After a nine-week "journey," The Bachelor star Grant Ellis handed out his final rose — but first came a lot of agonizing about which woman he loved more. His down-to-the-wire decision resulted in a brutal breakup at the Proposal Platform™, and some very uncomfortable moments in the Tealight Candle Thunderdome.
Let’s recap!
We begin with a teaser of Grant's struggle to make a decision between Litia and Juliana. And then it's off to the Tealight Candle Thunderdome, where host Jesse Palmer dutifully hypes the events we're about to witness. "There has never been a Bachelor who has been more torn over the two final women at the end — and when I say the end, I mean the very end," teases Palmer. "This is going to
We’ll believe it when we see it, buddy. For now, let's head back to the Dominican Republic, where Litia is about to embark on the all-important meeting with Grant’s family. "I picture Litia being my wife," Grant informs us. "Litia is loving, patient, kind. Obviously, she's beautiful, and she's ready. I think my family's going to love Litia."
Whatever happens, something good has already come out of this "journey": It’s brought Grant, both his parents, and his sister all together for the first time in almost a decade!
During the get-to-know-you chit-chat, Grant lets his family know that he and Litia bonded over their morals and their faith. "From there, we continued to grow," he adds. First impressions? "You guys are definitely cute together," Robert gushes. "You both have dimples!" And Taylor tells Litia she's liked her since "day one." (As you may remember, Taylor met many of the women on Grant's first night.)
Litia has her first one-on-one with Renee. She says she knew she loved Grant when she saw him with her (big, Mormon) family. Litia doesn't mention her religion, though — at least not that we see. Renee asks her potential daughter-in-law how she imagines her life with Grant might go, and Litia says she is ready to move to be with Grant and would want their kids to "learn" from each side of the family. Renee LOVES it. "Litia's very humble, and she's genuine, and she loves Grant,” says mom. "She would make a great daughter-in-law."
Robert opens his chat with Litia by asking if she's ready to be married. Short answer: Yes. Longer answer: "I just feel like your life starts when you have kids," Litia says. Grant's dad is pleased with her answers. "You reassured me," he says.
It seems like all systems go for Litia, but our Bachelor has just one little reservation: Her biological clock. Grant explains to his dad how Litia told him she wants to start trying soon, within two years, but that doesn't really align with Grant's vision. "The next three to four years, I really want to experience life and travel with my partner and have fun," he says. "Right now, that's our biggest issue." Robert has some good advice for his son: It's fine to have a plan, but life doesn't follow the rules — so flexibility is key. "If you love the person, don’t let one little issue stop the show," says Robert. It's a very sweet conversation, especially given how strained their relationship has been in the past.
The visit ends with hugs all around. Grant seems to be riding high from how well the family meeting went. "It only reaffirms my feelings, that I do love you," he says. Litia responds in kind — and then reveals that Grant is the first person she’s ever said "I love you" to. Ugh, these two are really, really cute together.
"After today," says Litia, "I am the most confident that I'll be engaged at the end of the week."
Hold that thought, ma'am. It's Juliana's turn now. And apparently, her visit is happening the same day as Litia's, because Grant is still wearing that pink shirt with the weird fuzzy stars on it.
While Grant has "really strong feelings" for Juliana, he's a little worried that she's not ready to be engaged — so he's hoping mom, dad, and Taylor can help him gauge her emotional preparedness.
The Bachelor explains that he and Juliana have "similar stories" in terms of their upbringing, and they each want to break out of their "lone wolf" mentality and forge a family with their person. "I sense that she brings peace to his life," observes Renee, before pulling Juliana aside for a one-on-one chat. Time for the million-dollar question:
This seems to catch Juliana off-guard. "Okay, so, um..." she begins. "Grant and I have not told each other we love each other. I've been kind of holding back a little bit in that sense because of what that means." Mom doesn't love this answer, but she tries to be diplomatic: Does Juliana think she's heading in the love direction?
"An engagement means forever to me," Juliana replies. "Love means forever to me, and he is truly somebody that I can see myself being in love with.... I just want to make sure I can give him that." (In her confessional, she clarifies that she pretty much doesn't want to say it until she knows she's the last one standing — which is understandable.)
From there, Renee reports back to her son: "She's not quite there yet." Grant suspects that Juliana is just protecting herself. Renee understands that, but for her, the lack of an L-bomb is a dealbreaker: "If she doesn't tell you she loves you, I am asking you to walk away from that."
Oh snap — no pressure, Juliana! Fortunately, Robert takes a less interrogatory approach with her during their sit-down chat. "Juliana, do you have any questions for me about my son?" he asks. She wants to know if Robert thinks Grant will truly allow himself to experience and express his sadness and frustrations when life gets hard. It's a situation Grant's dad knows well. In the past, Robert says, when he's tried to help Grant through a rough patch, his son tells him, "I got this. I need my space." Of course, Robert knows this could be because Grant wasn't yet ready to trust him. Either way, he believes Grant trusts Juliana. "He feels safe around you," says Robert. "He needs that."
Oh boy, get the tissues, rose lovers. Grant and his dad are about to have a heart-to-heart. "I'm here for you," Robert says. He starts to cry as Grant says how happy he is to be able to sit and talk with his dad about important feelings, which is something he's always wanted to do. "I feel like I have a friend, a best friend, I can talk to," says the Bachelor, who also starts to cry. Robert says he's so proud of him and regrets how much he put his family through. "You've been there for me," he says through tears. "You're my heart man. It's because of you that I'm here."
Okay, now I'm crying, too. "I love the man that you've become," says Robert. "I'm not leaving you no more." Okay, now I’m full-on weeping. Damn this stupid show. Hug it out, you two!
In a surprise turn of events, Grant ends his visit with Juliana by saying "I love you" first. His goal, I suppose, is to see if it gives her the confidence to reciprocate, even though there's still another woman in the mix. Will it work? Let’s listen in...
Cool! Now it’s all up to Grant — and as we've seen from the promos all season, our Bachelor is not great at being decisive. That said, Grant's not the first lead to find himself in love with two women. "I'm pretty sure we've seen this movie before," jokes Palmer. We sure have! Please welcome...
It’s Charity (The Bachelorette season 20), Clayton (The Bachelor season 26), and Gerry (The Golden Bachelor season 1). Only one of them has a mullet, but all three of them joined the "in love with two (or more) people" club during their seasons. Now they're here to offer some insight into how in the hell Grant got himself into this mess. "I obviously felt those feelings," says Charity, who said "I love you" to both Joey and Dotun during her season. "Toward the end, you face decision paralysis. You're running out of time. There are a lot of things that feel like limitating [sic] factors." Clayton, who dropped the L-bomb on three (!) women, explains that in his case, he had fallen in love with Susie, Rachel, and Gabby "for each of their own unique characteristics."
As for the briefly married Gerry, he says being on the show creates a kind of psychological delusion that facilitates the "I'm in love with everybody" idea. Okay, I’m paraphrasing. Here's what he actually said: "[When] you’ve committed yourself to finding your person, all of a sudden you look at these women that you have a connection with, and you believe in that moment that they are the right person. Unless you've been in that spot, it's hard to describe." Consequently, the trio doesn't have much advice for Grant, other than "trust your gut."
Perhaps Grant’s gut will give him some clues after his Last Chance Dates™ with Litia and Juliana. Juliana goes first, and she joins Grant on a catamaran for some champagne and swimming. That night, he joins Juliana in her hotel suite, where she'll have one last chance to Open Up™. Grant needs to know: Is she really ready for an engagement? "That's a good question," Juliana replies, perhaps stalling for time while she thinks of an answer. "What I can at least promise you moving forward is that I will do my best to handle your heart with care."
In other words, ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. And hey, I'm not going to judge someone for not being able to say "yes, I'll marry you" after barely eight weeks of dating or whatever — but if Grant's looking for reassurance, this ain't it. Fortunately for the Bachelor, Juliana isn't done. The more she talks, the more Juliana is able to convince herself (and Grant) that she's ready for an engagement now that they've said "I love you" to each other. Awesome.
Litia, you’re up!
When the rain really starts to come down, Grant and Litia head to a covered patio for some champagne and schmoopy chat. Once night falls, they meet up again in Litia's hotel room for even more champagne and a few "final questions" from Grant. Specifically, how flexible is Litia on her marriage-and-babies timeline? Like, what if Grant wants to wait three years instead of two? Litia tells the Bachelor her reaction would depend on why he wanted to wait. "If you’re not ready and there are things you want to do, I think, of course," she says. "I want you to feel ready, and I want both of us to feel excited."
Good answer! And I'm sure she believes it in this moment. But something tells me if Litia hits 33 and Grant says he wants her to wait until she's 34 — just one year before she’d be classified as "advanced maternal age" — she might lose her damn mind. Right now, though, all Litia wants is to make Grant happy. "You are so much more than enough," she says, choking up. "I love you."
This makes the Bachelor super emotional. "I know what I need, and I see that in you," he says. Litia's reaction is perfect:
Grant laughs. "You're funny," he says. Uh-oh, is that foreshadowing? Either way, the Bachelor still has no clue what he's going to do. And he's still confused the next morning. "I went to bed last night thinking I knew what I wanted," says Grant. "But I woke up and I realized that I still don't."
In a perfect world, poor Grant would walk away from this whole situation and spend a few weeks alone, processing his feelings until he achieved some kind of clarity. But this isn't a perfect world, or the real world — it’s The Bachelor, and producers are damn sure not about to give this man the time he needs to make a good decision. Instead, they send Grant's dad to his room for one last pep talk.
"There's risk on both sides," Grant says. "I'm just scared that when I leave here that things will be different." Robert reminds him that "bumps in the road" are a part of marriage, and while someone will be hurt in this situation, "Life goes on." Most importantly, Robert assures Grant that no matter what, everything is going to be okay. And he's not wrong! The stakes may feel high, but they're not insurmountable.
What time is it, rose lovers? It's (promotional consideration provided by) Neil Lane time!
It's got to be hard for Grant to choose a ring since he's not sure which woman he's choosing for, but I'm sure the guy will do his best.
The afternoon continues to creep by. Litia and Juliana get all gussied up in their gowns and climb into the SUVs that will take them to the Proposal Platform™. Grant puts on his suit and tie and tucks the ring box in his pocket, but he’s not yet ready to leave his final confessional. "Give me a second, man," he tells the producer.
Your second is up, pal! An off-camera voice tells the Bachelor, "We do need to head out." He scoffs and shakes his head. "This is insane!" You’re right, Grant, it is insane! And it's completely, utterly false! Producers are imposing this fake deadline on their star because it makes for better television — and probably also because they want to film the proposal before the sun goes down.
But dang it, Grant, who f---ing cares what producers want? When will these contestants learn that they are truly the ones in control? What were producers going to do if Grant refused to leave until he was ready? They certainly weren't going to physically force him to get the SUV. They'd grumble, they'd cajole, they'd manipulate, but ultimately, they would just have to wait. (And go set up some lights at the Proposal Platform™ in case it gets dark.)
Alas, Grant is a good soldier, so he gets into the SUV as requested. Palmer is waiting for him when he arrives.
"Grant, here’s the thing," Palmer says. "Both women are on their way here right now. I really need to know which one to send first." That's not helping, Jesse!
Somehow, Grant gets it together and makes a decision. Maybe he flipped a coin? Just kidding; The Bachelor says he took his dad's advice and decided to follow his heart. And at last, it's finally, FINALLY time for us to learn who will NOT be getting engaged today.
