Welcome Bates Bachelor Nation to the recap of the penultimate Bachelor Episode. If you have not been keeping up on Season 24 of the Bachelor that began on January 6, 2020, this season follows Peter Weber, a former contestant on The Bachelorette who came in third on Hannah Brown’s season. There has been no shortage of pilot jokes throughout the season.
To catch you up on the season, there has been plenty of drama between the ladies with constant turmoil and Bachelor firsts. With The Bachelor growing in popularity there has been an increase of women who have come on to the show for purposes other than finding love. There have been numerous questionable women this season, the most controversial being Alayah, a former pageant girl. The rest of the girls claimed she was there for the fame that comes with being on The Bachelor rather than for Peter’s heart. She came under scrutiny when she was let go from the show because of these accusations and later returned to the show and received an unprecidented rose. Even after Alayah’s charade, Peter later that episode said goodbye to Alayah.
Champagne gate was one of the main conflicts within the show that centered around Kelsey, an Iowa native that had received a champagne bottle for a special occasion and wanted to open it with Peter. However, in Bachelor fashion another contestant, Hannah Ann, opened the bottle. What ensued was known as “the pop that was heard around the world”. This sent Kelsey into a breakdown and she was labeled as “too emotional”. Contestant Tammy also commented on Kelsey’s reaction to “Champagne Gate” calling her “unstable” in the Women Tell All. Later that night Kelsey and Peter were able to open another bottle of champagne. However, the night continued to get worse. When Kelsey began to drink the champagne out of the bottle it bubbled out of the bottle and up her nose becoming a popular sight of the bachelor season. Although Peter and Kelsey’s relationship was rocky in the beginning, Kelsey was the first woman to express her love for Peter. Unfortunately, Kelsey and Peter’s relationship would come to a close after the hometown dates.
Another popular contestant this season was Victoria F. who made made her debute on the show by cracking a dry humor joke. Although she started off with a bold opening, she continued the show s a quiet contestant who was less confident. This was seen in a group date where the ladies were models in a fashion show for the clothing company, Revolve with the winner winning a complete wardrobe from the ompany. Victoria F. who claimed she was less confident as the rest of the girls quickly became a favorite; however, falling short to Hannah Ann, a model. Victoria F. quickly became a front runner. Peter and Victoria F’s relationship came into turmoil in their first one-on-one that featured a Chase Rice concert. Later Victoria F. confessed to Peter during the dinner portion of their date that Chase Rice was her ex-boyfriend. This was the beginning of Victoria F. lacking the ability to express her emotions to Peter. The audience was shocked as she made it to he final three.
This was the beginning of the penultimate episode that began with two women, Hannah Ann and Victoria F., standing together waiting for Peter to decide who was going to be given the final rose. One of the contestants, Madison, arrived at the ceremony late, causing fans to speculate whether or not she left Peter and the show. The previous episode was the fantasy suites , where Madison gave the controversial ultimatum to Peter. The ultimatum was that if he was intimate with any of the other women she would not be able to continue on the show. Peter was honest with Madison during their date that he was intimate with the women and viewers were left among the tears of both Madison and Peter. Fans were completely shocked when Madison appeared for the rose ceremony.
The rose ceremony began with Peter giving the first rose to Hannah Ann. Then the audience sat in suspense, as Peter contemplated which woman he would give the final rose to. He called Madison’s name. She paused before walking towards him to accept the rose. Peter asked Madison multiple times if she was positive on accepting the rose from him. The final two episodes, that occur Monday and Tuesday night consist of the two women meeting Peter’s family. The finale is expected to end with Peter proposing to one of the women.
The Women Tell All was the second half of the episode, a Bachelor tradition that includes the contestants of the show coming in front a live studio audience and hashing out the drama from the season. This brought up previous episodes that included Champagne Gate circling around Kelsey, the drama with Alayah and the continued drama of Victoria F. The purpose of the tell all is to hear very side of the drama, hear untold stories, and clear names.
The Women Tell All had special guest appearances from past contestant Ashley Iaconetti who competed in season 19 of the Bachelor that followed Chris Soules. She was infamously known as the overemotional woman who cried over everything. She came to the women tell all to offer encouragement and sisterhood for Kelsey.
An important conversation was had on the Women Tell All episode concerning online bullying. There have been serious threats to the contestants on the season that effected the women emotionally these included death and violent threats as well as racist comments. Rachel Lindsay read messages from fans that were extremely disheartening. This conversation was a powerful statement made by ABC that expressed the intolerance to bullying. As viewers it is important to remember that just because they are on this show it does not give individual’s the right to contribute to the cyber bullying.
As we watch Peter descent into the final episode of the bachelor, we wonder who Peter is going to pick as he decides between Hannah Ann and Madison. ABC has also announced the next bachelorette, Claire Crawley a 38-year-old alum of The Bachelor franchise who is seeking to find love for the fourth time. I hope you join me in watching the final episode of The Bachelor as well as continue to watch The Bachelor franchise in Claire’s season of the Bachelorette.
