ABC/Craig Sjodin(NEW YORK) — Monday night’s episode of The Bachelor picked up where last week’s episode left off: with Ben Higgins having a private chat with Olivia after he received several complaints about her from the other women.
Olivia played the victim, saying she has a target on her back and that her fellow bachelorettes were put off by her aggressiveness in pursuing Ben.
The conversation wasn’t going to have any immediate effects on Olivia’s status on the show, since she earned the previous group date rose. But things would change for her soon enough.
At the rose ceremony, Jennifer was eliminated.
The rest of the episode took place in the Bahamas, where Caila scored the first date. While they went fishing, Leah sobbed at the bachelorettes’ place, wondering why she wasn’t the one who was invited to the date.
Caila confessed to Ben that she wasn’t quite ready to be more vulnerable around him. When asked point-blank if she’s ready to commit to him, she expressed reluctance, saying, “I feel my greatest fear is I can’t totally, completely fall in love with somebody.”
Yet moments later, she said she’s falling in love with Ben because she feels understood. After all the confusion, Ben gave her a rose.
Six women joined Ben on the group date, which involved riding a boat and feeding swimming pigs. Seriously.
Leah continued to doubt her future with Ben, and his attempt to reassure her didn’t help much. She later gave Ben something new to worry about, when she told him that a potential relationship between him and Lauren B. wouldn’t work out because she acts differently when she’s not around him. Ben raised the issue with Lauren B., and she was confused and distraught.
When an emotional Lauren B. told the others what had happened, Leah lied and claimed she wasn’t the one who made the comments to Ben.
Lauren B. wondered whether all of this cost her the group date rose, after Ben presented it to Amanda.
Leah tried to dig Lauren B. into an even deeper hole by visiting Ben and suggesting that Lauren isn’t a genuine person. Her plan backfired, big time; Ben was tired of the Lauren B. talk, and he chose to send Leah home after admitting that something was missing between them.
“Leah, I don’t want to put you through this…I think it’s best for us to kind of say goodbye,” he said.
Olivia was back in the picture for a two-on-one date with Ben and Emily. With only one rose up for grabs, one of these bachelorettes would be eliminated. Ben had private time with each of them on a rainy tropical island.
Right before he awarded the rose, he took Olivia aside and said that while he appreciated how open she was with her feelings, he couldn’t reciprocate. “I think as honest as you’ve been with me about your feelings, I have to be honest with you about mine and tell you that today I can’t give you this rose,” he explained.
Emily happily accepted the rose moments later.
Ben wasn’t feeling up to the cocktail party, so he cancelled it. He jumped straight to another rose ceremony, where he said goodbye to Lauren H.
Next Monday, the remaining six women will visit Ben’s hometown of Warsaw, Indiana.
For more Bachelor fun, tune in to ABC this Sunday night — Valentine’s Day — for the special The Bachelor at 20: A Celebration of Love, which will include footage of Jade Roper and Tanner Tolbert’s recent wedding.
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