Comedian Heather McDonald had a front row seat to Katie Thurston’s first Bachelorette group date on Monday, June 14 — and she’s spilling all on Us Weekly’s “Here for the Right Reasons” podcast.
The “Juicy Scoop” podcast host was on hand at the New Mexico resort to help the 30-year-old Bachelorette find “The Greatest Lover of All Time” during a date with 10 of her suitors — including Mike Planeta, who is saving himself for marriage. While the episode didn’t show much of McDonald helping the men out with their acts, she told Us that she gave tips to everyone, including the 31-year-old virgin.
“He’s having a really hard time. He’s, like, crying to a producer. And my fear was that he would just get up and leave,” McDonald told Us, noting that the men had about an hour and a half to plan their performance. “I was like, ‘Is he gonna leave the show, is this too much? Are we throwing him in the pack of wolves, like, the most uncomfortable situation?’”
In the end, Mike read Katie a heartfelt letter about his decision to save sex for marriage — which made the lead and McDonald emotional. “I didn’t think it was, like, righteous or overly religious. I think she appreciated it. I think I was crying. I remember I had to wipe away a tear,” the Chelsea Lately alum recalled.
After the date, Mike was on cloud nine. “He was just elated. I mean, joyful, elated,” McDonald told Us about her post-date conversation with the former athlete. “He’s like, ‘I can’t believe I won this. I’m so happy. Thank you, like, the producers were so nice, I’m so glad I did it and they encouraged me to be honest.’”
One contestant who didn’t get as much praise from McDonald, the other suitors or the audience was Karl Smith.
“Everyone was really nice to me, you know, and I go to [Karl], ‘OK, what’s your idea?’ And he starts going through it, and I go, ‘Wow, that’s a lot of things. … I think you might want to tighten it up, like, you want to leave them wanting more,’” she told Us. “And he’s like, ‘I think I know what I’m doing. I’m a motivational speaker’ or something like that.”
After watching the episode, it seems Karl, 34, should have taken her advice as the whole cast was calling for him to end his confusing act. According to McDonald, he went on for nearly 20 minutes.
“It was so long, getting so uncomfortable,” she noted. “We were all trapped!”
For more from McDonald, whose stand-up dates are available on her website, listen to Us Weekly’s “Here for the Right Reasons” podcast.