honest I don't even think I stated why (whoops haha) I just remember putting my age and asking if there still happened to be a slot left. At this time, I was just doing it for kicks and giggles, I didn’t actually think that I would get chosen as he probably had hundreds, if not thousands of responses. Mine probably just got lost in the sea of them, right? Or so I thought lol.

Flash forward to a few hours later, I was scrolling through my Instagram again and saw that I had a notification in my top right corner, indicating that I had a message. I thought this was weird as I normally get a notification for anything Instagram, but didn’t. I thought it was just some spam account trying to add me to a “group chat”, as I get once or twice a week. However, to my surprise it was a response from Brian, one that actually came in a few hours prior (my bad Brian, sorry for my late reply lol). He asked if I was available tomorrow (Again, it was Monday at this time) as that's when he would filming. I jokingly replied with “I guess I could move my trip to Puerto backyarda back a little for you”, and the rest was history lol. I provided him my email, and a little over an hour or so later, I along with the nine other girls who were going to be apart of this as well, were sent an email with all the details.

The video would be taking place with a zoom call at 12 pm PST the next day (Tuesday, March 31st) and it would be sort of like a mixture of speed dating meets the bachelor. There would be question rounds, and after each round, someone would be "eliminated" (all fun and games, this whole thing was not to really be taken on a completely serious level) until there was one person left and they would be the “winner” as they received the final rose, even though there were no actual roses involved (sad I know right? Lol). But we were all suckers for the bachelor, so let us just pretend haha.

I’ll admit, that morning I woke up a little bit nervous as I had never done anything like this before. For heaven's sake, the last time I even went on a date was almost five months ago and it was not a pleasant experience let me tell you that one (but that's a story for another time maybe). However, once that video call started all my nerves disappeared. We all did an ice breaker, yes like those ones you do on your first day each semester, and from there it was smooth sailing. Everyone was super nice, and even once each girl got "Eliminated", they still got to stay in and watch everything play out, get to know one another and be a part of it. After all, at this time we were all in it as a team, heck we even talked about forming group chats together after it was all over.

The video was uploaded last Saturday, and Brian did a live premiere of it, thus allowing us to live chat with everyone who was tuning in. This was another fun experience in itself, and I would just like to thank everyone (both in the live chat and the comments section on the video) for all the kind words. It was definitely unexpected, but very much much appreciated.

I won't tell you all how it ends, some of you may (and do) already know, but for those of you who don’t I have linked the video down below and I hope that you all enjoy watching it as much as I enjoyed getting to be a part of it. Would I do something like this again? Heck yeah, in a heartbeat. I’m a people person and this was an incredibly fun experience for me. The fact that I was actually a fan favorite, still boggles my mind lol. As I was not expecting that to happen haha. Again thank you to Brian and all the girls (Marissa, Lexi, Maeji, Jess, Mikayla, Stephanie, Michelle, Jess, and Anahita) who were apart of it as well. It was a really enjoyable and fun experience and each of ya'll crushed it. I look forward to keeping in touch with you guys and supporting you all through your life endeavors :D

Without further ado, I’ll stop talking and let y’all watch for yourselves :)

There may be a spicy surprise haha

( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6f52lcPkAY )

I’m interested to know what you all think, so when you finish it reach out to me and let me know. Also, if you enjoyed it be sure to give the video alike, and if you're not already subscribed to Brians's channel, or follow him on Instagram/Twitter, you should do that too! (@brianredmon)

Here’s to journies, love, and staying home/being safe!

Tessa for Bachelorette has a nice ring to it doesn’t it 🌹😏

Love, T