By: Rebecca Capozzi | Staff Writer and Treasurer
12 men left. It is getting serious. It is that time of the season when the men start to admit their true feelings for Tayshia and we study her face to see how she reacts! It is always interesting and surprising to see her reactions! Tayshia’s relationships with the men are getting serious and real feelings are beginning to develop. It is crazy to think that just a few weeks ago, these men were fighting for Clare’s heart, but now they are falling in love with Tayshia.
During this episode, former bachelorette, JoJo Fletcher, replaces Chris Harrison! Chris Harrison had to leave in order to move his son into his freshman year of college at Texas Christian University. Imagine moving into college and seeing Chris Harrison in your room?! I would freak out! Unfortunately, the only shock that I had on my freshman move-in day was all of my roommate’s Red Sox gear. That is not a Yankees fan’s favorite thing to see… That’s what I get for going to college in New England, I guess.
Anyway, the episode begins with a conversation between Tayshia and JoJo. They both discuss how stressful this process can be and how hard it can be to make the decision to let certain men go. JoJo makes sure to tell Tayshia to not overthink her decisions and to trust her gut. She also tells Tayshia to not be worried about hurting the men’s feelings, since she has to do what is best for her. I hope that this conversation helped Tayshia to be more confident in her abilities as the bachelorette. She does not need to be worrying about the men’s feelings when her feelings are just as important. If she is not feeling it with a guy, she has to rip the band aid off and send him home.
“This is what happens when you date real men.”
Tayshia’s first one-on-one date of the episode is with Zac. She has had a strong relationship with Zac from the very beginning and it has only gotten stronger. Even though Tayshia has strong feelings for Zac, this date was hard for her at first. They were doing a wedding photoshoot. This is a touchy subject, as she was married not too long ago. She was very anxious and uncomfortable while looking at all the wedding dresses and then putting one on. But Zac helped her to get through it. When she was questioning whether or not to put the vail on, he looked at her and said, “We can laugh through it together.” Tayshia really appreciated this. As a matter of fact, he was just as uncomfortable as Tayshia was. It turns out that he has been married before as well. His marriage ended for reasons that he explained to Tayshia while they were at dinner. I will be the first to say, I was not prepared for what he shared.
When Tayshia and Zac began talking about why their marriages ended, Zac shared his deep past. After he graduated from college, he was diagnosed with a brain tumor. This caused him to go down a dark path. He began to do drugs and started drinking too much. He also started hanging out with the wrong crowd. When he got arrested for a DUI, it was his wife’s last straw. This resulted in her filing for divorce. There were many days when Zac did not know if he was going to make it to the next. He ended up trying to steal one of his dad’s checks because he was desperate for money. Fortunately, he got caught. This was when he knew that he needed to change his life. He went to rehab for 4.5 months, and his life has since been changed for the better.
Such a deep and dark story would scare many women away. However, Tayshia only gained respect for Zac. She said, “Your story is what makes you special.” Zac has so much hope for this journey. He said that he believes that his life is a miracle, so he believes that this experience could be a miracle too. Well, this may just be a miracle in the works. In an interview, Tayshia said, “Zac definitely embodies all of the qualities that I’m looking for.” Tayshia also says that she has shortness of breath and butterflies in her stomach. No, this is not her experiencing COVID symptoms. She is falling in love!
The group date of this episode is an art date. When the group walks into the room, they see naked models posing to be drawn. The men were instantly uncomfortable. Blake said, “This is the third time that I’m getting naked on this journey.” Luckily, they were not the ones getting naked! Well, except one person, but we’ll get into that later.
The first task of the group date is to draw the naked couple. Bennett steals the seat next to Tayshia from Noah, adding to the tension that there already is between them. The men were very mature in the way that they drew the naked couple. Hopefully you could sense the sarcasm in that statement. They were not very mature. Blake also took the opportunity to show off his sense of humor when they were told to create clay pieces while blindfolded. I will let you imagine what he decided to sculpt.
The final part of the date was to make self-portraits. This ended up being more serious and emotional than anticipated. Brendan makes a picture frame and says that Tayshia can one day complete the picture. Ivan makes a puzzle and tells Tayshia that she can be the final piece of the puzzle. These were all very emotional and meaningful. However, Ben’s was definitely one that we will all remember. He stood in front of everyone completely naked. Yes, completely naked. While he was standing there, he said, “What you see is only a smart part of who I am.” Well, it is good to know that he is more than muscle, because WOW!
After the presentations, Tayshia had to leave the room. She was so emotional. She could not believe how real all of the men were. She said, “This is what happens when you date real men.” When she went back to the men, she told them how emotional that had made her, and that she is the “luckiest girl in the world.”
At the after party, the men open up to Tayshia even more. Ben shared his tough past with Tayshia. He told her that he had an eating disorder for many years. He had bulimia for 10 years during his 20s because he was so insecure about his body. Tayshia really appreciated how Ben opened up to her, so she gave him the group date rose. After giving out the group date rose, Tayshia said something about the controversy between Bennett and Noah. She said, “Noah and Bennett, there’s something going on between you two, and I am going to get to the bottom of it.” This literally come out of nowhere. But, she’s right.
So, before the cocktail party and rose ceremony, she tells Noah and Bennett that she needs to meet with them beforehand. In the clips of Bennett getting ready, it shows him boxing a gift. Obviously, everyone thought that this gift was going to be for Tayshia. But no, the gift was for Noah. Each of the items in the box represented something. The red bandana represented that there should be no bad blood between them. The mustache socks, Bennett says, represents how the only place for a mustache is on his feet, not on his face. Then, there was a book about emotional intelligence. Noah is offended by this, but Bennett says, “I’m not trying to belittle you, I’m trying to love you up.”
When Tayshia arrived, she told the men that she was fed up with the drama. Noah, of course, decided to victimize himself. Honestly, I think that they are both irritating that that they should both go home. I hope that Tayshia feels the same way. Unfortunately, we will not find out until the next episode. This episode ended with Tayshia angrily saying, “What’s in the box?” So, next episode should be very interesting.
I would also like to take a moment to acknowledge that fan favorite, Eazy, got sent home during this episode. Tayshia may not have been falling for him, but Bachelor Nation definitely was. This is not a goodbye to Eazy, it is a “see you later.” Fingers crossed that he is on Bachelor in Paradise!
Cover Image: rose by Waldemar Jan is licensed under CC1.0 Universal (CC1.0) Public Domain Dedication
