'The Bachelor' star Brad Womack visits hometowns, selects his Top 3

The four remaining bachelorettes received a hometown visit from Brad Womack, who said he wasn't feeling a connection with Sheena, a 23-year-old Internet marketing executive from Walnut Creek, CA, as she was sent packing during The Bachelor's sixth eleventh-season episode last night on ABC.


"I loved everything about him... Like I was falling in love with him," said an emotional Sheena following her ouster. "I didn't expect this to happen.  My heart feels like it got ripped in half and I feel like somebody stepped on it.  I never had my heart broken like this before -- and the sad thing is -- I would do it all over again!  That's how much I liked him!  I'm just sad that he didn't feel what I felt."

The Bachelor 11's sixth episode began with Brad in Malibu preparing to embark on the hometown visits, commenting how it's important for him to marry a woman where he can "feel like family" around her closest of kin.

Brad's first stop was in Wichita, KA to meet Jenni's family.  Jenni said she was "so excited" because it's "extremely important" for Brad and her family to get along.  The two met at the theater where Jenni said she won her first dance competition, and from there dance blossomed into a "passion" of hers. 

She demonstrated by performing a few dance routines, and while Brad was impressed, he couldn't help but ponder the prospect of a long-distance relationship with the 27-year-old who was still waiting to here if she had made the 2007-2008 Phoenix Suns cheerleading squad.


"It worries me.  It does," Brad told Jenni, who asked what specifically concerned him.  He answered,  "I was away from you for a week and it felt like forever.  I get worried about maybe feelings fading."

Jenni assured Brad that her feelings for him wouldn't fade and said it would be important for them to "compromise" for her to achieve her goal.  With the issue behind them for the time being, Jenni took Brad to the hair salon where her mother works, and he also met her dad, sister and Grandma Betty.  Brad quickly found himself having to explain to Grandma Betty how he owns a bar but isn't a big drinker.

Jenni's mom eventually rescued him from further conversing with grandma, only to secure his attention by washing his hair and firing questions inquiring about his previous relationships with women.  Brad assured Jenni's mom that it's "tough" for him to meet women at one of the four bars he owns because he's "not there to meet people."  Jenni's sister asked the important questions, wondering if Brad was a good kisser.

"It makes me feel like I'm falling in love with him," answered Jenni.

Jenni's dad than asked about Brad's goals, and he was up front about wanting to purchase some real estate and continue to work as a business owner.


"If Jenni chooses to be with Brad, and that's the man of her dreams, I will be fine with that and I will support her decision," said Jenni's dad.

He then had a surprise for his daughter as the family sat down to dinner, revealing that she had made the Suns' cheerleading squad   Jenni described the news as "bittersweet" since it was helping her reach her dream but also could set back her relationship with Brad.  She told him even though she has to take the opportunity, she's still in it for Brad as well.

"I know a good relationship takes compromise and I'm definitely willing to compromise," he told her.  "As long as your okay with it I'm okay with it."  The two then shared an emotional moment as she explained to him that she wants him in her life and hoped it wasn't happening too fast.  Brad told her not to worry.

"I want to end up with Brad," she said at the conclusion of the hometown visit.  "I feel like he is falling in love with me too.  I could picture him proposing to me..."

The next stop on Brad's cross-country tour was in Concord, CA to meet Sheena's family.  While she was excited because her family is included in the "package deal" if Brad was to select her, he was impressed at how she's "slowly surprised" him throughout the competition.


After meeting her family on a boat and going tubing, Sheena's mom explained the story of how she met Sheena's dad as well as how they're still in love with each other.  Things then got a little strange as Sheena's mom asked about astrological signs and gushed about how Brad already feels like her son-in-law.  She then pulled Brad aside and explained how she felt her daughter was "the one," but didn't specify if Sheena was "the one" for Brad or somebody else.

"I talked to [Sheena's mom] for a little while, and she is dead set on the fact that Sheena's the one," said Brad.  "And I ugh... What do you say?  I mean.... You know?  Okay!"

Sheena eventually interrupted her mom and stole Brad away, and the two enjoyed some time in the hot tub.  Sheena wondered if her mom was embarrassing Brad, and he graciously said she wasn't.

"Everything today kind of fell into place," gushed Sheena, pleased that Brad was able to fit in with her family.

Brad then made the trip to Canton, GA to meet DeAnna's family, and the 25-year-old realtor saw it as an important opportunity to show him how committed she is to their relationship.  Brad met DeAnna's dad, brother, sister and step-mom, and he explained how it was like coming home since he grew-up in Atlanta. 


DeAnna's dad hoped Brad had "good intentions" with his daughter and explained how DeAnna has had a tough life since her mother passed away when she was 12-years-old.  DeAnna shared some pictures of her mom with Brad and told him that her mom was still "very much an important part of her life."

"Showing me that soft emotional side makes me fall for her even more," commented Brad, as DeAnna explained to her sister how she'd feel if Brad didn't give her his final rose.

"If he doesn't pick me?  Honestly I'll be crushed," said DeAnna.  "I've found exactly what I've been waiting on and to have it all just slip right away would hurt me.  I'd be extremely sad."

DeAnna's entire Greek family then arrived at the house, and while Brad initially found it to be overwhelming, he enjoyed some ouzo and traditional Greek dancing.

"Seeing Brad interact and to see how well he fit in with my family, it sealed the deal for me," said DeAnna.  "I'm completely falling for this person that I just meant.  if I was to be sent home at this next Rose Ceremony, it would crush me."


Little did Brad know that his toughest challenge was yet to come, as he traveled to Washington DC to visit Bettina's family.  The 27-year-old realtor was excited and commented how she thought her parents would "absolutely love" Brad.

"How could they not?" openly wondered Bettina.

She was about to find out, as things got off to a rough start when Brad met Bettina's dad, mom, step-mom and sister.  Bettina said she and her father think similarly, so it would be "awesome" if her dad liked Brad.  However her dad said it was a "great disappointment" to him to learn that Brad never finished college.  Bettina's step-mom also took some shots at Brad because he's a bar owner, saying she was concerned because it meant he works late nights.

"The way Bettina's family asked me what I did for a living, I felt like I was being judged," said a surprised Brad.  "I felt almost like there's an agenda here... Basically, 'Who are you to be with my daughter?'"

Bettina's dad then made it clear to viewers that The Bachelor was not the way he envisioned his daughter finding a second husband, since she had previously revealed to Brad she's divorced. 

"The fact is that her first husband was a wonderful, wonderful man," gushed Bettina's dad.  "She will never find anybody who's any better... Love is blind."


As dad confronted Bettina about it, her mom cornered Brad in the kitchen and asked for assurance that he wasn't stringing her daughter along.  Bettina then told her dad that Brad's lifestyle as a bar owner; his lack of education; and the prospect of "moving to a place for a man" were "so scary" to her.

"My intentions for Bettina are very true and genuine," said a slightly irate Brad.  "But they didn't take me as a person seriously, much less the whole concept of falling in love!"

Brad finally stole Bettina for some one-on-one time at the Jefferson Memorial, and he told her how her family is "skeptical."  Bettina explained her family's problems with him.

"I can't help to question it if my family's questioning it," she told Brad.

"I want to feel welcome, especially with your family," he told her.  "I might not have an education, but I'm sure intelligent enough not to judge anybody."

"All I can say to that is, I don't look that great on paper either," Bettina answered, which apparently touched a nerve with Brad.


"Okay... Wait a minute, because I kind of feel blind sided right now.  I really do," he said.  "I worked really, really hard.  That's what defines me.  So I've got to tell you, maybe I'm overly confident, but I don't like anyone questioning me personally.  This has hit me pretty hard.  I can only hear so much how I'm not good on paper.  I don't get that.  It's not like I think I'm this great guy... But I'm trying to meet somebody that I can actually spend my life with whether it looks good on paper or not."

Back in Malibu, The Bachelor 11's sixth Rose Ceremony commenced.  It was a quick one, as Brad revealed DeAnna and Jenni were safe before presenting his final rose of the evening to Bettina, meaning Sheena was cut from the competition.  He walked her outside and offered an explanation.

"I think you are so deserving of happiness and the perfect guy and whatever your ideal is of the perfect life," he began.  "I want to be completely honest, I wish I was that guy.  I don't think I am."

Sheena then lost it and became almost inconsolable as she sobbed on Brad's shoulder.

"You're such an amazing guy.  You really, really are," she told him.  "I never thought that I would feel the way that I did.  God, you are the person that I thought about right before I went to bed and the person I thought about right when I woke up... So I just really fell for you."

Once Brad helped Sheena into a limousine, he explained he sent her home because "the feelings just weren't there" and "it wasn't that chemistry" or "natural feeling" that he's looking for in a soul mate.


The Bachelor 11's next episode will air Monday, November 5 at 10PM ET/PT on ABC, with Brad and his three remaining bachelorettes embarking on their overnight dates in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.






About The Author: Christopher Rocchio