Tiara Soleim was known as the chicken enthusiast on Ben Higgins season of The Bachelor and she is also a dental assistant living in Washington State. On the podcast this week we talk all things Bachelor and Bachelor in Paradise! She gives us the dirt on behind the scenes of this popular series.
Watch the Interview Here:
Listen to the Interview Here:
Read the Interview Here:
Alice: So, let me just introduce you, so you might remember the most colorful and fabulous career title from the franchise.
Tiara: Oh my God.
Alice: I am talking with Tiara Soleim known as the chicken enthusiasts on Ben Higgins season of The Bachelor and she is also a dental assistant living in Washington State and we are talking to her today about all things Bachelor and her life now, so thank you for joining us.
Tiara: You are so welcome. This is so great, I love this, it’s made my day.
Alice: What is your favorite fun fact? Just to kick things off, what is your favorite fun fact about chickens, maybe?
Tiara: Oh my gosh. I will say I am obsessed with roosters. Roosters are like chickens in general or so misunderstood but roosters especially because people think they are so nasty and honestly, it is all how you raise them. If you do not handle them they get real snippy, but like they are fantastic, they are beautiful, they are smart, and they are colorful. They are, I like I cannot even, I am like literally staring at my rooster right now, and I am like, I love you so much you do not even know.
Alice: How many roosters do you have? How many chickens do you have?
Tiara: Okay. So I have one duck and then seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, like fourteen or fifteen roosters. I have one and then I have some baby like they are like toddlers. I think I have two roosters out of the seven so I probably have like three right now maybe.
Alice: Oh okay, wow and how did you get so interested in chickens? Did you grow up around them?
Tiara: Yes, so growing up we had like a ton of acreage and so I had horses and I had chickens and somehow chickens have stuck with me and like pretty much anything with a beak and feathers. I am just like, “I love you.”
Alice: That is amazing.
Tiara: Well chickens especially.
Alice: Do all of your chickens have names.
Tiara: Yes, the babies, the seven babies that I have. They are not named because I was just waiting for him to grow up into like look different so I could tell them apart.
But yes, now I have a couple my hands are named Trish, Karen, and Marcia. Those are my three favorite so they have the most basic names ever and I love it.
Alice: Those are incredible, Karen come here.
Tiara: Karen is always–
Alice: Does she have the personality of a Karen?
Tiara: Hundred percent, she is such a Karen and I am just like, “Karen you suck but I love you.”
Alice: That is incredible. Wow.
Tiara: Yes.
Alice: What a chicken.
Tiara: I know, I know, Trish is my favorite. I found Trish on the side of the road and–
Alice: Cool.
Tiara: She was just on like a highway and so I found her and then I have one named Marcia that I have got in downtown Seattle from like a precinct. My friend who is a cop called me and was like, “Hey, we found a chicken, do you want her?” And he is like, “We have her locked up in a cell right now.” And I was like, “Okay.”
Alice: What did this chicken do?
Tiara: Dude, I do not even know. I do not know where she came from but I am like chickens and downtown Seattle is not really a thing so.
Alice: She crossed the road a little bit.
Tiara: Dude she did and I was like, “Girl I am coming for you now.”
Alice: That is incredible.
Tiara: Yes.
Alice: Are you as obsessed with the bachelor as I am?
Tiara: Oh my God, okay, I would say a hundred percent no.
Alice: Really?
Tiara: I do not think I have ever watched an episode prior to being on it and I have not watched it since.
Alice: Wow, that is amazing, that is so–
Tiara: Yes.
Alice: Unbelievable but so cool.
Tiara: I mean, I think I finished out, I watched like the rest of my season because obviously like I knew all the girls, but other than that, I like, I will not watch it.
Alice: Wow.
Tiara: Yes.
Alice: And can you talk about being the chicken enthusiasts on The Bachelor? How did you even hook up with the show if you do not watch it and never watched it before?
Tiara: Okay, so basically, sorry my dad is trying to get the– . So basically one of the moms that I babysat for, she was really into that show. Dad you go away, I am doing something right now. Okay, I am so sorry, this is what I was doing. So, the mom I babysat for, I am taking his dog on a hike so–
Alice: Oh fun.
Tiara: My dad’s MO is like, “I could be like Dad. I am doing something really important.” And he would be like, “Hey, hey, what are you guys doing?” And I am like– “Like go away, Dad.”
So one of the moms I babysit for she loves Bachelor. And so she was like, basically I was like an hour and a half away from downtown Seattle at a horse show and she is like, “I am coming to get you, we are going to go to the tryout or the auditions or whatever.” And I was like, “No.”
No, I am real far away. I am at a horse show like I am not, no. She gets in her car, she drives, she brings me an outfit, and she picks me up. She pretty much like I get off my horse. She drives me to Seattle. I wait in line they fill out all the paperwork for me because I was like, “I do not even want to be here like I do not even want to do this.”
And I like get called back for an interview and I am just like, so not like a friendly at all. Like they are just like, “Oh, tell us about yourself.” And I was like, “Well, I am like, I think I was like twenty-six or twenty-seven, I was like I like chickens. I like the circus and I am socially awkward–
Like literally, probably smelled like a horse, looks like a homeless person, and they were like, “Okay, so looks like we want to like call you back for some more stuff.” And I was like, “What, why?”
And so whatever so I did that and I was kind of like there is no chance I am going to hear from them like thousands, and thousands of thousands of girls that are like solid tens and way more interesting than me a hundred percent. They are going to call them and then they call me and I am like, “What?”
This is really happening? So basically like, I think when they ask what my like job was I think it was at the time when like I was either in between jobs. Or I knew that I got it like literally it was just so long ago, so my memory is really bad. I did job situation. I was just like I am like, I love chickens. So I got to know it was going to be a big deal. I literally had no ideas it was such a big deal and so I was just like, “Chicken enthusiast, I like birds.” And then half of America was like, “Oh my God that is not a job.” And I was like, “No Duhhh.”
No, I was like, “You all suck because I love birds, so whatever.” So it was like half of America was like, “Oh my God, I love her.” They are not like the twins on my season or just the twins and–
Alice: That was a job title too.
Tiara: Yes, yes, yes. I was like, “Come on girls, let us be a little more interesting.” But it was just funny because it is like half of the people were like, oh my God, this is the greatest job title ever, and then the other half for like, “That is not real.” I know, I know.
Alice: That is amazing.
Tiara: You heard people. That is what made it so fun. I am a full-time bird enthusiast. Like it is not wrong, it is true, but I do not get paid to hang out with the birds.
Alice: Yes, you just watch them all day, every day.
Tiara: I just literally like again, rooster standing right there. I am like, “I love you, stop being so cute.” He cannot help it.
Alice: Incredible. Can you talk about pulling up to the mansion that first night? What was that experience like?
Tiara: Oh my God, so first of all, I am sober. I do not drink I have never drank alcohol. I have never touched it. They knew that when I like, right away. Like I think they loved me because I was like, “I have mom issues” And there were like, “Perfect.” And then they are like, “And she likes birds, she is probably crazy.” And I am like, “I am actually not but that is great.”
So basically they put you in a hotel room for like three days by yourself and the producers will come and like talk to you, and like manipulate the shit out of you; sorry for cussing.
Alice: You were ready for quarantine.
Tiara: Yes, I am like, “I have done it before, it is the worst.” And so basically like you wake up, like what is like, say it was like a Saturday, like Saturday. And so you, of course like you wake up at like seven a.m. because you are like, your nerves are like going absolutely crazy and they like tell you when they are getting your makeup done or whatever. It is like I think I got mine done at like eleven a.m.
Alice: Wow.
Tiara: And so they like literally took me, they pretty much treat you like you are the president like they are like they will escort you everywhere and like make sure like, nobody can see you and I am like, nobody is going to for a second be like, “That girl is on Bachelor.” Like no–
So first like, I get my hair and makeup done. I literally look like an 80s diva like I was like-
Alice: So they will choose your look for you?
Tiara: So they did–
Alice: Oh.
Tiara: And I was like, “I look like a dumpster fire.” Like they teased my hair so hard I was like, “This is not real.” And like I do not wear makeup pretty much at all because I just do not look very good in it and so I had like so much makeup on and so I go back to my room and I am like, “Oh no, no, no, this is not going to fly.”
First of all, I do not even know how to do my makeup but I pretty much like took all of it off did my hair all over again. And so what I looked like coming out was like me, like they would like curled my hair but I like fixed it and I looked less like a dumpster fire and more like a normal human.
So and then you pretty much, they come and get you at eleven p.m.
Alice: Eleven pm?
Tiara: I go to bed at like eight so–
Alice: I feel you.
Tiara: I am sitting there in my heavy dress with my makeup and hair done for like a close to like eleven hours like and then they finally come out and get me and I am like, “I am so tired.” Like, so they take us down to this hotel lobby where I meet all the other girls like the other girls that are at my limo. So I think I had like Jojo and Izzy and those two, I think I had a twin.
Yes. I mean I only made friends with Jojo and Izzy like in the limo ride and basically like they try and get you white girl wasted the whole entire time.
Alice: Wow.
Tiara: I pretty much just like sat in the limo like I do not compare to any of these girls like they are all dolled up. Like Izzy was in an onesie, JoJo had that horse head and I am just sitting there like looking like a diva princess that went wrong, but then kind of went right again.
So and then getting out of the car, my shoe fell off but nobody saw you could not see at all, I killed it. I was like, “Awesome, my heels just fell off. Thank God, Ben did not notice.”
Alice: What, incredible.
Tiara: Oh my God, I was just like literally it happened and I was like, “You have to be kidding me?” Like I have one shot at this and I already messed it up. Humiliating, it was terrifying. It was like the most terrifying experience in my life. I was like, “I have to pee and I have to throw up and I have to cry.”
Alice: That is so late at night. I would be so tired.
Tiara: Yes, so the roosters acting up in here, he sees something that is the noise he makes when there is like not something not good around.
Alice: Oh no.
Tiara: So basically yes, the cocktail party or whatever starts at eleven p.m. It went until seven a.m.
Alice: Huh.
Tiara: It was like, they feed you alcohol, opens food and I do not think they like me because I was sober and I mean there is a lot of girls actually that makes these networks sober like Olivia was not drinking, the twins did not drink, I do not think Lauren drank very much. Like there were a lot of girls that were not drinking but like I pretty much was like passing out like on the stairs, so it is like I cannot stay up late. I was not ready for this. I didn’t know it was going to be so late.
Alice: Yes, but that is crazy did know that at all.
Tiara: Yes.
Alice: How is Ben? He is like one of the most beloved Bachelors now. How was meeting him and everything?
Tiara: So I will a thousand percent say like, I think he is the most out of like what I have heard about all the other Bachelors. He is probably like the most normal, nicest person.
Alice: Right.
Tiara: He is super vanilla like not even vanilla bean he is just– Is not he so sweet, can you hear him? [her Rooster makes noise]
Alice: Yes, I can hear
Tiara: What a cute person. I kind of want to snuggle him. But he kind of hates me so I will not touch him but I love him unconditionally always. Can you see the dog right there, too.
Alice: Yes, I can.
Tiara: I am so sorry.
Alice: So you are just living your best life.
Tiara: It is like it looks like a cat.
Alice: It is–
Tiara: So yes, basically bad news like the nicest human ever and like I think after the show, I had talked to him a little bit because I went to Denver for a while off and on and he was there so I would like message him and be like, “Hey, I am here like we should meet up.” And I think that was kind of in between the breakup of him and Lauren, so I did not meet up then but we talked we did a lot of talking. And he is such a nice human like such a nice human.
Alice: Well, that is great, that is nice.
Tiara: Yes, yes, like I would say he is the most normal one. I do not know very many like, I think Sean, there is one named Sean and he seems normal and then there is another couple from Seattle. I think they are normal too.
Alice: Oh, cool. It is good to know that they are normal people.
Tiara: Yes, yes. I mean I will say like you definitely like for I think more like females like you get famous and like you get noticed now, it is like Instagram and social media and like you change a little bit but yes–
Alice: Yes.
Tiara: He is great.
Alice: Well, that is all–
Tiara: That is important to me thousand percent.
Alice: Yes. Can you talk about being on Bachelor in Paradise to so you did like the spin-off show after your season of The Bachelor?
Tiara: Dude, that show is what I think destroyed like my like confidence and messed me up and like is the reason why I am in like tons of therapy now.
Alice: Oh, God.
Tiara: So I know you are like, “Oh, this took a turn to the workers.”
Alice: Oh, I am so sorry.
Tiara: Yes, so basically I was really excited to go on it because I was like, “Oh my God, like I got put on this show, I got sent home the first night like it would be cool to have like a second chance.” So basically it is like twenty-eight days start to finish, so you are supposed to find your husband and get engaged in twenty-eight days.
Alice: Hmm.
Tiara: You are barely with the men like they keep everybody very separated. So I am like, “This is normal, hundred percent normal.” So they finally like last minute, they are like, “Okay, Tiara we want you on, you are coming.” And I was like, okay and I was like, God the show started like on the fifth and it is like the twenty-first just when I went I think.
Alice: Oh.
Tiara: Basically they set me in a hotel room right in Mexico for four days by myself. So like raging quarantine, I think Lauren Hemly, she was in a hotel for eleven days.
Alice: That is awful.
Tiara: Oh, totally–
Alice: You go super crazy.
Tiara: Oh, yes, like I could hear like my phone, I did not have my phone, but I like it hear it ringing, I go like talk to myself. I was like, “This is what it is like being crazy.”
Alice: Oh my gosh.
Tiara: Yes, so they finally like bring me out and I get there and Chris Harrison is like, “Hey, like, how do you feel like you are the last one coming in?” And I was like, “What, like what do you mean?” They are like, “You are the last one.” And I was just like, this is rude, this is not okay.” Like you guys already know that like the producers know them like a pretty like docile human and I am non-confrontational and I am like awesome.
So they give me a date card and they are like have at it and I was just like, “I am not going to go steal like any of my friend’s boyfriends.” I was like, “Seriously, I hate you guys.”
So I go to it , I go down, I find like Izzy and Amanda and I am like, You guys like who is single, like who can I like take out?” And they were like, “Basically nobody.” There were like the only two guys that are available. I think it was Shoshanna and Lauren were the last. Like they were put in like an hour before me and they took like Wells and I do not know his name and they took them on dates.
And so I pretty much was like and I have this like date card and I am like, “Well, I do not know what to do like, I have no idea what to do.”
Alice: Mm-hmm
Tiara: And so like one of the producers is like, “Tiara come sit on this bed on the beach.” And I was like, “Okay sure, why not?” So I go sit on this bed and then like Nick Viall, whatever his stupid name is, comes up to me and he was like, “Hey, Tiara.” And I was like, “Hi.”
First of all, the humidity was unreal. So on my hair was like– And I am sitting there like “yes,” and he is like, “Jen and I really need this date card.” And I was like, “Okay you can have it.”
Alice: No!!
Tiara: I know, I gave it to them and I was just like, “This sucks.”
Alice: Yes, that is just rude of the producers.
Tiara: They literally were like, “Let us make the sober girl suffer.” And I am like, “Thanks.”
Alice: Huh.
Tiara: So long story short, I gave my date card away. I come back and I pretty much just ate the whole time.
Alice: Well, that is good. At least you got some good Mexican food.
Tiara: Yes. It was okay until they cut me off and they were like you are eating too much. We only want you to eat three times a day. I was just like–
Alice: What?
Tiara: Oh my God I know, I was like, this is like the worst camp ever been to.
Alice: Wow. That is awful. Oh my God.
Tiara: Yes, and so that on top of like being around all the girls, which was all great, like Lace was there, Izzy was there, she I think her and Shohshanna left the night that I wanted to leave. But like all these girls are stunning. They are all super skinny females–
Alice: You are fabulous.
Tiara: And thank you and I am like in shape but like being there, all these girls were like a thousand times skinnier than me like tiny, tiny. I was like the biggest girl there and I pretty much like that is the moment of one being there, being around tiny females and then the like humidity, the heat, like manipulation–
Alice: Oh.
Tiara: The fact that I wanted to go home and they would not let me leave, it is like it just like flipped the switch and me and I like came back like super like insecure and like–
Alice: Oh.
Tiara: Body dysmorphia like totally like, oh my God, I am fat and I am like, I am not fat, not at all.
Alice: That is awful.
Tiara: Yes, so I totally blame it on them.
Alice: Oh my God yes. What have you done to like help that since then? Have you, like you said you have been to a therapist, we do not have to get into it if it is too much.
Tiara: I mean, I have been seeing a therapist for years now and–
Alice: I love my therapist, so helpful, everyone like to go–
Tiara: Like literally I am such an advocate for like therapy or anything like my friends are like, “I do not need it.” I am like, “Oh that means you do.” I am like, even if you have nothing going on like just to talk about what somebody who is like detached.
Alice: Yes.
Tiara: Maybe yes, so I just done that. I constantly have to like tell myself like it is okay to like I need to be happy with the body that I am in and it is so hard with social media and all these perfect girls and Photoshop and all these things and like everyone wants what they cannot have. But like every day I have to be like, I am okay with the way I look even though I will have a moment where I am like, oh my God, I hate my stomach and it is just like, “Ah, thanks Bachelor in Paradise, great.”
Alice: But you have some like amazing chickens, you are fabulous and so funny and personable so–
Tiara: Thanks so yes. I appreciate you.
Alice: Yes, so I always ask everyone like if you had any advice to give about really anything in the world, what would you give another woman?
Tiara: Okay, so from being on that show I am like so much an advocate for like self-love, self-worth, like take care of yourself and like do what is best for you. I do not know if that is like advice but like I am very much like take care of yourself because you only live once and you only live once. And I do not want any women or anybody like living with regret, I know that it happens like yes it is normal and natural but like it is so important to like love yourself so hard and it is taken me thirty-one years to realize that.
Alice: That is wonderful and–
Tiara: Yes.
Alice: And what is new with you since the bachelor? You are still living in Washington, going on hikes, enjoying quarantine with your chickens.
Tiara: Oh my God. Yes, so still living here. I mean, it is crazy to think there was like five almost five years ago. So yes just got into hiking like literally two weeks ago.
Alice: Amazing.
Tiara: And I think I have done like seven or eight hikes in like two weeks I would say. I am literally, I am going every day. This will be like my fifth or sixth days in a row that I am like, all right, let us gather some of my friends and let us go.
Alice: That is amazing.
Tiara: So I am doing that and then so actually the funny thing is I actually live with another girl that was on The Bachelor also.
Alice: Oh really?
Tiara: Yes, feel free to hit her up and interview her.
Alice: Cool.
Tiara: She is great.
Alice: Who?
Tiara: So her name is Lindsay and she also was on a guy season named Ben. It was Ben like Flegnack–
Alice: I don’t think I watched that one.
Tiara: It was like ten plus years ago, I think.
Alice: Cool.
Tiara: And he made it to the top two.
Alice: Wow.
Tiara: And then, yes, she did bachelor pad.
Alice: Oh my God. I would love to talk to her.
Tiara: Yes, no, I bet she is a hundred percent would do it. So I live with her, we live on the lake and–
Alice: Lovely.
Tiara: Yes, so her season was she went up against like I think Courtney, do you remember?
Alice: I do not, I started walking like five or six years ago. I think like when with Ben’s season.
Tiara: Oh, okay, okay. Her season like the girl Courtney was like that is who Ben ended up picking like that girl was like the worst, the worst. I remember how hearing about how terrible she was and like my Lindsey is like super sweet, super like carefree, like free spirit and he chose like–
Alice: The opposite–
Tiara: Obviously, they are not together anymore. But yes, no, I bet you a hundred percent be like–
Alice: Amazing. That would be so fun.
Tiara: Yes. Yes, living with her on the lake, doing our thing, doing a lot of wake surfing, hang out the chickens, doing my horse, soccer, circus-sing when I can but everything obviously is closed right now. So I am just like, yes.
Alice: What kind of circus do you do?
Tiara: So I do aerials, so it is like the fabric hanging from the ceiling.
Alice: That is so cool.
Tiara: Oh my God I am like wildly obsessed with Cirque du Soleil and I was like, I need to run away with them.
Alice: That is what I needed to see on The Bachelor.
Tiara: Oh my God. I know, I know just like tangled up in the thing from a ceiling. I am like, hey Ben and he is like, what is this? I am like you love me right? I know you do.
Alice: Yes, you come out of the cocoon like I am new butterfly–
Tiara: Yes like a butterfly up reaching well, like oh, wow.
Alice: Well, is there anything else that you would like to add today?
Tiara: No, I mean this is great. I totally like forgot so much of that show. And so this like I am like, oh my God, like it was such an interesting time.
Alice: Well, I am sorry to bring it back up again then.
Tiara: Oh, no, you are totally fine, you are fine. It was all good stuff; it was all good stuff–
Alice: great and I just want to bring up at the end of our show that we are sponsored by Jubilance which is an oaa supplement that helps with the anxiety, stresses, and irritabilities of PMS. So I would be happy to send you some bottles to try it and see if you like it.
Tiara: I would love that, I have the worst PMS. I am such a psycho.
Alice: Oh my gosh, perfect. Okay. I will hit you up for your address after this and we will send it off.
Tiara: Oh my God. I love you.
Alice: Amazing, it was so lovely getting to talk to you.
Tiara: It was so good to talk to you, God thank you.
Alice: Yes, have an amazing hike.
Tiara: I will, I will thank you.
Alice: Yes, and I hope you can like hug your rooster today.
Tiara: I know I am going to go manhandle him. He is literally still standing in front of me and I am like boy you are tempting me with a good time.
Alice: Do it; do it.
Tiara: I will.
Alice: Yes.
