00:00Cord. Hi, Mason. It's nice to be chatting with you. Yeah, nice to meet you too.
00:08I just want to confirm that this will be about Mason, right? Like he's not going to be pitted
00:13against another person in an article. It'll be his lens, his point of view.
00:18Yeah, totally. Perfect. I know it's always the case, but we keep getting blindsided. So I just
00:25with the participant on the call, I want to confirm.
00:29No, I am certainly not out to blindside you. I mean, I am curious to know more about your
00:36perspective on situations, but all from you not trying to pit anyone against each other. So all
00:42good, Mason. I appreciate that.
00:47So starting with, you know, your experience in the pods didn't quite go as I'm sure you were
00:53hoping. So tell me a little bit now that you've had some time to process,
01:00would you have done anything differently through your experience?
01:07You know, looking back at everything, I think I got a pretty good situation where
01:15can we, can I ask, is this coming out really soon? Like, is this going to be?
01:23You can speak freely, whatever you say. If it's not already in an episode, I'll hold it till
01:28it's fair to run. So you could speak as freely as you want.
01:33Okay, I can speak to everything up to this point right now.
01:37Yeah, yeah. And I've seen the cast mixer that you guys created,
01:42I've seen the cast mixer that you guys kind of got together and everything.
01:46Cool. Perfect. Okay. Looking back at everything, I feel like I got a pretty good
01:52situation out of everything because I got Meg in my life and, you know, looking
02:00through it all, if we would have made it to the weddings, there was more of a risk that we could
02:04have ran into some more hard times and more pressure going through a wedding and just seeing
02:13what the others kind of experienced and hearing what they went through. There was a lot of
02:17pressure just leading up to that point. So I think we had a fair shake at being friends and exploring
02:25our relationship outside of that realm. So I feel like we got a really good, really good shake out
02:34of this deal as opposed to making it that far and trying to make a marriage work. So I don't
02:40think I have many regrets. Totally. Yeah. And I know it must be weird to watch yourself back and
02:48see yourself, you know, especially with the Madison of it all, because you guys had that
02:53connection in the pods and then now you have a girlfriend. So it's like it must be a very
02:58surreal feeling to kind of do that with the way that you did handle the Madison Meg situation in
03:07the pods. Are you do you wish you had kind of said anything differently or hadn't said anything to
03:15change the outcome there, played your cards a little bit closer to your chest, maybe picked Meg
03:21to go at like anything with that? For sure. There's a lot that I look back on watching it now
03:28where I really wish I would have addressed the red flags that I saw when I was dating Madison.
03:34I chose to ignore them and just kind of got wrapped up in my feelings and went with what I
03:40felt at the time. And, you know, if I hadn't ignored those red flags, I feel like I would
03:46have ended up in a better situation instead of the catastrophe that we all witnessed.
03:55And I'm curious to what your thoughts were on. Have you watched the episodes that have come
04:01out so far? Yep. Okay. So what were your thoughts on Alex getting dumped essentially because he
04:06wouldn't talk poorly about you? I mean, it seemed like she wanted you to or wanted him to be on her
04:13side. And Alex was just very cool, calm, collected, like, no, I'm not going to not going
04:18to do it. I see both sides. I felt completely backed up. I felt like he had my back. And,
04:28you know, he told me after we got done filming that that had happened. But watching it back,
04:34I didn't know the extent or the severity or the tension that was actually in the room. And being
04:40able to watch it back was like, wow, he really did something brave and uncomfortable just to
04:48defend me. So I just have mad respect for him. And it made me really, really value him
04:56when I watched it back. Yeah, I'm sure. And it says a lot to knowing that you guys didn't really
05:02know each other right before that, like it was only a few days or a week of friendship, really.
05:08That says a lot about him, which is nice. Absolutely. Yeah. So now after the show ends,
05:15I want to hear more from your perspective of kind of what happened after you left the pods.
05:22Take me through the the events of did you ever end up circling back with Madison and then how
05:27the Meg of it all kind of did come to fruition. I know you guys kind of talked about it a little on
05:34the cast mixer, but I kind of want to hear it from you. Yeah. So basically, after Madison broke
05:43up with me, that was essentially the last time I spoke to her for a long time because I knew
05:51who she was at that point. You know, they felt like a breakup where she was trying to hurt me.
05:57And I just did not need to associate with someone like that. So I kept my distance after that.
06:05But when I got out of the pods the next day, I spent just hours searching for Meg on my phone.
06:15She gave me her two middle names. So I even had an upper hand there and I still just could not
06:20find her. And I was about to take off back to Minneapolis. And right as we started rolling on
06:27the tarmac, I got a DM from Meg saying, hey, how you doing? And then I told her I'm doing a lot
06:36worse now that I know that you're gorgeous because I could actually see her pictures on on her
06:41profile and just started talking and told her, you know, I think the situation was pretty rough
06:51and I would love to explain my perspective on everything if I ever get a chance while you're
06:58in Minneapolis. And she said, absolutely. So a few days, a day or two go by and we decide to meet up
07:06and she asked me if I still have my reveal outfit. And I was like, yeah. And she's like,
07:13OK, well, I still need to wear mine and I won't have a chance now. So we both agreed to having
07:20our reveal outfits on and met up at her apartment for the first time. And her sister let me in.
07:28I met her sister before I met Meg. And yeah, we just walked in and did our own little personal
07:36reveal in her living room and just kind of connected and kind of explained the whole
07:42situation. And yeah, we've been super duper close ever since. And it's been great. And like a label,
07:49like you would say she's your girlfriend at this point, right? Well, she was my girlfriend at two
07:55points within the last year. Right now we're just best friends. So we tried dating. Oh, it's all
08:02good. She's she's still in my life, regardless if she's, you know, my significant other or just
08:09best friend. You know, I don't want to lose her. And we we had some tough conversations when we're
08:16dating, saying, you know, we both feel like we're something's missing here and just, you know,
08:24took time away from each other, tried it again, kind of ended up in the same spot and decided
08:30that it's just we value each other's friendship too much to lose it. So we're just gonna
08:37ride it out and see, see where we're at in that aspect.
08:40So would you say that part of the reason that it didn't work out? Was it any part of
08:46your beginnings? Like, because I was curious, kind of like how you start a relationship where
08:51you're almost having to, like, say, can you give me a second chance? And I'm sure that's hard to
08:57have that as like your base point. But was that how it kind of happened? Or ended?
09:03No, I think Meg, or I don't think I know, Meg is a very forgiving and caring and honest person. And
09:10she saw my perspective and where I was coming from during the whole situation. So I don't think the
09:15the show in that aspect played a factor to us not working. We had a fair shot at it. And just,
09:23you know, just kind of felt like something was missing. So and that doesn't, you know, dismiss
09:31ever exploring it sometime down the road. But for now, we're doing what's best for us as opposed to
09:36what people are saying in a line about the show. So this is this is bigger than a reality show.
09:42This is our lives.
09:44Yeah, yeah, you definitely have to tune out the noise. I'm sure I can't like even imagine being
09:48in your shoes right now having to hear unwanted opinions left and right. It's
09:54there's plenty of them.
09:55Yeah, I'm sure. So you guys are friends. What do you see for yourself in the future? I mean,
10:04do you think that Meg could potentially be the one and be your future wife? Or
10:10do you even want to get married still? What are you hoping?
10:15Yeah, um, if I ever get married, I want to be with my partner for, you know, a good two,
10:22three years, maybe just to make sure we can work things out throughout an extended period before we,
10:28you know, commit. I'm not trying to get married in a month anymore. Less than there. But you know,
10:36I wouldn't rule Meg out, I'd say sometime down the road, if we're both in the right
10:41place, right headspace, then yeah, we'd probably give it another chance. So
10:46um, yeah.
10:48And what would you say is the biggest thing you've learned from this experience?
10:53Oh, man, biggest thing I've learned.
10:58Stand up for myself, address red flags when I see them.
11:04Um, well, one of the biggest things I've learned for sure is, I'm capable of articulating and
11:13explaining my feelings more than I ever thought I was. I always used to think that I was pretty
11:17bad at communicating. But for some reason, whenever I, you know, really concentrate and
11:25don't have any distractions around me, like a phone or anything, I can actually buckle down
11:30and get my thoughts out. So it was a good learning experience.
11:34Yeah, definitely. And when you talk about those red flags that you saw in Madison,
11:38what was it particularly? I'm just curious, like why you really didn't think it would work out?
11:44Well, in my past relationships, historically, I usually ignore red flags and don't, you know,
11:52address them. So I'm just kind of ending up in a situation where I am deep into someone who has
11:59feelings. And we have feelings for each other. And then just, you know, it just usually ends in
12:07more drama than I'd ever want, or just, you know, difficult situations. And I don't know why
12:16I came to this show to avoid something like that. But I just went right back to my old ways,
12:21which is very disappointing and heartbreaking for me to watch that back.
12:25Okay, but it's all self growth. And it's the self realization, like you said, of
12:32realizing what you want to address and how you want to move forward, you know,
12:37you just have to rewatch it. We don't all have to do that.
12:40Exactly. It's just sucks when it's the one of the biggest world stages that you have to
12:47fumble the ball and learn in that aspect. So but now I'll never forget the lesson.
12:53See, maybe you had to do it, but it wasn't quite sticking for you. So you had to take the
12:57aggressive approach there. Exactly. And final question for you. I know that you, you've seen
13:08you guys are all pretty friendly. I think the cast you guys see each other out. I mean, the city if
13:14not, I learned quite small, apparently, each other. But were you personally surprised by
13:24any of the wedding outcomes or people who got together after the show that, you know, you didn't
13:30expect or? Let me think about that. You know, during filming, I felt like Devin and Virginia
13:44were going to be a good couple that would have a fair chance. So I was a little surprised by
13:49that outcome. But outside of that, I'm not really surprised by the friend group that we have.
13:55Once we all got back home, I mean, we were all really, really good friends in the pods. And
14:02at least from the guys stance, we have a group of friends that, you know, we automatically have a
14:08great friend group that we can always go out with and hang out and, you know, shoot a text in the
14:12group chat and always have someone down to do something. So I think we got a really nice little
14:17community after after filming with this experience. Yeah, yeah, you can see it even in the cast
14:23mixer when you guys all came together, like, they're all like, yelling your name when you
14:28came in the room, like it was sweet. So you might not might not have love, but you got friendship.
14:32So exactly. Well, all about the bright side of things. For sure. Absolutely. Well, is there
14:39anything else you wanted to mention or feel like it's important to have the world here that you
14:45didn't get a chance to say? Ah, no, I think I think you asked a lot of great questions. So I
14:52appreciate appreciate the fresh pair of eyes and perspective on that. Thank you. I appreciate that.
14:59Yeah, I really enjoyed watching your journey, even though it wasn't quite the way you probably
15:04hoped. But there's plenty of women out there for you. And you'll you'll find the right one soon.
15:09So just hang in there. Well, I appreciate that. Thank you so much. No worries. And I hope you
15:15have a great rest of your day. Thanks for taking time. And yeah, good luck with everything.
15:21Thanks. You too. All right.
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