Our Bachelorette Blog!

While on his way to Jason and Molly’s wedding weekend, Bachelor host Chris Harrison chatted with PEOPLE exclusively about Monday’s upcoming finale, the scandalous season, Jake Pavelka’s top two and his happy ending. (“He’s still with the woman he chose, very much in love, and they’re doing great,” Harrison says!) He also dignified with a response our question about the state of his marriage, which on the Women Tell All special Rozlyn suggested was rocky. –Carrie Bell

It has been a fairly tumultuous season of The Bachelor.
It has been a bumpy ride, and it seems to have flown by because of all the scandals and controversies we’ve overcome. This one feels like it started a week ago.

Is it possible to find true love amid all that drama?
Considering I just pulled up to Jason and Molly’s wedding, I’m going to say yes. They went through their fair share of drama. As did Jillian and Ed who are here too, so, absolutely, Jake and the girl he chose can survive. 100 percent.

Does the first Bachelor wedding give you renewed belief in the show?
I’ve never put much stock in creating happy couples that last. We don’t guarantee anything. It’s up to these people. Some have been happy and some ended horribly. That’s life and love. It’s unpredictable. I have plenty of good friends who aren’t on TV, that don’t even watch TV, that are getting divorced. But that doesn’t mean I’m not ecstatic that they’re getting married. I pray all these couples last and get married. It reinforces what we do on the show.

Did you anticipate that Vienna and Tenley would be Jake’s final two?
Towards the end, yes. But had you put a gun to my head halfway through and told me to guess, absolutely not. Jake would probably say the same thing. He’s admitted that he had to convince himself several times to keep Vienna around because she was such a lightening rod for controversy. In the finale even, when he’s talking to his mom, he wonders about her. He knows how important it is for whoever he chooses to be able to mix with the family. She often made it easy to let her go.

Had Ali not left, do you think she’d be in the final two?
That’s the million-dollar question. She chose work over Jake. He got the answer he needed Jake has no regrets and he showed that by not taking her back.

What are the pros and cons of the final two?
With Tenley, it seems like something’s missing. They’re fun and nice together and the friendship is there, but she doesn’t challenge him enough. Jake’s a guy who likes to be challenged, and Vienna definitely does that. His parents’ concern is did she challenge too much or just to push his buttons? Is that sincere? They’re pretty similar in what they give Jake — the protection, security, unconditional love that he wants. He wants that doting wife who will always be there for him and they both have that characteristic. It comes down to the question of would Tenley challenge him enough and would Vienna challenge him too much? I think all guys want to be pushed around a little. We all need our ass kicked every once in awhile.

The show finishes shooting and the decision is made before audiences see anything or the tabloids dig up the dirt. Does that media scrutiny cause waves for the new relationship?
Of course. They’re only human. As much as they try not to pay attention, it upsets them. Just watching the show is hard because they have to watch Jake fall for others and kiss other people. Then throw in the tabloids trying to dig up dirt by offering major money to people who were in their lives 10 years ago and then threatening to cover them if they don’t come up with good dirt, and it gets really nasty. Any new couple has issues to deal with. To start on TV and then to put up on the garbage that’s printed makes it even tougher.

Even you aren’t immune to being called out, as Rozlyn accusing you of flirting with the guy’s wife proved.
Yeah, but I chose this life so I’m more prepared and this was the first time I was attacked in nine years. I just wanted to get that facts out there and let people judge for themselves. Consider the source. Her taking a swipe at me and then Ella was a defense mechanism. This is all part of her master plan. She’s been auditioning and asking for money to appear on shows and now the alleged tapes being leaked. My part in this play is definitely over.

Just for the record, any truth to her accusation? Are you and your wife still happy?
No and yes. She’s my date for the wedding and we’ll be down here all weekend. It takes more than that [comment] to break up 16 years of marriage.

Will you be attending Jake’s wedding anytime soon?
People will have to watch to see if he proposes, but I can tell you he does choose somebody. He’s still with the woman he chose, very much in love, and they’re doing great.

Ali Fedotowsky has had a change of heart about Vienna Girardi.

“When I was in the house, did I think Jake and Vienna could have a long-term relationship? No, I didn’t think that at all,” she tells Entertainment Tonight. “That is one of the reasons I was confused about him picking me and her. Now that I have had a chance to see them interact on the show, I do think they could have a lasting relationship.”

Despite clashing on the show, she says she has no hard feelings for Girardi — who, Us Weekly reports, had an affair with her best friend’s boyfriend in high school and drained $5,000 from a bank account she shared with her then-husband while he was deployed in Iraq. The new Us Weekly (out now) even reports that she even secretly has a boyfriend at home!

But Fedotowsky, 25, says, “I do think she is a decent person…. I just think she is a little bit young….” She also says she could see what Bachelor Jake Pavelka sees in Girardi, 25, that he doesn’t in 25-year-old Tenley Molzahn, the other finalist.

“I think Tenley is innocent, sweet, nice and much more conservative,” she says. “I look at Vienna and she is much more liberal, outgoing and likes to have a lot of fun and be silly.”

Does Fedotowsky ever regret leaving the show for work?

“When I saw Jake at the Women Tell All, I felt a lot of regret,” she says. “It was sad. Sometimes when I am sitting at my desk at work, I think I made the right choice. What I can say is that if I have to choose between love and work again, I might chose love. I have to start focusing on that more.”

It was another slap in the face for Ali Fedotowsky, who tells Ellen DeGeneres she’s “shocked” The Bachelor’s Jake Pavelka didn’t let her return to the show for a second chance to be with him.

Ali left last week when Jake wouldn’t promise her a rose after she told him that remaining on the show would jeopardize her job. Now, she says she was surprised by his confession that he had stronger feelings for the other women still vying for his heart.

“One of the reasons it was okay for me to leave in the first place was because I thought, if this is love and he really cares about me then he is going to come and find me,” she told Ellen in a segment of her talk show set to air Tuesday. “He’s a pilot, like fly to get me. That would be amazing. I was pretty shocked. I thought we had something really great.”
On Monday’s episode, Ali, a 25-year-old advertising manager, called Jake to tell him she made a mistake and wanted to return to the show. She suggested she fly to meet him in St. Lucia, where Jake was filming final episodes with the remaining contestants. But Jake turned her down again.

As for who will get the final rose, Ali predicts he will choose Vienna Girardi, even though she’d prefer to see her “good friend” Tenley Molzahn be the last woman standing.

“Watching actually the connection that Vienna and Jake have … I didn’t realize that was happening,” she tells Ellen. “They look like a good couple. So, I actually think it could be Vienna. I want it to be Tenley.”

And what about becoming the next star of The Bachelorette? “I don’t know,” she says. “That would be so nice. I would be so flattered.” –Catherine Donaldson-Evans

Hey there!

Gosh! I can’t believe we’re already at week seven. This journey is flying by!

This was such a beautiful episode. St. Lucia is gorgeous and being a beach guy, I was so excited to get to there. I had been to the island several times on cruises, but I never saw the island like this. One thing that I really noticed was how friendly the locals are, making for a great experience.

Let’s start with my date with Gia. We always have so much fun together. I sometimes think about what a mistake I would have made if I had sent her home that very first night — which I almost did. Many speculate that if Ali had not left to go back to work, Gia would have gone home at the rose ceremony in episode six. This is absolutely not true. I had no idea which girl wasn’t getting a rose, and fortunately I never had to make that decision.

I loved that we took that little fishing boat out to sea, and fortunately for me I’ve driven boats all my life, but this small boat was hard to maneuver! And poor Gia, with her beautiful hair, had to endure the rain all day long. We may have spent the day soaking wet, but I think it only added to the romance. One of the funniest moments that happened all season happened on this date. It was later in the day and neither of us had eaten anything. As Gia and I walked the streets we saw this lady selling cooked chicken on an open-air grill. We walked over and I could tell Gia was salivating. That’s when Gia looked to the side of the grill and saw a bunch of chickens. Her smile quickly turned to a frown. Needless to say, we didn’t eat chicken that afternoon. We had such a great date though, and we got to see a really cool side of the island.
Speaking of cool parts of the island, my date with Tenley was breathtaking. Tenley had never flown in a helicopter so it made it all the more special taking her on a two-hour tour. If you ever go to Saint Lucia, this is an absolute must. When the helicopter landed, it was a pretty long walk to the sugarcane mill through the rainforest. I got us lost, but we discovered starfruit, ate it right off of the tree and decided It tastes a lot like a grape! I felt so bad for Tenley though because all during our picnic, little ants were biting her legs … and mine. Our dinner was so romantic and the setting was incredible. Tenley was so affectionate that evening and we kept kissing all through dinner. I don’t even remember if I had one bite of food! As we danced under the gazebo there were bats swooping down catching bugs. It was a little hard to concentrate on just dancing. Lol! It was nice to get back to the cozy fantasy suite with her. We talked all night long.

The pirate ship with Vienna was awesome! We felt like two kids together playing. I’ve never gotten to make someone to walk the plank before but I decided I would dive in right behind her. We realized jumping in was a bad idea when we found ourselves more than 200 yards behind the boat and quickly getting carried away further by a strong current. It was hilarious. Some fisherman came up in a smaller boat and picked us up and brought up back to the pirate ship. Vienna was so funny that day. I love that she makes me laugh.

We had very serious conversation at dinner though. It may sound silly but I really wanted to know what was with all of her car wrecks and if she really understood the value of a dollar. I learned that four of the accidents were not her fault. I’m still not sure if anybody should ever let her borrow their car though!

I was having the most amazing week, really getting to know the women on a much deeper level and then I got the call from Ali. It definitely was not what I was expecting and it broke my heart all over again. Everything about me wanted to tell her, “Come! Come right now!” But she left at a very critical time in this journey. In Los Angeles after she left, I was forced to close off my heart to her. I had to in order to move forward with the three women that I had left — three women that didn’t leave and that I was falling in love with. In order to bring Ali back, I would have had to eliminate two women at the rose ceremony and there was no way I could do that. I was in love with Ali and it was truly unfair that she had to make that decision. I will always love Ali and she will always have a great friend in me. But I believe things happen for a reason. All 26 of us grew and matured dramatically during this journey and I’m confident that Ali grew the most having to go through what she did.

The rose ceremony was awful. I remember not even wanting to go. I felt very protective over Gia and it made me feel about 2-ft. tall breaking her heart. There was nothing wrong with her either. And nothing really wrong with us, so telling her goodbye was very painful. I have had so many wonderful moments during this journey and this was definitely not one of them.

Next week, it’s Women Tell All time! I can’t wait to see how the girls are doing. And Rozlyn will be there! That should be interesting.

The snow has all the airlines running late and canceling flights. Remember, the flight crews are just as frustrated as you are.

Fly safe everyone! –Jake Pavelka

**how does Vienna feel knowing that even though Jake picks her, he will “always love Ali”, her arch enemy?

We begin this week with some of your comments. In my vast experience as a blogger (about a year now), I have found it’s always around this time in the season where the natives get restless. For example, Tyler (Tue 2/9/10 1:14 AM) writes “Great Blog Chris!” Pretty simple and a very nice note — not extremely controversial, right? Then this follows from “Nobody” (Tue 2/9/10 9:18 AM): “There’s no need to swell the guy’s ego any larger than it already is. The man is nothing more than an ABC pawn. It must be painful to have to write this crap every week. But then most people will do almost anything for a buck. Whether CH actually believes the crap he writes is debatable, but he certainly likes how ABC and EW line his pockets for doing it.” I did some research and found out who “Nobody” really is. It’s actually John Mayer. Right after he gave that extremely ignorant interview to Playboy he posted that comment on the site. (Kidding, of course.) But at least “Nobody” gave me credit for writing this blog. “Viewer less and less” (Tue 2/9/10 12:59 PM) writes, “I am 100% sure Chris doesn’t write this, it’s written by staff and he edits and puts his final touches on it.” If I have a staff then why the heck am I sitting here on a Friday night watching this episode again and blogging? I need to hire a staff so I can fire them for making me do this by myself. The truth is, I do get some help each week. I want to thank my friend and producer Elan. I talk to him each week so I can get more details and the little anecdotes you guys love so much. My goal is to give you not only my take on this show but also some behind-the-scenes stories to make you feel more a part of the journey. But I assure you I write every word of every blog every week. Who else would write this poorly? As for you fans that come here for the fun and watch the show for the love story and the entertainment, please don’t worry about the negative posts — I don’t. In fact, I get a big kick out of them. Before I move on I want to give major props to “Craig” (Tue 2/9/10 1:38 AM). His comment was way, way too long to put in here but I love that so many guys are out there watching. Way to stand proud!

This week, we all took off to the beautiful island of St. Lucia. I had never been to this island and honestly had to search for it on my son’s globe to find out exactly where it was. Now that I’ve been there I can honestly tell you it’s as beautiful an island as I’ve ever been to. As much as I love the hometown dates, I equally love the exotic dates and the arrival of the fantasy suite card. I can’t remember a final three in recent history that all loved our Bachelor so much and vice versa. It really made for a compelling week. I found it interesting how the fantasy suite card meant very different things to each of them. For Gia, it was a chance to let down her guard and let Jake in closer to see the woman she really is. For Tenley, it was a huge step in her life to move past her ex-husband and prove to herself as much as anyone that she can love again. For Vienna, it was a chance to show Jake there is more to their relationship than physical chemistry. I talked to Jake this week and he told me he was shocked at how much he was falling in love with all three of these women. I think it was really difficult for Jake to see Gia leave because he certainly did have strong feelings for her. Looking back over the course of their relationship, it seems that it was a bit slower in developing than with the other women and I can’t help but wonder if that may have influenced his final decision.

And of course there was that phone call! I have to tell you I was impressed with how well Jake handled this situation. Once again instead of taking the easy way out and just inviting Ali back, he bit the bullet and spoke open and honestly with her. Even though it had only been a week, Jake had mentally and physically moved on in his heart and in his head. As for Ali, I feel for her. I knew that night back in Los Angeles that deep down she didn’t want to leave. It was a mistake that she will regret in some way the rest of her life. But as with all mistakes, it’s what you do with that lesson and how you rebound from it that really defines the person you are. I look forward to talking to her at the Women Tell All special to get her side of the story.

Speaking of the Women Tell All special, it airs next Monday night, Feb. 22, but we taped it this past weekend here in L.A. Yes, Rozlyn comes back and is on the show. I got to sit down with her and go step by step through the entire ordeal. You will also hear for the first time explosive new details from the other women. That’s all I will tell you for now other than that I’m extremely happy she showed up. Trust me when I tell you, you do not want to miss this show! In the meantime, don’t forget to follow me on Twitter at @chrisbharrison or find me on Facebook.

While The Bachelor fans were watching Monday night’s episode and wondering who’d get a rose, Gia Allemand, the unlucky woman who was sent home, was reliving the anguish of rejection all over again.

The New York swimsuit model tells Ellen DeGeneres in a segment of her show set to air Thursday that she was “heartbroken” over Jake Pavelka’s decision to let her go, but that she was finally moving on. Until she watched herself on TV getting sent home from St. Lucia, that is. “I was watching the show on Monday night I was like hysterical in my hotel room,” she says. “I was like oh my, that really hurt.”
Despite that setback, Allemand, 26, is looking forward to next week when she’ll go on her first date “in a while” — at least, since getting rejected by the hunky pilot. She said after returning to New York, she “really didn’t go out much,” but admitted that was as much because of show rules as getting over her pain. “I really couldn’t [go out and meet someone] anyway in that state of mind with my heart broken and everything,” she says.

Allemand’s pick for the last woman standing? She says while Tenley, 25, is “the obvious choice because [she and Jake] have so much in common,” Vienna, the 23-year-old from Orlando who’s made plenty of enemies on the show, is “a really good person” with undeniable chemistry with Pavelka.

St Lucia

Gia
-goes to the beach and has dinner
-I like Jake’s watch- whoa, swatch hahah
-Bad dancer Jake!
-Gia wants to hear “I love you” by the end of the date.. whoa
-Jake wants to “take care of Gia” awww, create somewhere where she can feel safe
-accepts the fantasy suite
-boring date
-Gia “could be the woman I propose to”

Tenley
-helicopter ride, lands in the middle of the rainforest
-tenley says she is in love with Jake
-Chelsea says Jake looks scared
-Goes into the ocean with Jake, making out like he did with Gia
-Christina: you have to be sure everything “grinds together”
-Tenley expects to have sex in the fantasy suite- we would never expect that
-dance= his fave part of the hometown… ewwww
-squeaky, little girl voice is annoying
-doesn’t say anything about Tenley like he did with Gia
-he says he cant wait for their first sunrise together
-boring date again
-can feel the passion behind the kiss- but we cant see it
-tells him she is falling in love with him

Vienna
-fun, light, almost immature
-she is in love with him, wants to tell him
-ew lickers!!
-sees a lot of himself in Vienna
-JAKE! You could have found a girl like Vienna in any bar.. why waste our time for her!?!
-Vienna wants a life partner
-We fastforward through them kissing and most of their date
-What kind of ring do you want?! Jake asks Vienna
-She asks and he says he could see her as his wife
-She tells him she loves her
-“get to know each other better” sounds whore-y Vienna
-she comes out in lingerie, trashhhy!

Ali asks to come back!
Oh snap, tells her no, that he has moved on with the other girls and was forced to push away his feelings for her

Vienna is a road whore
Jake (about Vienna): I think I am in love with her, I am falling in love with Gia
-doesn’t say these things about Tenley but keeps Tenley and gets rid of Gia

Chelsea: Gia, did you get your dress from Forever 21?

Vienna is wearing a junior prom dress at the rose ceremony- the length, the color, the train, the rhinestones.. ewww

Obviously we have a lot to talk about this week with Ali leaving. I will get to that below but in cases like this I often end up glossing over or completely skipping the rest of the episode and I don’t want that to happen this time. The hometown dates have always been one of my favorite parts of this show. Just like in life, on this show you can be fake or manipulate your way through many situations, but not when family is involved. When you bring your family into a relationship, no matter how hard you try, you just can’t hide who you really are. For better or for worse that’s who we are. That’s where we all came from. For some this is a source of pride and for others a source of embarrassment but bottom line, good or bad it’s family and that’s something you can’t fake or change.

I have been asked several times what I think about Jake’s final four. My initial response to that is, who the hell am I to judge who someone has or hasn’t fallen in love with? With that said, I understand that part of my job is often judging situations like this. I know Jake pretty well and I’ve gotten to know these women as well. I understand what Jake sees in each of them and I completely understand where he’s coming from when he says he’s falling in love with all four of them. They each represent something different he’s looking for, but in many ways they are all very much the same (not that Vienna and Ali would admit that). As I watched Jake with these families I was struck by how sincere and articulate he was. He is incredibly good at expressing his feelings to people and that is not an easy thing to do in any situation much less in this one. We saw this first with Gia’s family in New York. I have noticed Gia really open up over the last few weeks. She seems extremely vulnerable right now and there’s only one reason for that, she’s in love. Jake and I both admitted that we were guilty of judging this book (Gia) by its cover when we first saw her. We talked openly that first night that we weren’t sure she was a woman of substance but we couldn’t have been more wrong. Gia is a very interesting, complex woman and it’s easy to see why she and Jake have become so close.

Tenley has definitely moved up in Jake’s mind in the last couple weeks. Tenley is a great example of what I was talking about above with family. Jake had an idea about what Tenley had been through with her divorce but seeing and hearing her family talk about how much she was hurt, I think he got a whole new perspective for just what she suffered through and just how strong of a woman Tenley is. Tenley gives little hints of how betrayed she felt by using words like partner or team when referring to a husband. The talk with Tenley’s dad on the porch was especially touching. Maybe it’s because I have a daughter and can imagine some scared kid asking my permission to marry my daughter but I found it to be a very sincere touching moment. By the way, to any kids out there who might ever think that they want to ask for my daughter’s hand in marriage the answer is NO.

It’s too bad I can’t just talk about how amazing Ali’s hometown date was. That trip to her grandmother’s house was amazing. That was as an emotional moment as we’ve ever had on this show. There is no doubt in my mind that these two were falling in love with each other. Which makes what happened that much tougher and unfortunate. What would you do in the same situation? Would you choose a great career you know you have, or a chance at love you might have? That’s what Ali faced. I won’t go into great detail about Ali’s work situation. That’s not really for me to talk about. What I will tell you is what happened from my perspective. By the time I arrived at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills for the rose ceremony, Ali had already talked to Jake but hadn’t come to a final decision. When I sat down in deliberation with him I could tell he was confused and hurting. There are times on this show when you forget about the cameras and you truly feel like you’re just talking to and trying to help a friend and this was one of those moments. When Ali arrived that night I knew she hadn’t made up her mind, and I assumed she was going to want to talk with Jake again. When she asked, there was no question we were going to make that happen. This was a decision that couldn’t be left up to a rose ceremony. They needed to talk this out and come to a final decision, although in the end I’m not sure she really ever did. Jake and Ali sat in that room and talked for quite some time. I was sitting just outside and honestly, I lost track of time but it had to be at least two hours if not more.

I will say this for Jake, he really laid it out there for her. No, he didn’t profess his love and promise that she was the one but he did flat out say more than once “I don’t want you to go.” On more than one occasion during the conversation I was positive Ali was going to stay. At one point I almost walked in because they had pretty much come to that conclusion. But in the end she chose her career over Jake and chose to leave. She said it herself best, “I don’t know if I made the right decision.” Again I ask what would you have done? Choose a great career in a terrible economy or a shot at love you might have? That moment between the two of them at the limo was all anyone needed to see if there was any question as to how they felt about each other. As you saw, this led to another Bachelor first: no rose ceremony. It looked and felt awkward, didn’t it? The other women had been sitting around all night waiting and wondering what in the world was going on. Remember, they had no idea what Jake and Ali were doing. Nobody really knew how to act or what to do in that moment but I like it when it’s raw and awkward like that. Life isn’t always a pretty, polished Hollywood scene is it?

If you didn’t pass out watching Ali drive away, you heard we’re off to the beautiful island of St. Lucia. You also got to see more of the finale than we’ve shown you all season. A good tease of just how serious things will get with the final three and just how good the finale is going to be! I know there will be questions and comments about this week’s episode, so feel free to leave them below and I’ll try to answer as many as I can for you next week.

Hello All!

This week was incredible. Each of the four families I met were great but I have to admit — I was a little nervous!

New York City was a great place to visit first. Gia was completely energized being back in New York City and it really showed that she was finally in a comfortable, familiar environment. We had so much fun on our date! I loved sightseeing by boat, which was something I had never done there. Gia has a very loving family but I was wondering whether or not they would accept a Southern guy. Surprisingly, I had a lot in common with her dad. Her mom was very curious as to how I could be falling in love with Gia and three other women at the same time and it was clear it made her uncomfortable. Apparently, it made her need tarot cards! Let me just say, tarot cards are not my forte at all, but I played along. One thing that you didn’t get to see on Monday night was Gia’s mom explaining to me that it had been years since she had read someone’s cards. That’s why she employed the help of Reading Tarot Cards For Dummies. I about died laughing when she pulled that book out! I love Gia’s mom! That was definitely a highlight of the evening.
Getting to spend time with Ali in Williamstown, Mass., was great! This was a hometown visit I had really been looking forward to. Ali has an amazing heart. I realized how beautiful she was when she told me she cared for her grandmother during her illness. Ali has a heart for other people and cares for others more than she cares for herself. Granted, she can instigate a lot of drama with Vienna, but people do mysterious things in the name of love. Ali comes from a very loving family and I really felt comfortable there. After I met her mom, brother and sister earlier in the evening, I got to meet her dad briefly … such a great guy! It was hard to pull myself away from Ali that night; we shared some of the most passionate kissing I had experienced so far!

Well, I finally got to check Oregon off my list of places to go. Thank you, Tenley! It is such a beautiful area. I really loved her family a lot and her little sister is a doll! If I do marry Tenley, it’s very clear that I will gain a strong family with great values. Her dad is a very spiritual, successful and compassionate man and I gained a huge respect for him and the way he raised his two daughters. You may have seen a lot of tears, but they love to have fun, too! Off camera we moved all the furniture aside, salsa danced then jumped into the Jacuzzi. The highlight for me, though, was at the dance studio watching Tenley. I fell in love with her when she showed me her lyrical dance.

I was so excited to see Vienna. She always relaxes me and after a week of visiting families, I was ready to relax in a place I’ve always loved, Florida. On the riverboat, we kept daring one another to jump in with the alligators. Fortunately, no one took the dare. Of all the women left, I was really curious to see who in Vienna’s life taught her how to love so hard. It became clear that Vienna has grown up with a very strong example of what a marriage should be like. They’re a very tight unit and her father is a wonderful, loving man.

After visiting all the families, I felt really good about where I was in this journey. Then I got back to L.A. and the bottom dropped out. My heart crumbled when she told me her boss demanded her back at work. I didn’t actually think she would leave me. We talked about it for three hours that night while the poor women at the rose ceremony just waited. She actually didn’t have to be back at work for four or five more days but we were leaving the country the next morning, so she had to make a decision. I felt like she wanted me to make the choice for her, but I couldn’t. How could I live with myself if I told her, “No! You are not leaving me now!” and then realize a week or two later that she was not “the one.” I couldn’t make the decision for her. When she told me she was leaving, my heart stopped. I wish I could’ve had Mike Tyson punch me square in the jaw, because it would have felt so much better than what I feeling as I watched AliCat drive away that night.

What could I do? I had to regain my composure and focus on the amazing women I had left; three women that I have fallen in love with. Leaving the country felt like a clean slate. Next week we are in Saint Lucia! EVERYTHING changes. This is where the real emotions start to run wild. Relationships are solidified and become unstoppable.

Until next week everyone …

In the meantime, fly safe! –Jake Pavelka

Hometown Visits
1. Gia: New York

• Wow Gia- run to Jake then hug and leg wrap!
• Super cute pic with them kissing with the statue of liberty in the background
• Jake is nervous about meeting all the parents, his “potential future in-laws”
• Gia’s family at dinner are her mom, step-dad, step-brothers and half-brothers
• The mom starts with the questions right away- then takes Jake to talk alone
• Gia wants it to work out “so bad”
• **We are not sure what to think about the mom, she says she hopes she just met her future “son in law”- mom sees the love Jake has for Gia in his eyes, the mom loves Jake
• The step-brothers hair is horrible, he threatens to hunt Jake down, not afraid to “break a few legs”
• Jake says he is not jealous but protective
• Jake and Gia talked on the stoop at the end of their date

2. Ali: Williamson, Mass

• Relationship with Ali is getting “strong”
• Kisses her on the cheek and says he missed her
• Ali likes “laughing with Jake”, “fun and a friendship” but also romantic because they want to kiss each other
• Awkward taking Jake to her grandma’s house
• Ali’s family is her mom, sister, little brother
• Mom checked out Jake online 2 days before
• Where are all the dads?!
• Jake tells the mom he has been surprised by Ali- asked how the mom would feel about him asking Ali to marry him, mom is cool with it
• Mom could see sparkle in her eye when Ali looks at Jake, gives complete support, looking forward to planning a wedding
• Ali: if you asked me today, I would say YES
• Says Ali “could be the girl”

3. Tenley: Newberg, OR
• Jake says their core values and goals in life match
• Cute jacket, Tenley!
• Tenley wants a man to take the reins but wants to make it about the “we” and Jake agrees
• Tenley is a dancer- choreographed for Jake to the walking down the aisle song! Wow
• Tenley dropped the F bomb— forever
• Tenley’s family is her mom, dad, and sister
• Jake wants to know if she is over her ex, thinks the family will have insight
• Dad takes Jake away, crying dad- red alert!
• The mom says Tenley is ready to move on, but she will have emotional reproductions
• Asks the dad for permission and he gives it but he tells that includes some responsibility- Jake accepts that, gets teary-eyed and hugs dad

4. Vienna- Sanford, FL
• Christina: she is white trash! Likes Vienna’s muffin top, haha
• Vienna’s family is her mom, dad, and sister
• Jake says he would treat Vienna like a princess
• Likes that Vienna is blunt, the family confirms this which reassures Jake that she is being herself
• Jake says he is Falling for Vienna, its so real
• Wow Vienna’s dad walks in on them making out on the bed in her room with the door closed
Overall we found the hometown dates to be BORRRRRRRRINGGGGGGGGGGG

Back in LA for the rose ceremony,
Ali comes to Jakes room to pull an Ed
Jake says LIFE IS ABOUT MINIMIZING REGRETS
Tells Ali he cannot guarantee that he will put a ring on her finger at the end
She says she will give him her decision at the rose ceremony
Asked everyone’s dad for permission to marry their daughters except Gia
Sooo much pressure for Jake, but the decision is up to Ali
Feelings for Vienna are strong, natural spark, goes out of her way to make him feel good
Jake- I could see Gia as my wife, sayins him and Tenley are in sync
Says he thinks he found live but the decision is not his to make- does that mean he would have picked Ali?
Ali looks like she is going to barf when she goes to talk with Jake- she is leaving….
Jake tells her he doesn’t want her to go, she tells him that he is falling in love with her
She said she was going to say but then she saw the girls? Weird-o
Tells her she would have gotten a rose tonight, they have something special
***She would have won if she stayed
We are so over this with Ali, leave and get it over with
Jake cries