'Bachelor Pad' eliminates Kalon McMahon and Lindzi Cox and determines final four couples

Bachelor Pad eliminated Kalon McMahon and Lindzi Cox during Monday night's sixth episode of the third season of The Bachelor reality franchise spinoff in which 15 former bachelor and bachelorettes and five "Super Fans" compete for a $250,000 cash prize.


Kalon, a 27-year-old luxury brand consultant from Houston, TX, who previously competed on The Bachelorette's eighth season, and Lindzi, a 27-year-old development manager from Bellevue, WA, who previously competed on The Bachelor's sixteenth season, were eliminated based on votes cast by Bachelor Pad's 10 remaining third-season cast members after host Chris Harrison announced a new format in which they'd be competing and voting as couples rather than male and female individuals.

"Coming into Bachelor Pad, I didn't come into this for love and I didn't think I could have such strong feelings for someone after just a couple weeks of this crazy adventure we've been on. And I can honestly say that I'm really falling in love with you now," Lindzi told Kalon after he jumped into her limo once the couple departed their separate ways from the house.

"I'm falling in love with you too," Kalon replied.

"I haven't had feelings like this, honestly, ever. It is a completely different kind of emotion and attraction than I've ever experienced before and I thought I'd find out here. A lot of them might think we're leaving here with nothing, but honestly, as I look at the group we're walking away from, I firmly believe we're the biggest winners in Bachelor Pad... I can't judge anyone else. All I know is how I feel about you and I can't imagine loving anyone more than I do you."


Bachelor Pad's sixth third-season episode began with the remaining 10 former bachelor and bachelorettes returning from the fifth broadcast's Rose Ceremony in which Michael Stagliano and Erica Rose were eliminated.

Michael's former partner Rachel Truehart, a 27-year-old executive assistant from New York, NY, who previously competed on The Bachelor's sixteenth season, was distraught because her boyfriend was forced to leave the house right when things were getting good between them. She didn't know if she could succeed on the show or enjoy the experience without him.

Since Rachel and Nick Peterson, a 27-year-old trainer from Tampa, FL, who previously competed on The Bachelorette's seventh season, were the only individuals left in the house without partners, they had to pair up. 

Meanwhile, Chris Bukowski -- a 25-year-old corporate sales director from Chicago, IL, who previously competed on The Bachelorette's most recent eighth edition with Emily Maynard -- was well aware everyone hated him in the mansion and wanted him gone but Sarah Newlon, a 28-year-old bar manager from St. Louis, MO, who previously competed on The Bachelor's eleventh season.

Blakeley Shea, a 34-year-old aesthetician from Charlotte, NC, who previously competed on The Bachelor's sixteenth season; Jaclyn Swartz, a 27-year-old account manager from Newton, MA, who previously competed on The Bachelor's sixteenth season; and Ed Swiderski, a 33-year-old technology consultant from Chicago, IL, who previously competed on The Bachelorette's fifth season, were terrified Chris and Sarah could potentially win the week's challenge and save themselves.


The following day, the remaining five couples got into a school bus and were brought to a performing arts center. Once inside an empty auditorium, Chris Harrison told the contestants they'd be competing in a Spelling Bee.

Each couple was required to approach a microphone in the middle of the stage and spell out a given word by alternating letters. Every time a couple answered correctly, they'd move onto the next round. Once a couple racked up three strikes by spelling a word incorrectly three separate times, they'd be out of the competition.

The Spelling Bee came down to Sarah and Chris versus Ed and Jaclyn. Both couples continued to spell words incorrectly, so the first pair to spell a word correctly would win the competition. In the end, Chris and Sarah spelt "serendipity" correctly and each received a rose. In addition to winning immunity at the upcoming Rose Ceremony, Chris and Sarah would also get to enjoy a romantic overnight date away from Bachelor Pad.

Chris and Sarah's fellow contestants were all horrified at the results and didn't know what they were going to do voting-wise. Blakeley began to cry, while Kalon also expressed his disappointment.

"Chris and Sarah winning this whole, oh my God, what a terrible night ahead. Never would I ever have imagined a Spelling Bee would be the most brutal challenge to date. It's kind of discouraging to have to face this inevitable Rose Ceremony now. The group that's left, we're all friends. We were all initially part of that same alliance. There's no way for this to go well for everyone -- as an alliance, as a group, as friends," Kalon explained.


For coming in second place, Ed and Jaclyn would also receive a romantic overnight date but wouldn't earn roses.

Chris and Sarah immediately embarked on their date following the Spelling Bee, and they took a small plane to a ranch. Once there, they traveled on a train and observed the sights. Afterwards, they had a nice little picnic by a lake and went swimming. Chris said being partnered with Sarah was the best thing that happened to him in the game.

"I know Chris is fresh off his breakup with Emily and I want to know if he's ready for a relationship. I would hate to think that he wasn't because I think he's amazing and I'm really falling for him," Sarah said. "Chris is hot, he's sexy."

"We're enjoying this as much as we possibly can. I came here to win money and potentially find someone I could be in a serious relationship with, but there's a little part of me that's still hanging on to what I did have with Emily off the past season of The Bachelorette. I'm still trying to figure out how long it takes for a broken heart to heal," Chris explained.

"I'm definitely holding back a little bit with Sarah. I do feel like we know each other very well, but there's a different level I can go to, to take this relationship to the next step. I'm just not sure if I'm ready to do that, but you never know. I'll be honest that I don't think about Emily when I'm with Sarah, so I guess that's good."


Meanwhile, Rachel was thinking about leaving Bachelor Pad because she just couldn't get over being away from Michael. However, Jaclyn and Nick were especially trying to convince her to stay. Jaclyn considered Rachel to be one of her very best friends, while Nick didn't want her to lose focus because she held his ticket in the game within the palm of her hands. Rachel just wasn't sure whether the emotions she was experiencing was even worth the money.

Back on Chris and Sarah's date, the pair ate dinner inside a candlelit barn. Sarah decided to dive in a little deeper with Chris and wanted to discover whether he was there for the right reasons. After finding out Chris hadn't been in a serious relationship with a girl since he was a sophomore in high school, Sarah questioned whether he was completely over Emily yet.

Chris told her his heart had been broken and that Emily sending him home was one of the hardest things he had ever gone through. He admitted he often reflected on what he had with Emily, however, Chris said talking about Emily with Sarah was truly helping his healing process.

While Chris clearly liked Sarah a lot and got along with her well, he apparently just didn't know whether he was ready to move on. Sarah was still happy knowing she was at least helping him get over the hurt, and Chris told her she came unexpectedly in his life -- as in she was a pleasant surprise. The two danced and kissed in the barn and expressed how they hoped more dates would be happening in their near future. 

At the mansion, Jaclyn told Blakeley and Rachel she wanted to compete against them in the end without a doubt. It seemed like Kalon and Lindzi were on the outs of the strong friendships that had been formed in the house, and Jaclyn finally noted it was going to be their time to go next. The three girls then pinky swore they'd keep their decision to vote off Lindzi and Kalon under wraps.


Meanwhile, Sarah felt she and Chris had something real, while Chris was also excited about continuing to get to know Sarah better.

"This date definitely has set the tone for the relationship I could have. It's kind of paving the path for something that could be great," Chris said.

The next day, Jaclyn and Ed embarked on their overnight date and Ed was hoping to "close all the gaps" in their prior conversation when Ed had admitted he didn't have romantic feelings for Jaclyn although the pair had been spending all their time together and sleeping in the same bed every night.

For their date, the couple traveled in a small plane over the ocean and landed in an enormous empty meadow, where they sat down to chat.

"I like Ed because he's hot, he's funny, he's cool, he makes me laugh, and makes me feel comfortable. But at the same time... I just don't like to put myself out there because I've been burned a lot in the past. I do not take rejection well and I'm scared that Ed will hurt me," Jaclyn explained.

Much to Jaclyn's surprise, Ed admitted to his partner he had been pursuing someone at home and it grew into a relationship six months prior to that moment. Ed told Jaclyn he went on the show single in the hopes of winning the money -- not to meet someone and fall in love. Jaclyn remained quiet through most of the conversation, and Ed reiterated the fact he still had feelings for this other girl and thought about her frequently.


Jaclyn wished she knew the information earlier, because she claimed she never would have behaved with Ed as she did had she known he had another love interest. Ed was worried Jaclyn was going to have regrets when he said he wanted to avoid that from occurring the entire time.

"I'm an emotional person and I honestly think I just won't recover from this. I just feel like I'm always the girl getting f-cked over. So, that sucks for me. What am I doing wrong? I've done everything so normally and so cool and I've been very chill about everything, so what am I doing wrong? It sucks when you trust someone and then you're betrayed," Jaclyn said in tears.

Meanwhile, Tony Pieper, a 30-year-old lumber trader from Portland, OR, who previously competed on The Bachelorette's eighth season, was realizing he was extremely into Blakeley. To show her how he felt, Tony planned a private date for the two of them outside the mansion. He anticipated something carrying on between them after the show.

Tony told Blakeley during their little outing that he could see her and wanted her in his everyday life, but while Blakeley was clearly invested in Tony, she owned up to having bad trust issues. Blakeley told Tony she was scared to let her guard down, but Tony insisted he'd be there for her. Blakeley began acknowledging the fact Tony might've been her knight in shining armor she had been waiting for and always wanted.

"I definitely have plans on hanging out with Tony after Bachelor Pad and we'll see where things go. We definitely live far apart, but we both are willing to make it work as much as possible. I definitely think the two of us will have something outside of here," Blakeley explained.

During Jaclyn and Ed's date, Jaclyn was just frustrated Ed's actions and words weren't lining up and that he was inconsistent. Ed claimed he wasn't romantically involved, but he was choosing to get physically intimate with Jaclyn all the time. Jaclyn just asked Ed to understand her concerns and where she was coming from in that she didn't want to come across looking like a "whore" or a "moron."


Ed didn't appreciate the fact Jaclyn was attempting to put a label on their relationship. He said it shouldn't matter whether they were a couple, a team or partners. While he was unsure of exactly what he wanted them to be, he reminded Jaclyn that they had amazing chemistry and he trusted her more than anyone else in the house.

Ed's claims were part of a plea to allow things to stay the same between them, as sleeping with her was comforting and constant reassurance in the strong bond and trust they had developed. Ed told her that he really enjoyed being with her.

"Why is he acting like such a douche? How can Ed do this to me? I am hurt, but I can't live without him and I just can't help myself. I think it's pretty clear that Ed and I are in a solid partnership in this game, and it's pretty clear that I have some strong feelings for him. I don't want to end my relationship with Ed," Jaclyn explained.

"We have bonded in more ways than one and we are having a great time together. I really wouldn't want to play this game with anyone else but Ed. I just think what we have is a good thing and I don't want to ruin it and I don't want it to be ruined, so why not just keep going with the flow? I trust him with everything and I like waking up next to him, so it is what it is."

The following morning, Jaclyn and Ed had to hand out two roses -- noting they were not able to keep the roses themselves. All the couples immediately began campaigning their positions in the game in desperate attempts to stay in the house and act as Jaclyn and Ed's best friends. After some careful consideration and hesitation, Jaclyn and Ed decided to give their roses to Blakeley and Tony because the pair's word always proved to be good.

That night, Chris Harrison told all the contestants that each couple would jointly cast one vote to eliminate one already-established couple.


Nick and Rachel were fighting to get Kalon and Lindzi out of the house and vice versa. Rachel was extremely good friends with Blakeley and Jaclyn, but Kalon argued that Rachel and Nick had just paired up that week and they didn't deserve to stay over himself and Lindzi, who had become a real couple in the competition. In addition, Kalon noted Rachel had threatened to quit a few times, which was indicative she really didn't want to be in the house anyway.

Kalon came across very persuasive, and Blakeley and Tony were confused about whom they should vote out of the house. Once they expressed that hesitation to Nick, Nick kind of flipped out on the pair because he said they had come to an agreement. Blakeley reminded Nick that he had voted for her once in the past, implying that maybe he shouldn't expect her full loyalty.

"Tony shot from the mouth when he shouldn't have. We haven't voted yet, but this could be the total game-changer," Tony said. "It makes me think, 'Am I making the right decision or should I send Nick home?'"

Rachel was aggravated her partner was losing his cool and she didn't really trust him. She labeled her new partnership a "total disaster," as Nick lost all trust in his major alliance because of the pre-Rose Ceremony drama that was ensuing.

"Our decision was strategic in that we wanted to make tonight's Rose Ceremony as easy as possible, and we all decided to vote for Lindzi and Kalon. But this game is always changing and we were put in a very weird position tonight, so it's tough, because as much as I'd like to see Rachel stay, I do not think that Nick deserves to be here," Jaclyn said.

"So it's an awkward situation because I want to keep my best friend here, but I also don't think Nick's done anything to prove he should stay. At this point in the night, this vote decides who stays and who goes."


In the end, the major alliance stayed loyal to Rachel and decided to send Kalon and Lindzi home. In addition to the obvious Rachel and Nick, Chris and Sarah had also decided to vote off Kalon and Lindzi.

Upon their departures from the game, Kalon hopped into Lindzi's limo and kissed his girlfriend.






About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski