'Bachelor Pad' cast votes off Jessie Sulidis and Craig McKinnon

Bachelor Pad eliminated Jessie Sulidis and Craig McKinnon during Monday night's broadcast of the second episode of The Bachelor franchise's new Big Brother-like reality competition in which former bachelor and bachelorettes compete for a $250,000 cash prize.


Jessie, a former The Bachelor: On the Wings of Love bachelorette, was eliminated based on votes cast by Bachelor Pad's seven remaining former The Bachelorette bachelors while Craig, a former sixth-season The Bachelorette bachelor, was ousted based on voting by the competition's 10 remaining former The Bachelor bachelorettes.

Bachelor Pad's second episode began with the 17 remaining contestants participating in a pair of pie eating contests -- one for the bachelors and one for the bachelorettes. 

Gia Allemand and Jonathan "Weatherman" Novack won the contests, giving them immunity from the competition's second elimination vote, as well as the ability to select three opposite-sex contestants to accompany them on private dates in which they would then award an immunity rose to one of the three contestants they selected.

The results immediately put the bachelorettes' vote target back on Craig, whom the women had previously identified as their initial vote target but ended up saving himself from elimination by winning the competition's first immunity contest.


However prior to making their date selections, Gia and Jonathan met to talk about their choices and Gia explained that the Bachelor Pad house was splitting into two "insider" and "outsider" groups based on which contestants already knew each other via the show's unofficial reunion trips and they would have to think strategically if their "outsiders" group was going to win the showdown.

"[Natalie Getz], [Elizabeth Kitt] and [Tenley Molzahn], they're going to vote as a group and they're going to try and keep their guys there," Gia told Jonathan, referring to bachelors David Good, Jesse Kovacs and Kiptyn Locke.  "It's going to be a popularity contestant until the end... we have to break down that group."

"You have to keep someone safe like [Krisily Kennedy], or like [Peyton Wright] or [Gwen Gioia].  One of those three you have to give your rose to -- you have to build your support system."

Jonathan then picked Gwen, Peyton and Ashley Elmore and went on his date with them.  While Jonathan used the date to share the plan he and Gia had developed to target the "insiders" with Peyton and Ashley -- who both claimed to be on board with the plan -- he ultimately gave his immunity rose to Gwen, who he admitted he had an (unrequited) crush on.

Meanwhile, back at the mansion, Gia talked with Krisily and Nikki Kaapke, the remaining "outsider" women, and threesome came up with a plan take out one of the "insider" bachelors by having Gia give her immunity rose to Craig -- who was the only other absolute outsider besides Jonathan among the seven remaining bachelors.


"I have the power to be able to change the game.  I get to be able to give someone a rose and if I give the rose to Craig, the insiders' strategy goes down the drain," Gia boasted afterward.

The next morning, Gia shared the plan to give Craig her rose and team with Gwen, Krisily, Nikki, and Peyton to target an "insider" bachelor at the next vote with Jonathan.  While Jonathan wasn't thrilled with the idea that he'd be allying with Craig -- who had bullied him during their time on The Bachelorette's seventh season -- he agreed to sign on to the plan.

In addition, Gia and Peyton also warned Jonathan that he couldn't trust Ashley despite what she had told him during their date the prior night.

"Do not trust Ashley... do you want to go home next week?" Gia told him.  "I told you not to take Ashley yesterday... she does not like you... you didn't f--king listen to me and now your head's all f--ked up!"

"I think Ashley's on the other team.  She's not with us," Peyton said.  "She lied to our faces last night." 


"Yes she is... you're being so naive, she doesn't like you... she just made fun of you," Gia added.  "You're so blinded by it all... I love you and I want you here.  You have to be friends with Craig, he's on your team.  And stop talking to the other girls, they're jading your head.  We're your group now, and you and Craig are our group -- and I'm going to try and get [Wes Hayden] onto our group."

"Okay, I'm on the same page as you," Jonathan finally replied.  "I'm with you."

Gia then selected Craig, Wes and Jesse Beck for her own date -- although she pretended to have selected Jesse via a random draw.

"I'm inviting Jessie tonight because we need him on our side.  He's not part of the insiders and I have to show him that he needs to start working with the Weatherman and Craig," Gia said of Jesse, who regardless of his participation in the show's reunion gatherings, had already nonetheless quickly begun a romantic relationship with Natalie, one of the "insider" contestants.

However Gia failed to follow through with the "outsiders" plan during her date.  Although she used their private one-on-one time to tell Craig that she had formed an alliance with Gwen, Krisily, Nikki, Peyton, and Jonathan and promise that he would be receiving her immunity rose, Gia ultimately decided to give her rose to Wes after he revealed he had a huge "infatuation" with her and was in love with her.


"I just messed up the whole gameplan.  I have a lot of people mad in the house," Gia said afterwards.  "I never expected to meet someone that I thought was so amazing and I think Wes is so amazing."

"I just had to do the right thing, I wouldn't have this predicament if it wasn't for Wes," she added, apparently referring to the fact that Wes had "coached" her to her win in the pie eating contest.  "Yeah, I made a mistake.  But morally, I did the right thing."

In addition, Gia also used her date to attempt to convince Jesse to join the "outsider" alliance despite his relationship with Natalie.

"Natalie is a cool chick... but you know, it's a game [and] once she has to go... it's not going to be hard for me to do that," he told her.

"You're sure?" Gia asked.


"Of course.  I'm here for $250,000, that's really it.  And it meet you," he replied.

"Okay, I want to trust you, don't shoot smoke up my butt!" she said.

While the "insiders" group of David, Elizabeth, Jesse Kovacs, Kiptyn, Natalie and Tenley were all thrilled to learn Wes had received the rose, Gia's allies weren't as happy.

"It was stupid, it was a stupid choice.  For her not to have stuck together with us, it's like the cool kids have majority and the majority vote wins," Krisily said.

However Gia and her allies quickly regrouped when she explained that Gwen, Krisily, Nikki, Peyton and herself would still control five of the ten votes in the upcoming bachelor elimination vote and that, as the rose-holder, Gia would get to cast the tie-breaking vote in the event of a tie. 

Meanwhile, Jessie -- who felt she had friends in both groups but had begun to develop a romantic relationship with David -- decided to tell David about Gia's bachelorette alliance.


"All the new people have formed an alliance.  I'm just letting you guys know... cause they are all about being on the team and voting the old cast off," she told him.

"Wow, I didn't even know this team was forming," he replied.

"Yeah, what's important is I'm going to be on both... you guys have to keep me... I have inside information," Jessie said.

"I'm keeping you.  Trust me.  you're not even in the Top 3 [to go] right now," David replied.  "I got a lot of pull with the guys." David replied.

"I need to keep it so that I can be on your team and then I can pretend to be on their team, so that I get the inside scoop," Jessie said before they "sealed" their pact with a hot-tub makeout session.

However Krisily -- who had barely survived the show's first elimination vote and was likely to be on the chopping block again -- overheard their conversation and immediately warned Kiptyn about Jessie duplicitous behavior.


"This game is really tough.  for the first time, I realized Jessie is someone I can't trust, and it really surprised me," Kiptyn said afterwards.

In addition, Jesse Beck began to question his relationship with Natalie, who had admitted she'd "made the rounds" with many of The Bachelor's former bachelors during the show's reunion gatherings.

"Natalie is a cool girl... but she's super flirty and I think she will definitely have Dave or Kovacs' back before me because those are her boys," he said after the pair decided to end their Bachelor Pad romance.  "I'm an outsider [and] Natalie's definitely a cool kid.  At the beginning I didn't care if people grouped us together saying that her and I were in a relationship, but now that it's getting further into the game I realize being in a relationship is not a good idea."

"I really fell for Jesse and he broke me heart," Natalie said.  "I'm just over it... I'm sick of having feelings for guys, I just need to focus on the money, that's all I'm worried about now."

David then met with Jessie during the cocktail voting party and warned her that the men were considering voting her off due to their belief that she was playing both sides and wouldn't vote for Craig, resulting in Jessie -- who was shocked to hear she was a vote target -- pledging to vote for Craig in an attempt to prove her loyalty.

"I don't understand how this [is happening]," she sobbed to David.


"I'm sorry, I don't know what else to tell you.  Let me go in there and talk to [Jesse Kovacs] and Kiptyn," he replied.

However, while David was able to convince Jesse Kovacs to continue with their prior plan to target Krisily, Jessie still drew the most votes during the bachelors' vote and was eliminated from the competition.

"I can't believe this is over.  My whole plan back fired and I guess I screwed up somewhere along the way and everyone turned against me.  Maybe I should have just kept me mouth shut and just sailed along like everyone else did," Jessie said after her elimination.

"I don't even know where me and Dave stand now.  I liked him and I trusted him and I'm hoping that he did the right thing.  I hope that I fell in love in the house and I hope that this is real and not just strategy.  I guess we're soon to find out."

Meanwhile, Gia got Gwen, Krisily, Nikki, and Peyton to all agree that they would vote for Kiptyn and she would then eliminate him from the competition via her 5-5 tiebreaker vote.  However, Nikki decided she couldn't do it after Kiptyn learned of his target status and David convinced him to approach her with a half-hearted plea that she go with her "gut."

"I'm predicting the worst.  I'd promised the girls that I would vote Kiptyn off, but when it came down to [doing it] my heart and my guts [were] telling me, 'Don't send Kiptyn home,'" Nikki cried after she betrayed her allies and joined Ashley, Elizabeth, Jessie, Natalie, and Tenley in voting for Craig.  "From this point on, I'm not trustworthy to the other girls.  I am so alienated it's sad."


Although it was the second time that Gia had failed to deliver on her promises to him, Craig was still surprised by his elimination.

"It's tough to feel comfortable when you're an outsider, I guess.  I knew I was on the chopping block -- it could have gone each way -- and I trusted a few people, I guess, that obviously didn't follow through," he said afterwards.  "Gia told me up front that she had everything in control, and for sure you're safe.  She seems like she lied about it."






About The Author: Steven Rogers