Caroline Jones joined Us Weekly’s “Here for the Right Reasons” podcast after appearing on Michelle Young’s season of The Bachelorette — and she’s sharing everything she saw shined the scenes in Palm Springs, Calfornia.
“I got to meet [Michelle] once earlier in the day and then once after we performed for her,” the 31-year-old country singer said on the Friday, October 29, episode of the podcast. “She seemed to be very sweet, very smart, very sharp and very self-aware, very professional. I see why she’s so popular — not only with the men — but also all the people who work on the show seemed to really love her a lot.”
Caroline performed her hit “Chasin’ Me” on the Tuesday, October 26, episode of the ABC series, a track that she told Us she’s been waiting (and hoping) to sing on the reality show.
“It’s difficult to be a detective while you’re performing. I was really focused on trying to give them the best experience possible,” she continued when asked about Michelle’s date with Jamie Skaar on Tuesday’s episode. “We had a great rehearsal, we had great soundcheck, but it’s really about the moment that they walked in, like, nailing that for them and setting the energy and setting the mood with the music. I was more enjoying their intimacy [and] I wasn’t necessarily, you know, like, judging from the side. … At the actual time, it was super romantic. I was like, ‘I just have to make this a special moment for them.’”
After the one-on-one date, Jamie came under fire for telling Michelle that everyone in the house was talking about her alleged past with Joe Coleman. The Minnesota natives subsequently denied having a pre-show romance, with Michelle explaining they DMed twice “years” prior.
“He seemed so sweet. I mean, he is sweet,” Caroline told Us of Jamie. “You could argue for what he did, or the way that he did it, so I don’t think it’s necessarily a black-and-white issue. … I will say he was very nice to me. And hearing his story, like, how they set up the date with his story and that moment was really profound, actually, it was really powerful. And I had no idea performing for them that they just had that conversation or that moment or those tears or any of that.”
Caroline added that the dates require “a lot of shooting” despite what makes it to air.
“When they’re walking into somewhere, like, they had to set up that shot. There’s dozens of people who have to set up every shot,” she explained. “Our set for my performance was so beautifully constructed. And there was a whole art team that created that and dreamt that up and got all the materials.”
The singer’s sophomore album, Antipodes, is due out November 12.
“It’s been a long, long time in the works,” Caroline told Us of the record. “I’ve been, you know, pursuing all this professionally since I was in high school at 19 years old. But in recent years, it’s really taken off. And that’s really thanks to Zac Brown Band and Jimmy Buffett, Kenny Chesney and Faith Hill and Tim McGraw, all of whom have taken me on tour and introduced me to their fans. So the career that I have thus far I really owe to touring and performance opportunities like The Bachelorette.”