Back in his hometown of Miami, Juan Pablo's first stop was to see his daughter after being away for three weeks. As hometown week (for the girls' families) is a mere episode away, the feelings are getting more real (and more confusing for some) and the pressure is at an all-time high—especially between Bachelorettes.
Juan Pablo's first one-on-one date was with Sharleen. After telling his brother that he thought she could be "the one," the date was coming at a perfect time since Sharleen is still having a hard time working out her relationship with JP. Sure, they might have some chemistry and more than a few kisses under their belts, but they're lacking that "cerebral connection" as Sharleen put it. She quite plainly told the cameras that if after her date there's still something missing, she thought it would be best if she headed home. Of course, after a mildly awkward encounter with Sharleen opening her date card in front of JP and the rest of the girls, the rest of the pack was left behind at the hotel to talk about how mismatched the two are.
Sharleen and JP's date started with a ride on a yacht, and Sharleen wanted to dive right into her issues, but JP's tongue wanted to dive right into Sharleen's throat. Finally, while watching the sunset on a tiny island in their bathing suits, Sharleen opened up, but in a way only she can do. In the most roundabout way, she told JP that while she's put her career before everything up until now, she's ready for "change" and for her priorities to be a little different—even though that wasn't quite the conversation she initially had planned. Later in the night, while the two were doing more kissing—Sharleen finally pulled her mouth away from JP long enough to tell him she's really not sure about anything—of course while he was being all doting and adorable about her smile, words, etc., even when you just want him to see that she might just break his heart. Good on the girl for taking some time to think about it, but surely his never-ending smooches are distracting her from making a real decision—especially when there's a "little voice" in her head telling Sharleen it's "not right." Once Sharleen returned to the hotel, she turned to Mother Hen Renee for some advice on whether she should stay or go.
Nikki got the next one-on-one date and her reaction? "Am I going to have to dance again?" This poor chorophobic blonde is another one that's been toying with poor JP's spit-swapping heart, and while the date did involve dancing, it wasn't Nikki that had to show off her moves. After taking Nikki to a flower shop to put a pretty bouquet together, JP tells Nikki that he's taking her to watch his daughter's dance recital—and to meet his family (even Camilla's mom). JP may have said Sharleen might be "the one," but Nikki seems to be the front-runner on having a real relationship. I mean, he likes her enough to just spring meeting his family on her. The family meeting was short and sweet, but Nikki seemed genuinely ecstatic at watching Camilla and seeing her and JP interact together. Nikki even won a quick goodbye peck from JP's leading lady. The evening was topped off by going to Juan Pablo's "office," the Marlins stadium to play a bit of ball and to sit back and chat about the day. After an awkward silence, Nikki started asking about Juan Pablo's ex and how she felt about the whole situation and where Nikki might fit into this mixed family equation. Juan Pablo eased her concerns and was actually really happy that Nikki was comfortable enough with his family that she wanted to know where she would fit—and of course the kissing helped too. Nikki is pretty sure she's falling for him, but she's not ready to tell him just yet.
Back at the hotel, Sharleen is still feeling really uneasy about her relationship with Juan Pablo. She breaks it to the girls first that she's feeling super conflicted—enough that she decided to send herself home. Props to Sharleen, while it seems like she's been playing mind games with Juan Pablo all along, she was really honest with the girls and wanted to make sure the ones who wanted a chance to be JP's bride-to-be, got the chance. After a quick hug sesh with the girls, Sharleen went to Juan Pablo's room to drop the bomb on him. After Juan Pablo let Sharleen into his room (without hesitation—you'd think after the whole Clare fiasco he would exercise more caution with girls at his hotel room door), Sharleen broke the news, while also potentially breaking his heart. After a couple of tears, Juan Pablo and Sharleen finally said their goodbyes and some sweet (and tearful) comments from JP saying that he even would have given her a hometown date.
Chelsie, Renee, Clare, Andi got the group date and a quick hint that there will be a rose at the end of the date—the only one that will be given prior to the rose ceremony. After taking a quick plane ride to a private little island, the girls zeroed in on the prize: the coveted rose. Chelsie was the first to steal some time with Juan Pablo and they talked about her family, which made JP really happy to see how close they were and how much fun they all had together. Andi was next up, and while going for a stroll on the beach with JP she broke down and started to show her insecurities, but of course JP quickly calmed her down and told her not to worry about anything. JP started his time with Clare by asking what it would mean to go to her hometown and how he really wishes he could have met her dad (he passed away). Even though Clare was convinced she was getting the rose and was the leading lady, Andi got the rose and a bit more time with the bachelor (including some smooching in the water—again… didn't he learn anything?). After Clare left Andi and JP frustrated, the one-on-one date got underway by heading to Atlanta. Andi and JP's date involved some Latin dancing and a lot of smiles on both their parts.
…But back at the hotel, trouble was brewing. A very disappointed (read: PISSED) Clare was reeeeeally excited to hang out with Nikki ("I want to hang out with Nikki like I want to get stung by a jellyfish."). Clare started the drama by saying that "maybe Andi needed that reassurance," which irritated Nikki enough to storm off and prompted Clare to follow her. Nikki tried to passive aggressively explain that she left preemptively since the conversation seemed to be going down the road of smack-talking Andi (who Nikki is friends with), but when Nikki tried to explain that, Clare cut her off and instantly got defensive. But of course, as soon as Nikki tried to interject, Clare shut her down and finished what she was saying. After some back and forth between the two (it was actually pretty entertaining—like two prim and proper girls trying not to blink when they swore), Nikki finally called a spade a spade and told Clare that she would never like her and they would never be friends, so Clare should just leave. After Clare called Nikki "a piece of work" and Nikki called Clare "a crazy bitch," the two finally broke it up, though not before everyone watching gave a collective sigh of relief for the catfight we've allllll been waiting for.
At the cocktail party with only five girls left, Juan Pablo set on a mission to see who he was sending home and who he is going to keep around for the hometown dates in the next episode. While Renee and JP were off having a moment alone, Andi and Chelsie were left alone with Nikki and Clare, both of whom were making the whole evening super uncomfortable. The snarky comments were at an all-time high during the cocktail party, flipping back and forth between Nikki and Clare and how crazy the other one is (news flash: you're both psycho). Nikki and Clare were left alone for a few minutes and you could literally hear crickets in the background—that and the steam coming out of both their ears for how much they loathe the very existence of the other. Poor Juan Pablo shows up in midst of the most uncomfortable silence ever (and I'm pretty sure the longest on national television), just in time to announce it's time for the rose ceremony.
Sweet and bubbly Chelsie was sent home, though without surprise. While she was pretty cute with Juan Pablo, the chemistry was definitely not the same as he had with some of the other girls, but that doesn't mean that made Juan Pablo's decision any easier, as he sent Chelsie off with tears in his eyes.
Next week is a double whammy of The Bachelor, with Monday night hometown dates and Tuesday the group heads to somewhere exotic where there's even more promise of tears and drama—we'll be waiting with bated breath until then!
Coming up roses: Andi, Nikki, Clare and Renee
Bachelorettes to watch: Nikki and Clare, obvs.
Cry count: Episode- 5 (Sharleen, Juan Pablo, Andi, Clare, Chelsie); Season Total – 29
Kiss count: Episode- 4 (Sharleen, Nikki, Andi, Clare); Season Total- 21
Catfight count: Episode- 1 (NIKKI AND CLARE); Season Total- 2
