Save this article to read it later.
Find this story in your accountsSaved for Latersection.
But the women came prepared, chiming in to serve as witnesses and confirm each others stories.
Those are the people youre talking to about everything, adds Meg Fink.
You see their faces, you see their body language.
You have more of a physical relationship.
And we all looked at each other like, Are you sure?
I guess I would say decentering men is probably how I think of the term girls girl.
What was the girls lounge like?
Were all bonding and enjoying each others company and this unique experience.
Then, during the second half, feelings really started to develop and shit got a lot more real.
You had to start thinking about,Okay, how do I need to approach this?
Do I need to have a different mind-set?
We all genuinely enjoyed each other so much.
It was such a phenomenal group of women that they chose for our season.
It made it really easy to love each other and have each others backs.
What does it mean to have each others backs?Meg:Standing up for each other.
Like, Hey, I see this as a problem.
Lets talk about it.
That can be scary to do.
But I was there.
I think that happened a little bit throughout the time there.
The thing I struggle with, clearly, is what I dont necessarily notice.
I was like, Oh, I probably should have known that she felt a way about that.
And so its totally fair that she wanted to keep things closer to her vest.
I did not fault you for being excited about this guy, but I was also excited about him.
By necessity, the relationships among the women are the secondary relationships on the show.
And we all looked at each other like, Are you sure?
Meg:Those are the people youre talking to about everything.
You see their faces, you see their body language.
You have more of a physical relationship.
Monica:The women helped support those primary relationships.
So we became our friends and family.
It was so comforting to be like, Okay, theyre going through shit.
Was there also a discussion of what it was like filming?Monica:Yeah.
We are normal people.
We go to work and have our friends and family and watch TV.
Going from that to having cameras around is jarring.
Its like, This is crazy, this is not normal.
All of that coming together is really overwhelming.
Talking with the other women, too, its like, The cameras are a lot today.
Do you guys feel this too?
We were validating each other, saying, This isnt normal, but its okay.
it’s possible for you to get through it.
I wonder if this couple feels that, too, or were just crazy.
Bouncing feelings and conversations off of each other makes it feel more normal and grounded while were filming.
I was reaching out to Monica a lot.
We would talk, hang out.
Sara, I would reach out to and just be like, Hey, how are you doing?
If you want to talk about anything, Im here, because it is such an intense process.
The reality of it is well never know what they went through.
I texted my family and friends and said, I love you guys.
One day Ill tell you what happened, but I cant do it yet.
Monica, you made it to the wedding.
None of the girls would know, necessarily, what happened until you told them.
Tell me whats going on.
I know the outcome how are you feeling?
The girls that did go through it, theyre like, I know exactly how you feel.
At the reunion, it felt like the women were this united front.Lauren:The women came prepared.
You guys would corroborate each others stories!
I know there were a lot of moments that I witnessed happen.
Lauren, how did you prepare?Lauren:I just processed my own breakup and my own relationship.
I came mentally ready to speak on that outside of emotion.
But I did have conversations with girls being like,I dont need to fight anyone elses battles.
This is their relationship, this is their experience.
We did not shy away from it.
Was there a sense that everybody doing it made it easier?Meg:I think so.
I remember when all the girls were talking, I was like, Lets go.
Everyones nailing it down the line.
Monica:We knew the reunion was going to be hard.
Especially coming from Minnesota, were not confrontational people.
Its extra hard for us to speak our truth.
Personally, it was needed: for healing, to let it go, and have the grieving process.
I had to speak my truth, leave everything out there, and not have any regrets.
