By: Rebecca Capozzi | Staff Writer
Picture this: It’s a cool, summer night. You light candles in your house and wait for that special someone to come over. You two order food, play board games, and talk about life for hours. No distractions. No awkwardness. Just forming a connection with someone who you really care about. Doesn’t that sound great? Like something that you could do with the love of your life? Well, Tayshia is starting to have experiences like this with some of the men. Yeah, it’s fun to go on extravagant dates, but at the end of the day, you want to be with someone who you can just wind down and have a good time with.
This conversation led them to an even deeper conversation: the events of 2020.
Tayshia first experienced this with Ivan, who won a one-on-one with Tayshia by writing and performing a love song that spoke to Tayshia’s heart. For the most part, the other men did absolutely terrible. It was a close call between Ivan and Demar, but Ivan sat next to Tayshia as he performed his song, which caused Tayshia pick him. I was very curious as to how this date was going to go, since Ivan seems very quiet and shy. However, after hearing about his past and what he has gone through, my heart opened up to him, and I know Tayshia’s did as well.
After playing “the floor is lava”, Twister, and ordering the biggest ice cream sundae that I’ve ever seen in my entire life, Ivan and Tayshia sat down to talk. Tayshia asked about his family, and he explained some of his hardships. He told Tayshia how he set an example for his little brother, and how when he went to college, his little brother took a turn for the worse and ended up in prison. He had to watch his brother’s child try to touch him through glass, which absolutely broke his heart. Ivan says that he does not judge anyone because of what he went through with his brother. His brother is a great person who just made some mistakes, and he wishes that everyone was able to see him in this way. Tayshia was very touched by this story. This conversation led them to an even deeper conversation: the events of 2020.
Both Tayshia and Ivan express how some of the most significant events of 2020, COVID-19 and the murder of George Floyd, changed them as people. Tayshia said that when she was seeing the Black Lives Matter movement becoming greater and greater, she realized how much she was trying to fit in with her community, which is primarily white. She said that she finds it so beautiful that so many people from so many backgrounds have come out to support BLM, and that she even met people who are African American and Mexican, just like her. Ivan had very similar experiences to Tayshia when it came to seeing the BLM movement bring so many people together. This was a very emotional and beautiful conversation. In her interview, Tayshia said, “Finding so much in common with Ivan is really special to me.”
I think that this is the first conversation that I have seen on a Bachelor Franchise show that has related to current events. I think that this shows just how impactful the events of 2020 have been on people’s lives. It is so important for shows to show the real sides of people’s lives just like this. It shows how real these events are, and how they are really impacting everyone. This part of the episode was so touching and something that I have never witnessed while watching an episode of one of the franchise’s shows.
The group date of this episode was a “truth or dare” date. During the day portion of the date, the men completed a series of dares such as drinking gross smoothies and having Chris Harrison autograph their bodies. The last dare was that the men had to eat a hot pepper and “propose” to Tayshia while their mouths were burning. This was all fun and games for everyone except Bennett. He said that getting down on one knee was so real for him, and that he felt a flood of emotions that he had not felt up to that point. During the afterparty, the “truths” part of the date, Bennett told Tayshia that getting down on one knee brought him a lot of emotions because he actually proposed to a woman when he was 18 years old. They never got married, but were very close to. They had a very nice conversation about falling in love at a young age, since they both have that in common. By the end of their conversation, Bennett was convinced that he was going to get the group date rose. Unfortunately, she gave it to Zac instead. Bennett basically had to pick his jaw off of the floor because he was so shocked that he did not get it.
Do you know who had a great one-on-one during this episode? Ed and Chris Harrison! Ed wanted some extra time with Tayshia, so he walked around the resort to find her room. He thought he found her room, so he knocked on the door, and was surprised to see Chris Harrison on the other side! Chris let him in, poured him a glass of wine, and sat him down. Their conversation was not aired, but I can only imagine that Chris gave Ed some wonderful life advice, because what else would Chris Harrison do?
This was very interesting timing, because Ben was looking for Tayshia’s room at the exact same time. The producers made the whole situation very suspenseful, as everyone was wondering who was going to get to Tayshia’s room first. Unlike Ed, Ben was able to find Tayshia’s room. He apologized to her for not pulling her away that one night and for her being disappointed in him. She accepts his apology, and they end up having a great night of just talking and drinking champagne. Ed, play “That Should Be Me” by Justin Bieber.
Tayshia had such a great night with Ben, so I was hoping that those good vibes would follow into the cocktail party and rose ceremony. Unfortunately, the complete opposite happened. We can thank Noah for that.
Essentially, Noah took his one-on-one time with Tayshia to tell her completely false information that he knew would cause her to be upset with the other men. He decided to tell Tayshia that the men do not think that she is taking this process seriously and that they say that she gives out roses for show. Tayshia was absolutely devastated when she hears this. She was nearly in tears telling Noah that she was so upset that the men are questioning her integrity. Am I the only one who was screaming at my TV, begging Tayshia to not believe Noah?
After hearing this, Tayshia confronted all of the men and told them how angry she was that they were questioning her integrity, and that if they believe that she is not here for the right reasons that they should just walk out. I was cheering her on because she showed the men how strong and incredible she is, but I was also so frustrated because she had no reason to confront them in the first place. Unfortunately, she had no idea that Noah had lied to her.
When she left, the men were so confused. They were all saying, “Did I miss something?!” They were trying to figure out who had said these things to Tayshia, and Noah owned up to it! Noah was already not liked among the guys, so this only made it worse. In Noah’s interview, he says “I don’t want to be the villain of this, but I’m not changing.” I’m sorry, but if you are not trying to be the villain, that what are you trying to be?
Besides the few sour apples in this group, Noah being at the top, I think that Tayshia has a great group of guys. Most of them seem so genuine and sweet, definitely a group of guys that I wish were fighting for my heart! I honestly have no idea who Tayshia can possibly end up with. I can honestly see her ending up with several of the men! I think that it is going to be incredibly hard for her going forward, since she has formed a connection with so many of these men. I am just hoping that she sends the pot stirrer home very soon…
Cover Image: “Rose” by az1172 is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0
