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Luke Combs keeps it real for the holidays: It's family traditions and "getting drunk… is also cool"

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ABCJust like practically everyone else on the planet right now, Luke Combs is figuring out what Christmas will look like this year, during the time of COVID-19.

It’s a special one for the North Carolina native, his first since marrying longtime girlfriend Nicole Hocking back in August.

“[We’ll] hopefully have, you know, both sets of our parents in town,” he predicts, “and my wife’s sister, I think. And that’s usually what we do, you know, keep it small.”

“My mom’s side of the family always has a big Christmas party in Charlotte,” he continues, “and me and my wife always go to that every year, too. So, a couple traditions — that’s really it — we like to keep.”

While larger gatherings may not be possible in 2020, Luke has plenty of those that live in his memory.

“We were always very family-oriented in that sense when it came to the holidays,” he recalls, “so I have a lot of fond memories of growing up with my cousins and, you know, hanging out with my grandparents and my aunts and uncles.”

“And that’s the thing I think I look forward to most about the holidays,” he reflects. “It’s not, you know, getting gifts or, you know, getting drunk… which is also cool.”

“But, you know, I think just hanging and seeing people you hadn’t seen in a while and catching up with them, I think, is what I look forward to the most,” he adds. 

It’s a theme Luke continues in “Better Together,” the latest in the string of hits from his sophomore album to be making its way up the chart. 

By Stephen Hubbard
Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

'The Bachelorette' recap: Hometown week ends with a devastating elimination

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ABC/Craig Sjodin(LOS ANGELES) After a tough round of eliminations on Monday, it was time for Tayshia to visit the “hometowns” of the four remaining men on Tuesday’s episode of The Bachelorette — which led to a heartbreaking elimination.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent travel restrictions, the men had to be creative and bring the flavor and feeling of their hometowns to the La Quinta Resort.  Members of each suitor’s families — who were tested and quarantined, according to the show’s strict protocols — were flown in as well.

First up was Milford, Massachusetts native Brendan, who treated Tayshia to a small-town carnival and had his young niece Aliyah tag along.  Later, Tayshia met Brendan’s older brother Daniel and his sister-in-law Christy, who had some tough questions for the once-divorced Brendan, as well as the Bachelorette.

After a round-robin of conversations, Brendan’s family saw a genuine “connection and spark” between him and Tayshia that earned their approval. Tayshia, addressing the camera afterwards, said she could “definitely” see herself “falling in love with Brendan.”

Next up was Haddonfield, New Jersey native Zac, who picked up on Tayshia’s desire to move to New York City one day and treated her to a glimpse of his old stomping grounds, such as hailing a cab and introducing her to NY-style pizza and bagels.

Then, it was off to meet Zac’s mother, Beatrice, father, Douglas, and brother, Matthew, the latter of whom had the toughest questions for Tayshia, including where her relationship with Zac stood compared to the other suitors. When she attempted to dodge the question, he suggested that it was one of the “deeper conversations” they needed to have with each other.

Otherwise, the family was happy with the positive change they saw in Zac. “Zac and I are GOOD!” she later gushed to the camera.

Ivan gave Tayshia a taste of his Filipino heritage, by teaching her how to make a crepe-like pastry called lumpia.  Then, it was time for the Bachelorette to meet Ivan’s parents, who had questions about what she had learned from her previous failed marriage.

Ivan’s mother was “skeptical” as to whether the couple could really be sure about their feelings for each other after dating for such a short time, but agreed to trust her son’s judgement.

An emotional moment followed when Ivan got a surprise visit from his younger brother, Gabriel, the “most influential person” in Ivan’s life.

Finally, Ben treated Tayshia to a day exploring his hometown, Los Angeles’ Venice Beach — or at least the closest he could come to recreating it at the resort.  The fun day ended with some conversation with Ben’s sister Madeline and popular chef Antonia Lofaso, best known for her appearances on shows such as Top Chef and Chopped.  Ben happens to be Antonia’s personal trainer.

It was Antonia’s conversation with Ben that led to a revelation — he was head-over-heals in love with Tayshia. Unfortunately, Ben’s old insecurities would once again get the better of him when he couldn’t get up the nerve to tell Tayshia how he felt.

Tayshia sensed Ben was holding back, and he paid for it at the rose ceremony, when Tayshia sent him home.  She gave one last chance to speak up after the ceremony, but again, he couldn’t find the words.  Instead, Ben’s journey ended with a long limo ride home, and the thoughts of what might have been.

Here are the men going to fantasy suites:

Brendan, 30, a commercial roofer from Milford, Mass.
Ivan, 28, an aeronautical engineer from Dallas, Texas
Zac C., 36, an addiction specialist from Haddonfield, N.J.

The Bachelorette two-night season 16 finale kicks off Monday night at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.

By George Costantino
Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Geologist calls out 'antiquated' comments she gets as a woman in construction

No Comments National News

Tiktok/milankabeeBy NICOLE PELLETIERE, GMA

(PHILADELPHIA) — A Pennsylvania woman’s viral video describing experiences she’s had on construction job sites has millions responding with empowering comments on social media.

“I was waiting for the concrete trucks to show up and made a lighthearted video about guys on site who still subscribe to a pretty antiquated view of women in construction,” said Milanka, a 25-year-old geologist from Philadelphia, who declined to give her last name due to privacy reasons. “It became a place for women to vent about the experiences they had in the workplace.”

Milanka told “Good Morning America” she studied geology in college. She now works in a firm’s geotechnical division, which often brings her to construction sites. There, Milanka will assist with inspections.

While working with subcontractors has been pretty positive, Milanka said there’s still occasional comments made to her, which she recently shared on TikTok.

“At every site I go to, I always get the comment, ‘So, what did a pretty girl like you do to end up in construction?'” Milanka said in her video. “I studied geology, bro.”

The Instagram account Girlboss, which celebrates women in the workforce, shared a snippet of Milanka’s video with its 1.7 million followers. There, it garnered thousands of comments.

“I’m a foreman in concrete work..I felt this!” one woman wrote.

“I walked into a project, and a subcontractor yelled out to the entire crew ‘somebody’s girlfriend is here,'” said another.

Others said they didn’t share the same experiences and were treated equally in what one would consider male-dominated fields.

“I used to be a supervisor for a landscaping crew, and they were actually the nicest and the least sexist men I’ve worked with,” a commenter wrote.

Milanka agreed that not all of her run-ins or comments heard from male workers were frustrating.

“A lot of people I work with have a lot of respect for me and my female coworkers,” she said.

Milanka said the best part of her video going viral is the flood of direct messages from young women asking how they can go after a career in geology.

“It hasn’t discouraged women, but otherwise inspired them,” she added.

Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Luke Bryan shares family memories in "Build Me a Daddy" fan video

No Comments Country Music News

UMG NashvilleLuke Bryan sees the meaning of family through the eyes of his fans in a new video for his song, “Build Me a Daddy.” 

The superstar called on his loyal fanbase to send in photos and clips of family memories for the special video that includes photographs of fans with their dads and father figures. 

Among the heartwarming footage is a vintage photo of a young tot driving in a truck with his father at the wheel, along with many father son and daughter fishing adventures, as Luke narrates “Could you build me a daddy/Strong as Superman/Make him ten feet tall with a Southern drawl/And a crooked smile, if you can.” 

Military veterans, blended families and a dad posing with his two young daughters wearing T-shirts that say “Awesome, powerful, smart, confident, thanks to dad” are all represented in the reflective video.  

“It was really special looking through the photos submitted of your father figures,” Luke shares on Instagram

Though not officially released as a single off his 2020 Born Here Live Here Die Here album, “Build Me a Daddy” did crack the top 40 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart this summer. 

By Cillea Houghton
Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Matthew McConaughey says lack of debate, cancel culture is far from alright, alright, alright

No Comments Entertainment News

ABC/Nicole Wilder(TEXAS) — In an interview from his Texas home with Good Morning Britain, Matthew McConaughey again lamented the lack of real debate in this country these days. 

“You’ve got to have confrontation to have unity. That’s when a democracy works really well,” said the Oscar winner. “I would argue we don’t have true confrontation right now, confrontation that gives some validation and legitimizes the opposing point of view.” 

He added, “We don’t give a legitimacy or validation to an opposing point of view, we make it persona non grata, and that’s unconstitutional.”

“We need liberals, what I don’t think we need is illiberals,” McConaughey also told hosts Piers Morgan and Susanna Reid.

The Wolf of Wall Street star says, “What I don’t think some liberals see is they’re being cannibalized by the illiberals. [T]he extreme left and extreme right completely illegitimize the other side. They exaggerate the other side’s stance into an irrational state that makes no sense. That’s not fair.”

McConaughey also touched on so-called “cancel culture,” expressing the fear of being punished for saying the wrong thing is counter to the First Amendment. “Where the water line is gonna land on freedom of speech, what we allow and what we don’t, where this cancel culture goes, is a very interesting place that we’re engaged in as a society and are trying to figure out. We haven’t found the right spot.”

Said the star, who was rumored to be considering a step into politics, “What leaders do we trust? What media outlets do we trust? There is so much distrust right now, you start distrusting yourself, that leads to some really tough places. We have to find some form of leadership that we can listen to — agree with it or not — but trust it.”

By Stephen Iervolino
Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.