'The Bachelorette: The Men Tell All' - Jenn's final 2 are revealed and drama bombs are launched!
Jenn confronts her exes as the guys attempt to right some wrongs
LOS ANGELES -- Welcome to "The Bachelorette: The Men Tell All," where your favorite guys from Jenn's season return and spill ALL the tea.
We open the show with Grant calling his mom to tell her he's been named The Bachelor. She's so excited for him and he says he hopes that she and his grandma watch his season. Grant, we'll all be watching!!
In the studio, Jesse welcomes the audience and the men in attendance: Ricky, Brian, Hakeem, Brett, John, Jeremy, Thomas N., Thomas A., Dylan, Aaron in his now trademark pearls, Sam M., Spencer and Sam N, who is holding up the rugby jersey from his date that now says "Jenn's X Husband." We'll get to everything they have to say in a minute, but first, we've gotta delve into the cliffhanger from last night's episode where Devin knocks on Jenn's door.
Jen: I'm not going to lie, I was waiting for this! I was so excited to learn who Jenn's final two would be!
Devin Talks to Jenn
Jenn invites Devin in for a chat. He tells her he's in a weird headspace with his feelings. He's tried to prioritize her but he's doubting where her head is at. He's had some tough experiences with dating, where he hasn't been the priority and now he feels like the "safe" option for her. He's risked everything for her, feelings, sanity. He wants to get to the end but he doesn't know how to get there. And with proposals the next week, he is scared because he doesn't know where her head is at.
Jenn took it all in, then apologized, telling Devin she wasn't good with expressing her feelings. She doesn't know how to be in a healthy relationship but wants to be reassuring to him. She wonders if she is doing something wrong. She tells him that she doesn't know what she would do if he wasn't there. And then, it's the moment we've all been waiting for.
Jenn hugs him and says "I do love you, you freakin' idiot!"
Devin is relieved and elated. He feels like a new man now that he knows where her head is. He's not going anywhere!
Jen: It's almost like Jenn needed the pressure of losing him to be able to express those feelings. Reminded me kind of how she threw that hail Mary pass and said "I love you" to Marcus and it kept him from leaving.
Rose Ceremony
Everyone arrives for the rose ceremony. We've heard Jenn say she loves Devin and Marcus, so it seems like we know how this will go. Devin and Marcus both get roses and Jonathon goes home.
She walks him out and they have a chat. Jonathon says last night, he walked the beach and came across a couple of chairs set up and at that moment he found the clarity he needed and wanted to be sitting on that beach with her, but it took him too long to realize it. He says "You were perfect for me, but I wasn't perfect for you and that was a bitter pill to swallow." Don't make me cry, Jonathon!! Jenn says she learned from him too, particularly about building a relationship from a friendship, something she'd never had before. It was a sweet goodbye and Jonathon is about to join the guys on set.
Jen: I really felt like Jonathon was too hard on himself. Hopefully, after watching it back, he can see that it wasn't anything he did, it was just that her feelings were so strong for her final two.
Let The Drama Begin!
Jesse welcomes Jonathon to the stage and talks about his revealing entrance (you'll remember, Jonathon showed up on night one in a hospital gown with nothing under it and bandages over his face).
Ricky, who was eliminated on night one, jokes about Jonathon's butt being out the whole time and said he was disappointed he didn't get a rose that night but hopes Jenn finds her one and that he finds his as well.
Jesse talks to Brett, another night one exit, saying he was an overnight sensation and that Bachelor Nation fell in love with him. He says he's a pretty private guy so the attention he's been getting is new but he appreciates it. Apparently, people have been sliding into his DMs. One called him a stud, another called him hot, Jesse makes Jonathon read one of the more racy messages about being there for him with open arms and um, other body parts. I'm blushing thinking about the rest of these messages so we're just going to move on!
They show a recap of all the drama in the house, including Sam M who says he hates losing more than he loves winning, Sam N. telling Jenn he loved her on the stripper group date, Thomas N being called Sam M's minion, the Devin drama between Thomas and Aaron and Aaron's exit leaving Jenn hanging. They also do a montage of Sam saying he's "keeping the main thing the main thing" as well as one of him talking about "ferocious love."
Jesse starts with Aaron, saying he threw a grenade at Jenn as he walked out the door. Aaron tries to defend himself, saying he thought he and Jenn had a friendship and he wanted to warn her about what she didn't see with these guys. He insisted he was right to not tell her who he was talking about. Brian asks them who he was talking about and he admits it was Devin and Sam N. And also Spencer.
Wait, what?
Many of the guys, including Spencer, had the same reaction. Aaron said watching Spencer's one-on-one date with Jenn and seeing him talk about his broken engagement, he didn't think Spencer was over that and ready for another engagement. Spencer says you can be healed and still be uncomfortable talking about bad things that happen to you, like being cheated on. He says it's ridiculous that Aaron came in thinking he knew what Jenn wanted, including his talking about Devin, and chastises Aaron for bringing his name up when he "took the cowardly way out."
Hakeem jumped in and said Spencer was there for the right reasons. Brian said Aaron should go back to Australia and get that book Aaron gave Devin and re-read it. Speaking of the book, Aaron defends that as well, saying he wasn't being condescending, he cared about Devin as a person and wanted him to see how he came off to people. Spencer asks if Aaron is a psychologist. Aaron claims he didn't think about how, a few years ago, his twin brother Noah, who was on Claire's season of "The Bachelorette" and was given a book. Noah is in the audience (also wearing pearls in solidarity with his bro), and talked to Jesse about Bennett giving him a book and then told Aaron that giving the book wasn't the move, that we all have our own journey.
Jen: I absolutely loved Hakeem's reaction to Aaron! I also loved the callback to Noah's season and how he was on the other end of a book-giving fiasco on his season.
Jesse makes a book pun about turning the page to Sam N. and his profession of love to Jenn. He said he jumped the gun a little bit, but at the end of the day love isn't linear and noted that Devin said it a week later, Grant said it shortly thereafter and Sam M. also said it. He shot his shot and horribly missed.
Sam M. is asked why he took offense to Devin's approach to love. He said it started from the 2nd night and he didn't know everything that had gone down with Thomas and Devin. Thomas N. interjected and said there were two weeks in Australia where Austin didn't have a single second with Jenn and he took offense to Devin going to speak with her first. Ricky asks why he was so offended by someone actually trying to talk to the girl they were there for. Jeremy jumps in to defend Devin.. He says at least Devin was "keeping the main thing the main thing," unlike others there. They joke about other quotes Sam M would say on the daily.
Jen: The main thing should have been Jenn the whole time! I also loved how Jeremy called out how the guys were acting like "Mean Girls."
Jeremy continues, likening the drama to "Mean Girls" and how Lindsay Lohan's character Cady hates Regina George but all she does is talk about Regina George and I have to give Jeremy props for the pop culture reference! The audience claps, but Sam doesn't look amused. He shifts in his seat while Spencer adds that it's ironic that people talked about keeping the main thing the main thing when it was rarely that and they instead turned to drama. Sam M. responds saying if this brings about a world of hate, he'll take it. He takes responsibility for his delivery not being what it should. He was taught to love one way, it was either all in or all out. Jesse calls Sam up to the hot seat.
Sam M. In The Hot Seat
We look back at Sam's journey. Coming out of it, Sam has a half smile but tries to hold it back. He says it's tough watching it back and says he sees places where he could have done things differently. He was trying to put things into words but couldn't, but he felt really strongly for Jenn. He says this is the first time he's ever been put into a position where he's had to explain why he loved someone, which... ok. So he's never talked about his feelings before? I have questions.
Jesse says Jenn and a lot of people questioned Sam's authenticity, Sam said he loved her and he stands by that. Jesse asked if he really loved her and he said yes. Jesse said a lot of people (us included!!) thought him saying that was a Hail Mary. Jesse opens it up to the guys. Brian said it was a bad look and every girl in the room could sniff out what he was doing. Sam says he realized in that moment he fell short (They cut away to Jeremy yawning and I almost spit out my water. He feels the same way I do, nothing Sam M. is saying is really winning anyone over). Hakeem says he has to hold Sam M. accountable. He has four sisters and if one of them brought home a guy who said he loved her but couldn't say why, he would have a problem with that. Sam says he takes responsibility and that the last time he was vulnerable, he got his heart broken. Spencer calls out that he called Jenn "dull" as he was walking out. Sam claims that he and Jenn communicated with their eyes and when she walked into that room when she was going to send him home, there was no energy there, it wasn't what he was used to seeing from her. He said her eyes were dull, not her.
Jen: That's interesting that he said that her energy was dull. That somewhat explains what he meant by that because Jenn is for sure not dull!
Jeremy says he respects Sam for coming out there and that he's talking about eyes, but who knows where his eyes were because he might have had eyes for Maria or Daisy before. Sam went on the defense and said none of them knew who "The Bachelorette" was going to be and they're liars if they didn't think it was going to be Daisy or Maria. He said he told his parents that he didn't see it working out with either Daisy or Maria. Jeremy asked "Then why did you go?" (They cut away to Charity and Dotun in the audience and they are as confused as we are by what Sam is saying). Sam said after two conversations with Jenn, he thought she was legit and he meant no disrespect to her by mentioning the other girls and that he wants to learn and grow from this.
Jen: I feel like people say they want to learn and grow when there's no other way to redeem themselves. Because what can you say to that? Don't even try? No. I think we would hope he could, but I guess MAYBE we might get to see in "Paradise" one day. Also, he said "truthfully" way too many times. And stop winking!
Jonathon In The Hot Seat
Jonathon is in the hot seat and they look back at his journey.
They come back and he says it's hard to watch back, it was a beautiful journey full of amazing moments. From day one they had a friendship and that's how you want to start. They never had a dull moment, she was attentive and reassuring. He was terrified to tell her things and she would say it's OK. It was hard to see that love was involved for the other two men but not him.
Jesse asks if he's still single and extends the first invitation to "Bachelor in Paradise" to Jonathon and he happily accepts. That's going to be a fun one!
Jen: Can we PLEASE get Rachel from Joey's season to come on "Bachelor in Paradise" and meet Jonathon? I love their energy and kindness and think these two would be a fun couple!
Jesse says hi to Mayci and Whitney from the new Hulu show "The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives" and tosses to a tease of the show. They show Hakeem's reaction and it's a riot!
Grant In The Hot Seat
Our new Bachelor, Grant Ellis is in the house! Hakeem is cheering for him as he walks out and I just have to say Hakeem is an entire vibe.
Jen: Hakeem was like the star of this show!
Ok back to Grant. He says he feels great and can't wait to embark on this journey. His friends and family are happy for him and excited for him to find his future wife.
They look back at Grant's journey with Jenn. He says he didn't expect to develop strong feelings in such a short period of time and that he appreciated Jenn's ability to keep conversations light but also relate to him when he talked about his past. Jesse notes that he could see when Grant was realizing how strong his feelings were and Grant agrees that you can see his emotions on his face. Jesse tells Grant that since he was announced, more than 10,000 new people have applied to be part of his season and the number keeps climbing.
Grant says he's looking for a kind soul, someone he can talk to about good and bad things and he's looking for what's in someone's heart. He's working on developing his emotional intelligence and also doing 100 push-ups a day. Jesse warns him to get used to showering on camera. We're getting the visual!
Hakeem says we're all getting the best Bachelor. He's a great guy and Hakeem's mentor so he's thrilled. Jonathon adds that he's the 2nd lead of color to be the Bachelor and he couldn't think of anyone better to represent than Grant.
Jen: 10,000 women have applied so far! Wow! Hopefully one is his future wife!
Jenn In The Hot Seat
Jesse introduces Jenn. She's happy to be back and see everyone. She's feeling nostalgic about it all. She applauds the guys for being brave and taking the process so seriously.
It's the first time she's seen Jonathon, who says, "Remember the dress list we had? This is number one." Apparently, they ranked her dresses from the season and the one she's wearing is his favorite. Aww! He thanks her for helping him get to where he did in the time that he did. Jenn says she cherishes their time together, he brings a smile into any room he walks into and she's happy to have spent time with her.
Jen: It's nice to see that both of them seem to be in a good place and have closure with their relationship.
Jesse calls on Sam N, who acknowledges this is his first girlfriend and break up! Sam N says he's proud of their time and he has a lot of love to give and that'll happen eventually. Jenn says she appreciated the conversations they had, she was happy to be part of his growth journey, and sees good things for him ahead.
Jesse talks about how much drama there was throughout the season, pointing out Thomas N. going to confront Devin instead of talking to her. Jenn said she was disappointed in that moment because she wished he would have just talked to her and he could have settled the drama later. She says to Thomas that she appreciated the conversation they had about their backgrounds and immigrant families and says that if he had kept the focus on her, perhaps the journey would have turned out differently. Thomas agrees and says he would do that moment over again in a heartbeat and not leave her alone.
Jesse brings up Jenn giving Sam M. the first impression rose. She said she thought about those first moments and it was Sam who made her feel comfortable. Jesse says she noted soon after she started seeing red flags (Same! Same!). Jenn said yeah, the alarm bells and red flags were adding up. They cut away to Sam who is shifting in his seat nervously. She said it became apparent that they rarely had conversations, and he didn't know her at all. She then addresses Sam in a way that had me standing up and cheering!
She says she's going to talk in words that he'll understand and is going to keep the main thing the main thing. She wasn't upset that he didn't know how to describe love, they were clearly on different emotional and intellectual levels. What she was upset about was watching it back and seeing how he interacted with all of the men, huffing and puffing his chest, the blatant disrespect. And on top of that, their whole relationship was about him. Instead of watching that back and learning from it, he doubled down on all of it and had his friends and family go online to defend him when he's a grown man. Instead of taking accountability, he blamed it on the producers, the edit, and everyone but himself. In the end, the man she saw on TV was the man she sat across from the entire time. She wants him to be better but if he doesn't step back and take accountability, she feels sorry for whoever he ends up with because this delusion and denial isn't going to work for anybody.
Jen: OMG wow, Jenn did not hold back! She's 100% right and he really should do some soul-searching and think about what went wrong with Jenn and perhaps in his past relationships too.
And that is how Sam M. disintegrated on stage.
Just kidding. He insisted he came out there and took a lot of accountability. He said he lost himself in those moments and wished for a do-over. She saw the walls around his heart before he did and he's thankful to her for that. She says she wants the best for him and she hopes he means what he is saying.
Ok, onto Grant, who says he learned from Jenn to stay true to yourself. He is happy for her and proud of her. She thanks him and appreciates that he opened his heart for her. She thinks he's going to be a great Bachelor and she's excited for it.
Jenn Talks Representation
Jenn is still in the hot seat and talks candidly with Jesse about representation and being the first Asian American Bachelorette. She says she's always seen Asian American women being on the fringes but rarely the main character. She says Vietnamese culture is deeply rooted in patriarchy, something that's been passed on for generations. She says she's grown over time and found her voice. The community has been supportive of her and she is thankful to have had her Asian culture celebrated on screen. She says making people feel less alone means so much to her. Jesse says her journey has been transformational and Jenn says the advice she'd give herself is to be her most authentic and vulnerable self. Feel all the emotions, it's OK to express them!
Jen: It was so powerful and wonderful to hear how proud this experience has made Jenn feel!
Charity and Dotun are in the audience, who tell Jenn how phenomenal it's been to watch her journey and they're wishing her the best. Jesse asks them how wedding planning is going and they say it's a mountain they're trying to climb. They've been doing a lot of traveling. On their trip to Greece Dotun was sick so they tried to make the most of it. Jesse tells them ABC is giving them a re-do and they're going back to Greece!
Hakeem's Hot Seat!
We return with everyone's favorite segment, "bloopers." Jesse talks to Hakeem about his moment being scared of the spider and they roll the clip.
Back in the studio, Hakeem says "Never again" (Note to Hakeem, never say never!). Jesse tells Hakeem he needs to prep for Mexico in case he decides to go to Paradise so he asks him to step forward and have a seat and they bring out the world's largest spider to crawl on him. Hakeem is freaking out and quite frankly, I don't blame him! The entire studio is cheering him on, and he agrees to let the spider crawl on him but tells the handler he needs to grab it if he tells him to grab it! The spider sits on his leg for a minute as he's trying to keep it together. To reward him, Jesse extends him the second invite to Paradise and he says yes. Will love win over the creepy crawlies on that beach? We'll find out!
Jen: OH THANK GOODNESS. This guy, he deserves this spot! I really hope he can meet someone wonderful!
Finale tease
We end the show with what we can expect next week, which is something we've apparently never seen before with a Bachelorette. Jenn is in love with both men and has a huge decision to make. Her family meets Devin and Marcus and we see tension with both men. And we see the moment we've seen before, where Jenn says "I can't let you propose to me." Who is it and what happens next? We'll all find out together next Tuesday for the 3-hour live finale. Are you ready? I'm ready! And we'll talk about it all on Playing the Field: A Bachelor Podcast.
Jen: It's going to be long week to wait for this finale, but I really can't wait. I hope Jenn finds love!
Click here to subscribe on Apple Podcasts
Click here to subscribe on Spotify
Click here to subscribe on iHeart
