Grant Ellis, who has been coined the least decisive bachelor to date, proposed to Juliana Pasquarosa on the season 29 finale of The Bachelor. The three-hour, live episode featured the days leading up to this decision, the blowout after and a lot of promotion for the upcoming season of Bachelor in Paradise.
And if you are upset by spoilers … you clicked on this article.
Episode highlights
Down to the final two women, Grant followed Bachelor Nation tradition and brought his family to the Dominican Republic to meet his suitors. Though he has mentioned his parents having a strained relationship in the past, they both showed up, along with his older sister who was shown on the premiere, to support Grant.
His family thought highly of both women.
“Litia, if she gets married to my son, she is going to fight for her marriage,” Grant’s mom said.
His parents liked that Grant and Litia already established that they are in love with each other, and when Grant mentions that her timeline for having kids might be faster than he planned for, his dad tells him to be open to compromise.
After meeting his family, Litia said, “I am the most confident that I’ll be engaged by the end of the week. Meet your future Mrs. Ellis.”
Considering how things actually played out. Yikes.
Juliana’s meet-the-family date also went well.
“Juliana has this energy, this vibrant, positive energy,” said Grant’s dad, “and I sense that she brings peace into his life.”
Upon being asked, Juliana admitted to Grant’s mother that she had not told Grant she loved him yet. She said it was hard to say that — knowing there was another woman in the picture. While Grant’s mom understood, this still made her skeptical.
“If she doesn’t tell you she loves you, I am asking you to walk away from that,” she said.
Grant did not have to worry for long because on their final date following the conversation with his parents, Juliana dropped the L-Bomb, and Grant reciprocated.
Now, some Bachelor Nation leads make it a point to wait until there is only one person left to say, “I love you.” This was obviously not the case for Grant, nor was it for three other Bachelor Alum who were brought to Jesse Palmer’s hot seat in between finale scenes.
Charity Dawson (The Bachelorette 20,) Clayton (The Bachelor 18) and Gary Turner (The Golden Bachelor 1) all shared their experiences, and the conclusion was kinda just … you do you?
Back to the finale, Grant had his last chance date with Litia, and again, she was so confident it was her. However, a small bit of doubt floated in.
“I just have this fear that when I say (I love you) or when I express it or feel it, it makes it more likely that I will lose it,” she said.
As he selected the engagement ring, Grant shared where his head was at.
“I do feel as though Litia could be my wife,” Grant said. “With Juliana, I love how much fun we have.”
Yeah, he actually said that.
“I have a ring and I don’t know who to give it to,” he continued.
The final rose
As it was shown all season, Grant flip-fopped until the last minute on making a solid decision.
“Both women are on their way here right now and I really need to know which one to send first,” Jesse told him.
Can you imagine not knowing who you are going to propose to 10 minutes before it happens?
Then the first limo arrived, and Litia walked out. When the camera panned from her shoes to her face, the audience gasped. The first girl to speak with the bachelor is always the one who gets sent home. It would be weird to dump a girl after getting engaged.
However, this process is full of blurred lines, and unfortunately, Litia was the brunt end of that.
“I want to give you everything you deserve,” Grant told Litia, then added, “but I’m not your person.”
The first thing she said was, “When did it change?”
Ouch.
Grant explained that his emotional connection with Juliana was stronger than it was with Litia, and then said that he hopes she doesn’t view him any differently.
“Well, I do, for sure. Come on now,” Litia said. “Yeah, you’re different than I thought.”
Then Litia was brought on stage by Jesse to explain her side of the breakup. She shared that from the second week, he had affirmed multiple times that it was her in the end. Even the night before the proposal, she told him she couldn’t wait to get engaged and he allegedly agreed.
“I know it’s you. I could stop the whole show right now. That’s how confident I am,” Litia quoted Grant, allegedly.
Grant joined Litia on stage and didn’t deny anything.
Bringing things back to a happier note, Grant proposed to Juliana and she could not stop squealing! Despite all of the outside noise, Juliana said that she is glad Grant really took his time to ensure she was his perfect match.
“I cannot wait to be a part of the Wolfpack,” he said, referencing an inside joke bet
ween the two.
What’s next for Bachelor Nation?
This is usually where they would offer Litia, or another woman from his season, the role of bachelorette. Unfortunately, The Bachelorette will not be produced this year — it would take a whole article to explain why. Instead, they’re bringing back Bachelor in Paradise … with a twist.
Bachelor in Paradise is a show that takes previous contestants from both The Bachelor
and Bachelorette and brings them to an island in Mexico. These contestants get another chance at finding reality-tv-love, this time with less rules and a lot more sun.
They skipped a season last summer due to poor ratings on their latest season, and also the addition of the Golden franchise — The Bachelor and Bachelorette for senior citizens — shifted the production cycle, a problem that may have affected The Bachelorette. However, paradise is back and this time, the Goldens are invited to party.
Are we getting age gap relationships? Will they be on separate beaches?
Bachelor Nation is going through some foundational changes that are going to affect its shows long term. But that’s a topic for another Reality Check.
Stay tuned for my conclusive review of season 29.
Author: Heather Turner
Editor: Anna Mower
Photos courtesy of ABC Entertainment
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