Bachelor Pad eliminated Jake Pavelka during Monday night's third episode of the second season of The Bachelor reality franchise spinoff in which 18 former bachelor and bachelorettes compete for a $250,000 cash prize.
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The 33-year-old pilot from Los Angeles, CA, and former The Bachelor: On the Wings of Love star was ousted based on voting by the competition's 13 remaining contestants thanks to game-changing twist in which Bachelor Pad host Chris Harrison announced only one man would be going home instead of one bachelor and one bachelorette -- mainly due in part to last week's twist when two women were eliminated.
"There's a lot of votes in for [Kasey Kahl]. I know there's some votes in for me. I don't know where the numbers lie. It's going to be neck and neck. Right now, it seems to be pretty even. I think the ballgame right here, right now, bottom of the ninth is tied but the bases are loaded," Jake said before Chris announced who would be receiving the night's final rose.
Bachelor Pad's third second-season episode began with former seventh-season The Bachelorette bachelor Blake Julian wanting to apologize to former fifteenth-season The Bachelor bachelorette Melissa Schreiber for getting caught flirting with former The Bachelor: London Calling bachelorette Holly Durst the week prior. He believed it was his only chance to stay in the game since Melissa had many women on her side, who could then in turn vote off Blake.
However, Melissa didn't want to hear it because she felt Blake betrayed and played her. Blake then grew worried it would be his time to go next if it wasn't for mostly everyone in the house anticipating Jake's exit.
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"I think I've made a huge mistake. After seeing that kind of outburst from Melissa, I don't see myself left with a lot of options. She's a live wire that's just flailing around on the ground ready to zap somebody and I feel like I'm covered in water. I just can't get away from it. If tomorrow in that competition I don't win that rose, I'm pretty much good as dead," Blake said.
The following day, former sixth-season The Bachelorette bachelor Kasey and former The Bachelor: On the Wings of Love bachelorette Vienna Girardi continued to express how badly they wanted to get rid of Jake. Blake admitted he really needed to win one of the two roses up for grabs during the competition in order to survive, but Jake also felt exactly the same way.
The contestants then participated in a synchronized swimming challenge. Chris explained the rules and told the men and women they'd be learning a synchronized swimming routine and performing it in front of a panel of judges, who would then critique the swimmers on their technical ability, effort and showmanship.
The bachelors and bachelorettes would be performing in two groups in which the men would swim together and then the women would perform together. They were all given a couple of hours to train and must perform in front of judges Karen Rosolowski and first-season Bachelor Pad winners David Good and Natalie Getz.
The man and woman who performed the best would win the challenge, receiving roses and separate romantic dates away from the house. Each person would be able to choose three people to take with them on the dates, and there would be one rose up for grabs on each date. The two winners could offer whomever they wanted the rose, giving them immunity and the ability to stay in the competition another week.
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Former fifth-season The Bachelorette bachelor Mike Stagliano won the competition for the guys -- his second victory in a row -- although Jake and former sixth-season The Bachelorette bachelor Kirk DeWindt were announced to be standouts. Former fifteenth-season The Bachelor bachelorette Michelle Money won on behalf of the women, although Holly and Vienna were labeled standouts as well.
After the challenge, Jake tried to befriend former The Bachelor: Rome bachelorette Erica Rose, and Erica decided she wanted to keep him around because she was starting to like him and thought he was "sexy." Jake pleaded with her to help him stay in the game, and as a result, she told the other girls to help her keep him in the competition. Melissa especially acknowledged her request.
Meanwhile, Kasey thought Vienna was being overly "nice and cordial" to Jake, which made him really angry. After all of Vienna's complaints about and tears over Jake, a frustrated Kasey couldn't understand why she was treating him as if he were her friend. The couple then got into a big fight and Vienna burst into tears.
"Her plan is to get him out of here and she's going against everything that we discussed... Do you want another public breakup on TV!? I'm pissed off. My girlfriend is so f***ing stupid sometimes. It's moments like this I want to get the hell out of here. She likes to be the center of attention; She likes to have the fame on her. This is how she is. It's funny because she calls Jake a famewhore, but she's more of a famewhore than Jake is," Kasey said.
Vienna told Kasey she hated Jake and Kasey suggested she was just trying to play the sympathy card by getting emotional. He told her to get over her issues with Jake because he was going through a lot as well with Jake being in the picture. He told her they needed to concentrate on their strategy and said he was tired of how Vienna was acting ridiculously.
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Later on, it became time for Michelle to embark on her date. She chose to take former fourth-season The Bachelorette bachelor Graham Bunn, Kasey and Blake with her, and they drove to a vineyard and had an outdoor lunch where they could chat, eat, relax and drink wine together.
Michelle pulled Blake aside to see where his head was at when it came to his relationship with her good friend Melissa. She felt Blake was leading her on and she told him he had to make amends with her or he would be "in trouble."
Michelle told him to assess the damage that was done and make everything okay between them. Blake knew then and there his fate in the game rested on whether he could keep Melissa happy -- a feat he wasn't thrilled about taking on.
Meanwhile, back at the mansion, Michael asked Vienna, former The Bachelor: On the Wings of Love bachelorette Ella Nolan and Holly to accompany him on his date. Although Holly accepted, she admitted she didn't want to go because she was confused about her relationship with Michael -- as they had been engaged but then broke up twice before. She was confused and was hoping to get some distance from Michael.
On Michelle's date, she was beginning to really hit it off with Graham. She had a crush on him and felt a physical connection with him, but she didn't know if he was even interested in her. Michelle told Graham she was starting to have feelings for him and wanted him to feel comfortable talking to her. Although Graham was a little closed off because he had previously gone through a bad breakup, Michelle was hoping they'd find common ground and get to know each other better.
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Michelle then offered Graham the date's rose and he was very appreciative, as he also was beginning to feel something for Michelle.
"Michelle is amazing and beautiful. I'm definitely having an insane amount of chemistry with her and you don't find that. That's very special, so I'm definitely open to starting something with Michelle," Graham said.
The next day, Michael brought his three ladies out on their date, and they all went horseback riding.
Meanwhile at mansion, Blake pulled Melissa aside and claimed he felt bad about the whole situation. He insisted he was clueless about how serious their relationship had become and wasn't flirting with anyone else to intentionally hurt her or be careless. Melissa, however, was convinced his actions were intentional.
They continued to state their cases and Melissa finally gave in. She apologized to Blake for bringing strategy and the game into their relationship, and they seemed to fix their issues at least for the time being.
On Michael's date, he and Holly got some alone time. Holly asked him if he missed her, and he admitted he missed her all the time. Michael explained how it felt so good to be around her again, and Holly said part of her wanted to go back with him and return to the way things were but was scared things wouldn't work out again.
Michael told Holly she always looked beautiful and while she felt good to be with Michael, she confessed that deep down inside her, she didn't think they were supposed to be together. She believed that relationships weren't supposed to be so difficult, and the fact she and Michael had fought so much and went through so many highs and lows was a sign maybe they weren't meant to be.
At the mansion, Jake was trying to rally the bottom tier of contestants who weren't in the main strong alliance, such as Blake, to vote off Kasey and Vienna. He and Blake decided to pair up, while Erica also agreed the power couple had to be broken up because they used people like pawns. The three contestants knew that a lot of work needed to be done to break the power-couple alliance.
Jake then kissed Erica and claimed he was going to do whatever it took to stay in the competition.
Meanwhile, Michael gave the date's rose to Holly and told her it was because he wanted to spend more time with her. The couple then enjoyed a private performance by former Rock of Love star and third-season The Celebrity Apprentice winner Bret Michaels.
"There was a huge part of me that missed Michael and thought there was a chance that we could get back together. It seems the longer we're around each other, the more we want to be around each other. There's a part of me that still loves Michael very much and there's a part of me that's still very angry because of the breakup. There's just a lot that's unresolved with Michael and I," Holly explained.
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"I still love Michael and I know Michael still loves me. I'm afraid maybe I am making a huge mistake by just having fun and being carefree, but I think if Michael and I are supposed to be together, then it'll happen no matter what."
That night, Kasey gave Vienna a promise ring but claimed Vienna "killed the moment" because she feared it was an engagement ring and spoke her mind. However, he let that slide and told her he loved her. He said he just wanted her to trust him and wanted to show her how sweet he could be. He knew they had to put their problems behind them in order to concentrate on the game.
Meanwhile, Melissa and Jake began to build an alliance, but Erica was a bit jealous and unhappy with how much time they were spending with each other. Erica said if a woman was going to be eliminated, she knew Melissa and herself would be the first targets. Therefore, she wanted to convince everyone that Melissa was a loose cannon so she could stay instead.
Melissa then got upset that Erica was telling people she was conspiring with Jake when she claimed she wasn't. Melissa was beginning to lose her cool, and Michelle said she wasn't sure if Melissa was stable enough to stay in the mansion. Melissa was thinking about quitting because she admitted she wasn't strong enough to handle all the drama, but Erica had to make her stay so she wouldn't be eliminated.
Erica expressed how she was sure none of the guys wanted to pair up with Melissa, so they would certainly vote her off before any of the other women. Meanwhile, Blake was starting to feel better about his position in the house and asked Melissa if she wanted to pair up with him for the subsequent challenges on a platonic level with no romantic ties.
"I just feel very betrayed by Blake. I feel like no one has my back right now except for Jake. I feel like Jake has never been dishonest with me, Jake has talked to me when I was upset, and I trust Jake," Melissa said.
Melissa sought out Jake for comfort and he expressed how she cared more about receiving love and respect than winning $250,000. Jake said he needed to keep Melissa around in order to remain in the game, so he tried to convince her to stay and bust the top power couple -- Vienna and Kasey. Jake gave Melissa a pep talk and told her to keep fighting and prove everyone wrong.
All the remaining bachelors and bachelorette then met with Chris, who explained what would be the game's second twist. He told the ladies they would all be safe from elimination and only one man would be leaving Bachelor Pad. He announced how the ladies and men must all vote for one bachelor whom they would like to see go home.
Vienna, Graham, Michelle, Holly, Michael, and Kasey all voted for Jake. Meanwhile Jake was hoping the six other contestants, including himself, would vote off Kasey. He needed every other person in the mansion to side with him.
Therefore, besides Jake, Erica, Blake, former seventh-season The Bachelorette bachelor William Holman, Melissa, Ella, and Kirk all needed to vote for Kasey to get rid of him. Erica admitted she was going to manipulate Melissa a little because they needed her vote and didn't want her to vote for Blake just because she was angry at him and wanted him gone.
Melissa insisted she was ready to vote out Kasey, and Erica began to happily brag that she and Jake would become the next power couple in the house if their plan turned out to be a success and Kasey got eliminated.
Kasey, who caught on to what the others were planning, talked to William to see what was going on. William told him everyone was voting him out because he stood in their way of $250,000. A frantic Vienna then attempted to convince Erica to change her mind because Kasey would never stab her in the back. Vienna claimed Kasey had been protecting her all along.
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However, Erica didn't seem to care nor was she falling for it. The last order of business the alliance of six had to do was convince Kirk to join their side and turn on Kasey, Vienna and his prior alliance. Blake told Kirk that Kasey would eventually betray him and joining their alliance would be for his own good.
Jake then confronted Kasey and said whatever was meant to be was meant to be. The men knew it was time for either one of them to go.
Kirk, who served as the swing vote, was unsure whether to turn on his strong alliance even though he knew it made sense to vote Kasey off. He was very nervous about the decision but ultimately decided to protect Kasey.
In the end, Kasey survived the second season of Bachelor Pad's third vote -- which Chris explained was the closest vote in the show's history -- and Jake was eliminated instead.
About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski