On tonight’s The Bachelor, Matt confronts the girls who have been bullying the new bachelorettes. And as the show opens, Kit and Victoria are taking a walk on the Nemacolin grounds, complaining about the new girls. They pass a couple of them by, and Victoria is all EWWWW EW EW EWWW. Yes, we’re in middle school again, kids.
Last week, Anna started a rumor that newbie Brittany takes money from ment for sex. Katie got involved and told Matt all about it. Now, Matt is determined to get to the bottom of all the toxic behavior.
Matt confronts the girls over the “culture of bullying”
The Rose Ceremony starts. The “OGs” are angry that they may have to get in line behind the newbies. Matt starts off the ceremony admitting that he heard all about the culture of bullying, and the rumors “that could ruin somebody’s life.” He says, “If you have to belittle someone else, for you to shine, those aren’t the qualities I’m looking for in a woman.” He pulls Brittany aside. Anna looks like she’s about to throw up. Katie is the snitch, and she knows the girls will probably find out.
Brittany reveals escort rumors to Matt
Brittany shares the details with Matt. She tells him about the escort accusations. She says “my mom watches this show! This could ruin my life!” It shouldn’t, actually. Like I said last week, this entire storyline is totally sexist. Matt encourages Brittany to bring any concerns she has straight to him. “I could see a future with you…I want to share those burdens with you.”
Anna suffers the consequences
Meanwhile, MJ and Anna are flipping out. MJ encourages Anna to talk to Matt. In a confessional, she minimizes the entire thing, “I just said a thing and it turned into a big deal.” Uh, yeah. Now, the girls are dumping on Anna, as if they weren’t relishing the rumors. OK then. Anna tries to explain herself to Matt. She swears right after she said it, she regretted it. Uhm no? “I feel immensely horrible.” Here comes the tears. Matt assures her she’s not a horrible person. But, he believes HE HAS TO SEND HER AWAY. Ohhh. BYE ANNA. I had a feeling she’d take the fall.
Back at the house, Chelsea says that bullying and toxic are too strong to describe what’s been going on in the house, while others disagree. Kit, who knows she’s on the edge, apologizes to the group. Ryan isn’t convinced the girls are sincere. Serena C calls the apologies “kiss-a**ery.” Victoria apologizes for swiping Catalina’s crown. But most sentinant human beings (including Catalina) knows she doesn’t mean it.
Ryan reveals Victoria’s bullying ways to Matt
All the newbies, in fact, wonder why the OGs are apologizing days later, right before the Rose Ceremony. During a talk with Matt, Ryan reveals that Victoria constantly digs her, calling her a “ho” because she’s a dancer. “She laughed about it after!” Ryan begins to cry. She also complains to Matt about the girls insincere apologies.
After his talk with Ryan, Matt is finally beginning to doubt Victoria. Ryan confronts Victoria letting her know that she spilled the beans to Matt. Victoria walks away mid conversation, to talk to Matt. “It was brought to my attention by Katie,” says Matt. OOPSIEDOODLE. Word’s out. Victoria insists the “ho” remark was “completely taken out of context.” Matt shoots back, “In what context would it be acceptable to call somebody a Ho.” He’s got a point. And at that, he gets up and walks away.
“I make the house toxic?” Victoria cries in a confessional. “I know there is no truth to that.” Some self-awareness would surely help this child right now.
Chris arrives to say, “The cocktail party is over. We’re going straight to the Rose Ceremony.” Victoria retreats to the ladies room to cry and complain about how unfair it all is. She’s also probably plotting Katie’s demise. She stomps outside. “THERE IS LITERALLY NOBODY ELSE HE CAN MARRY. I’M THE BEST OPTION FOR HIM.” Wow. “I’m the only one with a working brain in this room. I’m not being rude, I’m being serious.” Alrighty then!
Matt hands out some roses. It’s curtains for a certain troublemaker
Time to hand out the roses. Meanwhile, Victoria is off to the side having a fake panic attack. Roses go to: Brittany, Ryan, Rachael, Serena P., Magi, Kit, MJ, Jessenia, Katie, Abigail, Chelsea, Serena C. (Bri and Pieper got date roses last week, Michelle after her one-on-one date). Fifteen girls remain.
BYE VICTORIA!!!! Also going home, besides Anna who was ditched earlier: Lauren, Mari, and newbie, Catalina. I’m a little surprised that Matt sent Catalina home. I thought he’d save all the newbies on principle.
Victoria is convinced she did nothing wrong. “He made a huge mistake.” Her parting words to Matt are, “I honestly feel so sorry for you that you would listen to hearsay and not facts in this situation.” GOODBYE she said, without a hug. “MATT IS A JESTER,” says the Queen. She thinks the atmosphere in the house will be destroyed with her exit. “I brought so much joy to the house.” She can’t be serious.
Rachael gets a one-on-one, plays dress up with Matt
New date card: Matt chooses Rachael for a one-on-one date. The rest of the girls, are of course, JELLY. Matt promises to spoil Rachael on their date. He confesses that she caught his eye on day one. First stop, clothes store so that fashion stylist Ty Hunter can style them. Rachael models a stunning yellow and black dress. She looks good! Next, a short gold dress. And then a black and white print. She behaves as if Matt is buying the clothes for her, which is weird. Matt’s favorite is an orange mini-dress with a flowy train. Next, she gets a super fancy pair of shoes.
As the girls sulk, Rachael saunters by with her hands full of shopping bags. And then a box arrives with a blue dress for dinner. The girls are super duper bummed.
It’s time for a group date! The girls resent Kit
Another date card arrives. It’s a group date: Serena P, Bri, Katie, Pieper, Serena C, Ryan, Michelle, Brittany, Magi, Abigail, Chelsea, Jessenia, MJ are invited. “Love can be messy” reads the date card. Kit gets the one on one. Interestingly, she was one of the meanest of the mean girls, but she somehow flew under the radar. Katie is disappointed. To be honest, I think she has already been friend zoned.
Meanwhile, Rachael arrives for the night time portion of the date. Rachael admits to Matt that she feels he is out of her league. She knows she doesn’t have a lot of confidence, and realizes she has to work on it. She’s afraid her reticence will push him away. Matt assures her he’s attracted to her. “You don’t even have to try to get my attention,” he says. He loves that she doesn’t try hard to get his attention. She admits that she’s “falling in love” with Matt. Matt admits that he feels the same way.
Let the smooching commence, before the awarding of the rose. Matt confesses that he can imagine proposing to Rachael. They leave the date in a horse drawn carriage.
The girls head to the farm, Michelle can’t control her jealousy
Time for the group date! It’s on a farm. Matt explains that he grew up in rural North Carolina, working on farms. “Farmer Ty” will be the host. The girls bale hay, clean out horse stalls, and milk cows. As if anybody on any farm milks a cow by hand. Oh. There is also collecting eggs from the hens. MJ is acting scared of an actual chicken. Hm. She gets a hug from Matt. The girls are suspect.
Meanwhile, Pieper grabs Matt away from MJ for a makeout session. SHE’S MAD. “It’s definitely setting in that we’re all dating the same guy,” says Abigail, an obvious notion that took her five weeks to figure out. Newbie Michelle realizes that she can’t stand to see Matt with other women.
Later, it’s time to party. Matt grabs Chelsea first. He wants to know how she feels after five weeks. She admits she’s into him, even though she’s awkward around boys. He reveals that he’s into her and is “very happy you’re here.”
Abigail gets honest
Meanwhile, Abigail, who got the first impression rose, feels like she’s lost a step since. She finally gets some one-on-one time. Abigail gets emotional. She wants to be as open as possible. She’s afraid of disappointing him. She’s deaf, and it’s heredity. So any children she has could also be deaf. Her father walked out on her mom and sister because he couldn’t handle it. Matt can relate to not having a dad growing up. He’s not ashamed, because it made him who he is, and assures Abigail that he admires her.
Michele sits down with Matt and shares that while she enjoyed the group date, it will take time for her to get used to him dating other girls. Matt assures her that they have a connection, before making out with her. You know, that connection he also promises he has with other girls.
Matt calls MJ out, she confronts Jessenia
Matt sits with MJ. He’s still not done getting to the bottom of the bullying of the new girls. She was definitely in on the mean girl shenanigans. He tells MJ that her name came up as an antagonist. “I was thrown,” he says. MJ insists that she leads by example. She’s lying. Just at that moment the two are interrupted by another girl.
MJ walks off seething. She confronts the rest of the girls. If anyone has a beef, get it out she says. Jessenia admits that Matt asked her about the “culture” in the house. She mentioned that MJ was taunting the newbies, calling them the “JV team.” MJ admits to saying it, but minimizes her words. Michele is disgusted. Jessenia is really annoyed that MJ didn’t fess up to what she said in front of Matt. MJ tells her to “keep my name out of your mouth.”
Jessenia rolls her eyes at MJ insisting that she “leads by example” because Jessenia believes that MJ made it uncomfortable for all the newbies. MJ insists on an apology. Jessenia insists she admit to Matt what she said. Katie steps into the argument to accuse MJ of deflecting.
Back at the house, Rachael and Kit talk about having the opportunity to date Matt one on one. Rachael just had her date, Kit is ready to go on hers. She is so excited! She finds out the two will have dinner at Matt’s place. She hopes they cook together. Because she loves to cook with her mom.
Matt hands out the group date rose
Back at the group date. Time to give out the rose. It goes to Abigail, because she was “extremely vulnerable with me tonight.” Chelsea is disappointed. MJ feels the other girls are sabotaging her relationship with him.
Matt admits that he has liked Kit from the beginning. Is that why he’s ignoring her mean girl behavior? Matt says at restaurants, he orders his desert first. That’s weird. Or maybe he just made a thing up, because the two are baking first. Kit says her mother is a famous fashion designer and she grew up in the spotlight. (Kit’s parents are fashion designer Cynthia Rowley and sculptor William Keenan Jr. Her parents split, and her mother then married art dealer Bill Powers).
Super spoiled Kit works to go deep
Because she grew up filthy rich and in the spotlight, Kit explains, she’s had to keep up an image, making it hard for her to open up. She feels “very seen” by Matt. As the two bake chocolate chip cookies, they makeout. “It’s just easy with Kit,” he says. She says cooking helped her feel at home, and for the very first time, she feels vulnerable. “I am starting to fall in love with you,” she admits. Matt reaches over and grabs the rose…
Back at the residence, the girls get ready for another rose ceremony. But not so fast. A card arrives. Matt wants to meet Jessenia and MJ first. “I need to know the truth. Meet me at the cocktail party before the other girls arrive.” One of them is definitely going home. It should be MJ, actually.
It’s either MJ or Jessenia. Who will prevail?
She proves my point by dressing down Jessenia, insisting that she’s all about harmony and peace. “You put my character in jeopardy with Matt. I have never been more hurt in my life.” MJ blames Jessenia entirely for her predicament. Jessenia reminds MJ that she lied to Matt by not admitting what she said about the “JV team.” Jessenia says, “You’re a liar.”
While the girls continue to argue, Matt rolls up. And of course, it’s all to be continued NEXT WEEK.
