'Bachelorette' Michelle breaks down after one man spreads early drama about her and Joe
'Bachelorette' Recap
NEW YORK -- Entering week two, Michelle has 23 men remaining. There were two group dates and one man got an exciting one-on-one date. But, things go awry this week when one man tells Michelle the group is questioning her integrity.
1st Group Date
Kaitlyn dropped off the first date card to the men and it read, "Brandon, Romeo, Rick, PJ, Will, Olu, Casey, Daniel, LT, Peter, today's lesson is love." They met up with Michelle and a group of three fifth graders! They did math problems, worked on some chemical reactions, musical chairs, and spelling. The other guys were annoyed that Peter kept trying to be the center of attention. When asked to spell narcissist, Will wrote "Peter." Now, we've got some drama!
Later on, Michelle got to know the guys during a cocktail party. Michelle said she need to address something with Brandon, and then joked about how bad he is at spelling. He told her he would keep trying for her and she was really taken by him! He was putting on the moves big time, and kept moving in for a kiss. Eventually, they did kiss! Not a good speller, but Michelle said he was a good kisser. Sparks were flying!
As Michelle got to know the other men, Peter pulled Will aside and confronted him. There was a lot of yelling going on while she was trying to have meaningful conversations. The other men worried it could ruin the night if it got too heated. The other guys asked Peter to chill a bit, and he said he didn't agree and he needed to bring it up. They asked him if he could just take care of the situation later, but apparently not.
Rick had Michelle do a Madlibs-style story about their relationship. Remember, he was the guy under the serving tray lid! It was really sweet! He has really creative ideas. He even wrote a kiss into their story. Michelle smiled the whole time and they seemed to make a connection. He had tears about how happy he felt!
Michelle asked Peter about the yelling and said he sounded very aggressive. He said he really didn't like that Will said that he was a narcissist in front of her and in front of the children. Michelle said that she worried that someday in the future, if she were to get him upset he would be screaming at her like that. Could be a red flag. Peter told Michelle that he was sorry and that it was out of character.
At the end of the date, Michelle gave the group date rose to Brandon. She went for the good kisser. Maybe next time Rick!
One-on-One Date with Jamie
Another date card arrived at the hotel and it read, "Jamie, I'm looking for someone to be my rock." He said that he has a wild life where he travels to third world countries and being on the edge of life isn't for everyone, so he wants to make sure she's right for him. He was kind of being very cocky about it. Not cool, man.
Michelle and Jamie took off in a Jeep to Joshua Tree. She told him that they would be climbing up the side of a mountain to the top where they would have a picnic. Mr. Adventure seemed a bit nervous at times. She liked that he coached her as she made her way up the rock formation. "I feel very fortunate to be here," he said. So, maybe he's not so bad? Michelle thought they had a great start!
At dinner, they talked about what regular life could be like together. She talked about her solid family background that was built on a wonderful marriage. He said that his mom was 18, his dad was 21, they never got married. He said that his mom was amazing and he was shining in all of his classes, but then his mom had issues with her mental health. They lost their home and had to live with his grandparents. When he was 12 or 13 his mom tried to slit her wrists with a steak knife. He and his sister would alternate watching his mom and not going to school, so he didn't have enough days to graduate. When he was 24, his mom did ultimately commit suicide. He said that imploded his life and it took several years to decide what was important in his own life. Michelle was brought to tears but told him how proud she was of the person he's become. She offered him the date rose, which he accepted.
Then they got to dance to a private concert by country artist Caroline Jones. They danced and kissed the evening away.
2nd Group Date
Back at the hotel, Joe was crying because a basketball coach he was very close to died and his mom called to tell him the bad news. He did his best to regroup his feelings so he could get ready for the basketball group date. "All is fair in love and basketball," the second group date card read. The men met up with Michelle who had WNBA stars Dearica Hamby and Diamond DeShields with her. In 2011, Joe was named Minnesota Mr. Basketball, and Michelle was the runner up on the girl's side that same year! They did some one-on-one and it was like they were on a one-on-one date with all of the other guys standing around.
Then the guys had to play 5 on 5 for the chance at going to an after party with Michelle. The losing team would be going back to the hotel. The red team finally started figuring out that they needed to get the ball to Joe to get some points on the board. The blue team had been up by nearly double digits at one point. Joe and the red team got it within one point, but the blue team did end up winning. The MVP of the day was Joe and he got invited to the after party too!
Joe got to talk to Michelle first and told her about the loss of his coach. He said the date actually helped him release some of his sad feelings. Michelle told him it was okay to lose his composure over a loss like that. She added that she feels they have a level of understanding being from Minnesota and their love of basketball together. She said their chemistry is off the charts! They even shot hoops together, she spent a lot of time with him.
The rest of the men started to notice that their alone time was taking a very long time. Nayte said that he's not worried about Joe, he says that their connection is strong enough to withstand her spending time with other men. Nayte said that he's apparently never been that great of a basketball player despite his height, but he was so happy to be there to spend time with her. He told her how gorgeous she is, they went for a little walk, and they did some kissing! "I'm feeling like I'm on a cloud right now," Nayte said. He thinks he's getting the date rose, but we all know who's getting it...Joe!
Cocktail Party
The following day, it was time for the cocktail party. She started off with Rodney, who had dressed like an apple, and didn't know that granny smith apples were green, and did an apple testing session with him where he was blindfolded to see if he could pick out the granny smith apple. They had a lot of fun, and then she gave him a kiss at the end.
Jamie was stirring the pot with the other men and saying that Michelle probably knew Joe before the show. How convenient because he has a rose, but does he really want it? Jamie said he knew about Joe because someone at a bar had told him that she was dating a "light-skinned baller." He's thinks Michelle isn't being authentic because she has a secret relationship. He pulled her aside and said there was "a whole bunch of talk" about her and Joe, when there wasn't. He also said he doesn't care, but that the other men there are questioning her. That completely freaked her out, but then he also revealed his connection to the story. Michelle said she needs to figure out how to address this situation to the group.
Michelle went outside and cried to Tayshia. She said that she never had a relationship at Joe, and considers all of the men on an even playing field. Tayshia said, "Well, tell them that." Michelle was just really upset that her integrity was being questioned and said she didn't know whom to trust. She walked back into the room of men and said that night one was the first time she met all of them, and that she had exchanged two messages with Joe a few years back and that he had ghosted her. She said they laugh about it now, but that was it. She said that anytime she walks anywhere with a man of color, they're a couple to others in Minnesota, and the story about the "tall light-skinned baller" was not true. "I'm open to all of you," she said. She urged them to voice their reservations if they had any. None of the guys said a peep.
Rodney said that was the first he's heard of the Joe situation. Will was upset that she felt all the guys were questioning her character. They all started wondering who told Michelle that they were all talking about Joe and questioning her. Jamie made faces, but kept his mouth shut. Michelle was emotional and done with the cocktail party and wanted to move to the rose ceremony.
Rose Ceremony
1) Brandon (1st group date)
2) Jamie (one-on-one date)
3) Joe (2nd group date)
4) Nayte
5) Rodney
6) Martin
7) Rick
8) Leroy
9) Spencer
10) Casey
11) Chris G.
12) Malik
13) Olu
14) Chris S.
15) Will
16) Romeo
17) LT
18) Clayton
19) Peter
Next Week
Tension is high and Michelle doesn't know who to trust. It looks like there's a group date at an airfield, and that she gets some quality time with Clayton. Meantime, Peter keeps the drama going between him and Will as the rest of the guys try to figure out who the "rat" is.
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