Andi has it down to 16 hopeful guys in the first part of this two-night event, and based on the previews, it promises to be a dramatic couple of episodes.
Taking the guys to Santa Barbara, Andi is excited to get out of LA and up the romance factor. Instead of Andi going to get the guys, the guys are going to Andi for their dates. Chris Harrison dropped off the first date card, giving Nick the first one-on-one date of the episode. Heading to Santa Barbara to meet up with a smiling Andi (the two clearly have a connection). Wanting to have a “normal” date with Nick, the couple strolled the beach and chatted while they rode bikes and took in the outdoors. They followed that up with a hike and parked at the top of some rocks where Nick opened up about his skepticisms, even though he admitted he’s starting to feel something.
Stuttering and blushing, Nick said he was crushing on Andi, making Andi feel like he’s really trying to open up and let his guard down with her. After snuggling while watching the sunset, they went for dinner while Andi dug a little deeper into Nick’s mind to try and get to know him better. Then the million-dollar question: How are you single? Nick admitted that he had been with someone for a really long time and was even engaged “for like a minute” but moved past that relationship and realizes that he’s going to be more cautious with love going forward. After chatting some more, Andi gave Nick the rose, awarding him for opening up to her and becoming a believer in this whole process.
Back at the mansion, Andrew expressed his distaste of Nick who he believed was a skeptic and “didn’t really believe in the process,” even though we’re seeing the side of him that is absolutely smitten with Andi and he did address those issues on his own. Then the group date card came out, meaning Brian, Marquel, Cody, Tasos, Brett, Bradley, Josh, Eric, Andrew, Patrick and Marcus were all going to be fighting for their time with Andi.
The guys went on their way to meet Andi in Santa Barbara—but what they didn’t expect were some extra guests—especially Boys II Men. Having some serious middle school flashbacks to school dances (like touching a girl’s butt for the first time), the guys were nothing short of stoked to be there with Boys II Men. Opera singer Bradley was totally in his element (although I personally think he sounded ridiculous trying to sing “I’ll Make Love To You” in his opera voice) thinking he had this little challenge in the bag, while some of the more tone deaf guys struggled a little bit trying to hit the right notes. The poor guys were good sports, trying their hardest to woo Andi with their poor voices that were clearly not meant to hit the high notes, but even Andi wasn’t that great and had fun. Then Andi dropped the bomb that the group is actually going to be singing live at a Boys II Men concert. The guys pulled off the performance, but definitely not without some poor pitches and forgotten lyrics. After the massacre of arguably one of the best love songs of our age, the group sat down for drinks while the guys tried to get some alone time with Andi.
Andi pulled Cody aside to ask him about the rumours that he has a rumour back home, which he said he’d been single for about three years. Little did Cody know, there were no rumours and Andi was just pranking him for some fun—making him fall a little harder for her. Eric was next to get some time and he expressed that he was a little weirded out when he didn’t get a super fantastic hello after their alone date last week. Marcus got more than some of the other guys with his alone time when he was given a couple of juicy smooches, though when Andi sat down with Josh, he got some of that action too. Having to choose between two of her saliva-exchangers, Josh got the rose from the group date, giving Marcus a bit of insecurity and warranting comments like “Josh doesn’t have what Andi and I have,” just teetering on the edge of creepy.
The next one-on-one date went to JJ, who was excited to finally get out of the house and go on a date with Andi. When JJ met up with Andi, she surprised him by saying that they were going to be celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary—which included getting transformed into an older couple with hair and makeup. While Andi was rocking her look, JJ looked a little bit creepy, but the two went off to walk along the beach looking like they’d been together for the last five decades. Andi and JJ played their parts really well and even creeped some people out with their silly old people voices. Having what seemed like the most entertaining day of life, JJ and Andi snuck in a kiss on a tire swing (probably warranting some weird glances from onlookers). Before heading for dinner (sans old people garb), Andi and JJ went on the carousel and JJ stole a couple of more kisses while saying that he could really see himself being with Andi long term. During dinner, JJ delved into his past relationship and what went wrong and what he wanted going forward. Andi talked about how surprised she was that he was ever insecure; so naturally JJ was going to get the rose and then a big, long smooch.
Back at the mansion, Ron got a really crappy phone call. Finding out that a close friend passed away back at home, Ron packed up his stuff and left the mansion for home to be with his people. After Ron left, Dylan started to open up to Farmer Chris about both his sister and brother who had passed away, but said that he didn’t want to let Andi know about that just yet without getting some one-on-one time with her first.
At the cocktail party, Marquel adorably said that he thought everyone deserved a rose while Nick started to get nervous about seeing Andi again since their one-on-one date. Andi addressed what happened with Ron and toasted to him. Andi and Eric sat down and while they were chatting about their dates together, in walks a delivery guy with a huge bouquet of lilies from Nick—well played, sir. Poor Eric got all flustered thanks to Nick’s competition. Andi took Nick outside to thank him (with a bunch of kisses, natch) and Nick talked about how he missed her and had a fantastic time with Andi on their date.
JJ had something to get off of his chest though. Last week while on the group date, Andrew got the number of one of the waitresses while Andi was not around and then proceeded to brag to the other guys in the limo about it afterwards and JJ was not having this. Obviously, the competition is on and the stakes are high, so the guys that do care about Andi are trying to nix their douchebag competitors in the bud. Rose-clad JJ and Josh confronted Andrew about it, but Andrew shut it down right away, not having any of it. Following Andrew back into the mansion (because it wouldn’t be The Bachelor/ette without someone locking themselves in the bathroom), JJ and Josh’s suspicions were sort of proven giving them both some fuel to put themselves ahead of the game and Andrew on the chopping block. While the boys were duking it out, Marcus was chatting up Andi (and kissing her) and “moving in the direction of love with her.” Andrew decided to give JJ and Josh the benefit of the doubt, feeling attacked approached the guys to tell his story. Apparently he was “given a number” but allegedly asked for the number and then preceded to brag about it. In a classic case of he-said-he-said, things started to get super competitive and really just proved that guys are no better than girls. Just as things were getting heated and voices were being raised, Chris Harrison walked in saying that it was time for the rose ceremony. Andi was still in the dark about this whole number situation, and the guys did seem to be keeping it to themselves, but there was no doubt that it was game on for some of these guys and it was every man for himself here on out.
Andi sent two guys packing, with three guys gone including Ron. Opera singer Bradley had a tearful goodbye, deeming himself “not good enough” for Andi, even though he put himself out there, but at the end of the day Andi just has too many hotties to choose from so she had to narrow it down.
Tonight's double episode promises to have lots of drama and tears from Andi and we can't help but wonder if it has something to do with Andrew. Stay tuned for our recap tomorrow!
Coming up roses: Nick, Josh, JJ, Marcus, Brian, Marquel, Tasos, Cody, Patrick, Farmer Chris, Eric (swoon), Dylan and Andrew (because why would they get rid of the drama when it’s just heating up??)
Kiss count: Nick, Marcus, Josh, JJ (Episode – 4, Season – 6)
Bachelors to watch: Nick, Marcus, Josh, JJ
