The Bachelor star Nick Viall eliminated a whopping six bachelorettes -- Danielle Lombard, Jasmine Goode, Whitney Fransway, Josephine Tutman, Alexis Waters, and Jaimi King -- during Monday night's broadcast.
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Nick first sent Josephine, a 24-year-old unemployed nurse from Santa Cruz, CA; Alexis, a 23-year-old aspiring dolphin trainer from Secaucus, NJ; and Jaimi, a 28-year-old chef from New Orleans, LA, home during the season's fifth Rose Ceremony.
Nick later ousted Jasmine, a 29-year-old pro basketball dancer from San Francisco, CA, right in the middle of a group date in St. Thomas.
"I wasn't prepared to go home at all. The way he made me feel and the way I care about him, it's like, I still do care about him. But he didn't give me a chance. He just put me on group date after group date," Jasmine said in her final words.
"He clearly didn't give me that chance. I really did come here to fall in love with somebody and try to, and I really put my heart out there and thought that maybe it could happen and it's going to happen. I just don't think he really knows what he really wants though; I don't think [this process] is going to work for him."
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Nick then surprisingly cut both Danielle L, a 27-year-old small business owner from Los Angeles, CA, and Whitney, a 25-year-old Pilates instructor from Chanhassen, MN, on a two-on-one date in St. Thomas. Viewers assumed up until now that Danielle L was a frontrunner.
"I feel like he's making a mistake. I don't know what his concerns could be on why this wouldn't work out. This is the day I stepped out of the car and had my first conversation with him sitting on the steps, like, he remembers going out that night and thinking about whom he could see himself getting engaged to, and he said that I came to his mind. Maybe I just wasn't perfect," Danielle L said in tears following her ouster.
"I just didn't think that I would be going home today, especially when it's compared to Danielle," Whitney told the cameras. "I mean, I think he's going to realize eventually that she's not the right person for him. I don't think she's ready for a relationship and she just flew away with Nick and I'm standing here fully ready for that [next step]. It's really hard; I just didn't see that coming."
The girls who are still in the running for Nick's heart are Vanessa Grimaldi, a 29-year-old special education teacher from Montreal, Quebec, Canada; Rachel Lindsay, a 31-year-old attorney from Dallas, TX; Raven Gates, a 25-year-old fashion boutique owner from Hoxie, AR; Kristina Schulman, a 24-year-old dental hygienist from Lexington, KY; Danielle Maltby, a 31-year-old neonatal nurse from Nashville, TN; and Corinne Olympios, a 24-year-old business owner from Miami, FL.
The Bachelor broadcast began with Corinne as the last woman standing on her two-on-one date with Nick and Taylor Nolan. Corinne vented to the cameras how she was glad to see Taylor go because she was an alleged "manipulative bitch." Corinne admitted she was falling for Nick. However, Taylor wasn't going home without a fight.
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Taylor approached Nick and Corinne while they were at dinner and asked to speak with the Bachelor. Taylor revealed that Corinne had flat out lied to him when the Miami native insisted Taylor was a bully who had called her stupid.
Taylor told Nick that "a big part of love is respect," and so she was showing her respect for him by warning him about Corinne. Taylor asked Nick to "open his eyeballs" because other women, including Vanessa, were saying similar things about Corinne.
Nick didn't view Taylor as a bully and said he appreciated her sincerity and the fact she cared enough to come back and share these things with him. Nick, however, explained his elimination decision was based on where his heart was at the time -- not on what Corinne had told him.
"Cats have nine lives and bitches have two," Corinne gushed to the cameras. "I'm a good person until you give me a reason not to be, and never call me an idiot in front of my boyfriend."
When it became time for the cocktail party preceding the Rose Ceremony, Chris Harrison met with the girls and disclosed Nick had decided to cancel it because his mind was already made up.
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At the Rose Ceremony, Nick handed out roses in the following order: Kristina, Raven, Vanessa, Danielle L, Jasmine, and Whitney. Alexis was especially sad to go because she felt she never showed Nick other sides of herself, besides the goofy and silly one.
Nick and the remaining bachelorettes then traveled to St. Thomas for the week of dates. Everyone was hoping to fall in love in this beautiful destination.
Kristina soon learned she'd be accompanying Nick on the week's only one-on-one date. Jasmine cried because she hadn't gotten anything yet from Nick -- not a one-on-one date or even a group-date rose -- so she wondered if Nick even noticed her. Jasmine felt Nick wasn't thinking about her and it felt like a "punch in the stomach."
Kristina and Nick enjoyed a beach date together, and that night, the bachelorette opened up about her incredible back story. When Kristina was four or five-years-old and living in Russia, her mother left her home alone for a full day and demanded she not eat any food in the house. Kristina was left with empty cabinets and ate lipstick because she was so starving.
When Kristina's mother got home, she kicked her daughter out of the house. Kristina was placed in an orphanage for seven or eight years and always wondered what her mother was doing or where she went until she eventually passed away. Kristina was adopted by loving parents in the United States when she was 12-years-old, but it meant leaving her sister and close friends behind in Russia.
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Kristina knew she'd be entering a better life, but at the same time, she felt immense guilt to leave her loved ones. Kristina was told that staying in Russia would provide a black and white life for her, while going to the US would provide a colorful world.
Nick was so impressed by Kristina and thought she was everything he'd want in a future wife. Nick said that, like her story, Kristina brought color to his life, and he was so impressed by her. Nick gave her the date's rose and told the cameras he'd be very lucky to marry a girl like Kristina.
The next day, Nick embarked on a group date with Rachel, Raven, Vanessa, Corinne, Danielle M, and Jasmine. The day was meant to be fun and relaxing, as they sailed on a catamaran, drank cocktails and played some volleyball on a nearby beach. However, Danielle M accused Nick of paying too much attention to Corinne when she was drunk and acting ridiculous.
The girls were fed up with fighting for Nick's attention. Rachel no longer felt like one of Nick's top girls, Vanessa was tired of all the gossip in the house and said it was "so annoying" to compete for Nick all the time, and Jasmine couldn't believe she had yet to go on a real date with the Bachelor.
Nick felt the day completely backfired because the girls were shutting down and getting so emotional. Rather than feeling closer to the women after a full day with them, Nick felt further apart from them. He was starting to question whether he'd find love on this journey and be able to handle juggling so many relationships at once at this stage in the game.
"I am falling for Nick," Rachel said in a confessional, adding that she wished her feelings were reciprocated and hated feeling weak.
Meanwhile, Danielle L and Whitney learned Nick matched them up on a two-on-one date. It was hard for Danielle L to wrap her head around the fact she was basically on the chopping block after getting so close to Nick on a previous one-on-one date. She didn't know why she fell from the ranks so suddenly, and Whitney was surprised to be on the date as well.
Whitney was hoping to find depth in her relationship with Nick because their communication was always surface-level.
Back on the group date, Jasmine was flipping out saying that she couldn't be patient anymore with Nick.
"Do you still see me? Am I here? Why bring me to St. Thomas?... Don't you dare overlook me," Jasmine told the cameras. "I want to choke him right now." Jasmine desperately needed some reassurance from the Bachelor. She liked and cared about him and saw a future with Nick, so it really bothered her.
"I didn't come here to play games and go on a vacation," Jasmine noted.
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When Jasmine sat down with Nick to talk, she jokingly threatened to choke him out of frustration that she hadn't been offered a one-on-one date yet, or even just a two-on-one date. Nick clearly felt uncomfortable, later telling the cameras their conversation didn't go well and was, in fact, "awkward."
Nick then told Jasmine that he didn't see a future with her, nor did he feel the way she felt about him.
"I think this might be the best time to say goodbye," Nick told the pro cheerleader.
"Don't be sorry. It's fine," Jasmine replied. "Good luck and I hope you find the right person."
Nick explained that his relationship with Jasmine had fallen flat when she was hoping to rekindle their initial spark on this group date. Although viewers didn't see it, Nick decided to give the group-date rose to Raven.
Nick called the group-date "a disaster" because he didn't feel like he was connecting with any of the women. He therefore hoped his two-on-one date would go much better.
"I deserve that rose. I deserve to stay here," Danielle L said as she was getting ready for the date.
Nick, Whitney and Danielle L hung out on a daybed on the beach. The date was simple and allowed Nick to get to know both women much better.
Nick thought Whitney was beautiful and had a sweet aura about herself. She had a way of calming him down during their time together. Danielle L then told the Bachelor that she would love to bring him home to meet her family. She saw a future with Nick and believed they'd equal partners in their relationship.
After chatting with both women, Nick opted to send Whitney home. It just wasn't in his heart to keep Whitney around, so he took off in a helicopter with Danielle L after giving her the only-available rose. Whitney was blindsided and upset because she felt had she gotten more time with the Bachelor, their romance naturally would've evolved. Nick pointed out that Whitney's elimination wasn't about Danielle L.
That night, Nick enjoyed some alone time with Danielle L over a romantic dinner. She was close to falling off a cliff in love with Nick, and she even thought she could leave their date night completely in love. She thought they had something special, something that everyone looks for when it comes to love.
Danielle gushed to Nick at dinner about how strongly she felt for him. She was open and vulnerable. She complimented Nick's vibrancy and honesty, and said they were definitely on the same page feelings-wise.
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But they weren't. Nick stared at the ground most of the time Danielle L was pouring her heart out to him. It was clear he felt guilty for listening to all of this because he just didn't feel the same way.
Nick confessed that he wanted Danielle L to steal his heart so badly out of everyone in the competition, but it was time for him to let her go.
Nick worried that maybe something was wrong with him, because he couldn't really pinpoint what was wrong with Danielle. Nick considered the possibility he was still guarded after two failed relationships with Andi Dorfman and Kaitlyn Bristowe, who both broke his heart when he was ready to propose marriage.
Nick just wasn't sure if this process was going to work for him this time around. He eventually cried to the remaining women about how he was terrified of not finding true love on this show.
"I don't know if I can keep doing this," Nick told the girls as they teared up.
To be continued.
About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski