Tag: Matt James

Finally, we get a real conversation about race on ‘The Bachelor’

March 16, 2021 / Debra Yeo

Host Emmanuel Acho and Bachelor Matt James on “After the Final Rose.”
PHOTO CREDIT: All photos Craig Sjodin/ABC

SPOILER ALERT: IF YOU DON’T WANT TO KNOW HOW “THE BACHELOR” SEASON ENDED DEFINITELY DO NOT READ THIS YET.

Remember all those times we were told a “Bachelor” or “Bachelorette” season finale was the most dramatic ever? Or those “After the Final Rose” episodes that seemed really tense because the couple had broken up or weren’t getting along?

Those seem trifling now compared to what we saw Monday, which at times was searing, gut-wrenching and heartbreaking — and I’m not talking about Matt James and Rachael Kirkconnell breaking up.

With one question — “How much pressure was it being the first Black Bachelor?” — Emmanuel Acho started a conversation on “After the Final Rose” that laid bare the unfair burden placed on Black men, of “making people comfortable with your blackness, and going above and beyond to show that in stature and in personality you’re not as threatening as you come off as,” as Matt put it.

Whereas any other Bachelor (i.e. white, though Matt didn’t use that word) would have to worry only about finding love on the show, Matt said he felt like he carried the weight “of everything that was going on in the country at that time frame regarding social justice, everything going on in the franchise surrounding diversity and inclusion.”

Add to that he had to be on his best behaviour, he said, because “for a lot of people that was the first time having someone like that in their home,” by which he meant having a Black man on their TV.

All that was sobering enough, but things got really raw when it came to Rachael. She and Matt didn’t get engaged at the end of filming, but they were in a relationship and Matt told Emmanuel that when allegations first started going around about racist social media activity on her part he dismissed them as “rumours.”

When Rachael acknowledged the activity and apologized for it, Matt said he realized that “Rachael might not understand what it means to be Black in America.”

As tough as it was to break up with her, “if you don’t understand that something like that is problematic in 2018 there’s a lot of me that you won’t understand,” he said, noting that he grew up in the South, with memories of events, people and places that weren’t welcoming to him.

Host Emmanuel Acho with Rachael Kirkconnell on “After the Final Rose.”

2018 was, of course, the year that Rachael posed for a photo at an antebellum-themed party. As Emmanuel told Rachael when she had her time in the hot seat, antebellum in Latin means “before the war,” as in the U.S. Civil War, which means it’s about honouring the South at a time when slavery was still practised.

A contrite Rachael said she was living in ignorance when the photo was taken without thinking about who her actions might hurt, and she seemed sincere in her desire to rectify that ignorance, but it also seemed clear that whatever she does isn’t going to win back Matt, not that I’m suggesting that should be a priority for him.

Rachael and Matt had an uncomfortable reunion.

When Matt joined Rachael onstage, she apologized for hurting him and for not understanding at first how hurt he had been by her actions, and he just nodded. When Emmanuel asked Matt what he wanted to share with Rachael there was an uncomfortable almost minute-long silence during which he seemed to be struggling with some painful emotions.

Finally, after Emmanuel urged him again to share what was on his mind, Matt told Rachael, “The most disappointing thing for me was having to explain to you why what I saw was problematic and why I was so upset . . . when I questioned our relationship it was on the context of you not fully understanding my blackness and what it means to be a Black man in America, and what it would mean for our kids when I saw those things that were floating around the internet, and it broke my heart.”

Heartbroken or not, Matt said he couldn’t be “emotionally responsible” for Rachael’s tears even though it hurt to see her shed them — she was crying after having told Matt she’d never love anyone the way she loved him — and that he could play no part in the work of reconciliation that she was doing.

Emmanuel invited them to share one last embrace and Matt made no move toward her side of the couch.

Now that we know how it ends, and since this is technically a recap, I should probably say something about what came before “ATFR.”

The episode began with the usual business of the final two meeting Matt’s family. His mother Patty and brother John were charmed by both Rachael and Michelle Young, and vice versa. But Patty went from being ready to welcome one of them into the family to telling Matt that “people fall in and out of love, and love is not the end-all, be-all,” nor did it automatically have to mean an engagement.

That in turn sent Matt to “a very dark place,” thinking about his father not being ready for marriage and destroying his family, which led to Matt thinking he himself wasn’t ready to get engaged.

This being “The Bachelor,” it was hard to tell if Matt was genuinely having second thoughts or this was just a finale fakeout.

Matt and Michelle rappelled down the hotel, which was the easy part of the date.

He seemed attentive enough during his final date with Michelle, which involved rappelling down the front of the Nemacolin. Little did Michelle know walking down a building on a rope would be the easy part of her time with Matt.

Later, in her suite — after she gave Matt matching Mr. and Mrs. James basketball jerseys, signifying their status as life “teammates” — Matt delivered the very bad news that he was having doubts and he didn’t think he could “get there” with Michelle.

They parted with tears on both sides. When then host Chris Harrison showed up to commiserate, Matt reiterated that he wasn’t going to put any woman through what his mother had gone through by rushing into marriage and that he needed time to think things over.

What that meant in practice is that Rachael’s final date was cancelled, but it didn’t stop jeweller Neil Lane from visiting or Matt from picking out an engagement ring.

The pear-shaped beauty, however, stayed in his pocket when Rachael arrived at the lake the next day to learn her fate. There was a certain irony, given the “ATFR” conversation, to hear Rachael talk about knowing Matt had been hurting the day before and how “when you’re hurting I’m hurting.”

Rachael and Matt during the finale non-proposal. There was still a final rose.

Matt told Rachael that he couldn’t propose to her, but he also said he loved her and could see her as his wife and the mother of his children. So it seemed about as idyllic as an ending could get, with Rachael and Matt exchanging giddy “I love you’s,” oblivious to the reality that everyone watching already knew was coming.

As for Michelle, she is indeed, as was reported last week, one of two new Bachelorettes. Katie Thurston is the other one. Her season will air first this summer, with Michelle’s in the fall.

A not so secret Bachelorette reveal: there are two of them, Michelle and Katie Thurston.

Michelle had one bit of unfinished business with Matt on “After the Final Rose.” She told Emmanuel that after their breakup she’d asked production for two minutes to speak to Matt, but Matt refused.

When Matt joined her onstage, Michelle told him she hadn’t been trying to change his mind or to fight for him, but just to find some inner peace before she left Pennsylvania.

Matt apologized for not talking to her. He also praised her both for the way she carried herself through the show and for the “emotional weight” she had carried as a Black woman. Michelle told Matt, “I hope you find your happiness; I hope you move on, kissing with your eyes closed, and I hope you come up with more phrases than just ‘thanks for sharing.'”

I hope that sense of humour is on full display in Michelle’s “Bachelorette” season. I expecting I’ll be recapping that one too.

Until then, you can comment here, visit my Facebook page or follow me on Twitter @realityeo

3 fantasy suites minus 1 tent equals 2 Bachelor finalists

March 9, 2021 / Debra Yeo

Matt James ended up with a final two on Monday night and I’m sure you can guess who one of them was. PHOTO CREDIT: All photos Craig Sjodin/ABC

Here’s a “Bachelor” pop quiz for you about “fantasy suite” week. One woman got a spa day and then a night in a huge luxury suite; another woman got to make pottery with Matt James a la “Ghost” and enjoy a fireworks display from a tastefully appointed room; the other woman got to hike through the chilly woods, pitch a tent, roast marshmallows then spend the night in a small wood-panelled space.

Which one do you think got the short end of the stick . . . with burnt marshmallow attached?

Yes, Bri Springs’ misgivings about being the last one to get a rose two weeks ago proved to be prescient. Matt sent her home, keeping Michelle Young and Rachael Kirkconnell as his final two.

I’ll be honest: I was hoping he’d get rid of Rachael, as unlikely as that seemed.

I mean she whinged, moped and cried throughout much of the episode over the fact Matt was spending “intimate” time with the other two women, so I was hoping she’d melt down and send herself home. It’s what the producers encouraged us to think by showing promo footage two weeks ago of a teary Rachael saying she “can’t do this anymore” and a teary Matt telling Chris Harrison he didn’t know if he could do it anymore either. But guess what? We didn’t see either of those scenes in this episode.

Rachael goes into next week’s finale as the clear favourite to get engaged to Matt and as Matt very eloquently said after Serena Pitt dumped him: “It sucks to hear that.”

Maybe Rachael is a lovely human being; maybe she and Matt are perfectly matched, but she’s tainted as a contestant for many of us because of the controversy over her social media posts, the one that has, for now, cost Harrison his job (although he vows he’ll be back).

There’s also the fact she just seems so young to me, even though at 24 she’s the same age as Bri.

Before Monday’s dates kicked off, there was someone else Matt had to see: his father. In an emotional conversation, Matt and dad Manny both aired their hurts: the fact that Manny hadn’t been there for Matt as a child; the fact Manny’s own father was killed when he was 5; the fact Matt’s mom walked out on Manny over his cheating when Matt and his brother were 2 and 3.

“I remember growing up he’d come around every now and then, drop off some shoes . . . pizza. I didn’t need any shoes, I didn’t need pizza, I needed a dad,” said Matt with tears running down his face in a heart-wrenching confessional.

In the end, Matt and Manny seemed to make their peace, exchanging hugs and I love you’s and saying they wanted to be in each other’s lives.

Matt framed the conversation as one he needed to have to convince himself he wasn’t like his father and could commit to getting married, so I’ll take his word for it. He brought it up on each of his three dates.

Matt and Michelle check out the milk bath, part of their spa day.

Michelle, 27, was first up. She got a “traditional Pennsylvania Dutch spa day,” which involved she and Matt soaking their feet in oatmeal, slathering each other with butter and taking a milk bath. Hey, supposedly it worked for Cleopatra.

Michelle is my favourite — if not to end up with Matt, at least to be the next Bachelorette — because she just seems so worthy: fun-loving but mature, warm and wise.

Take the conversation with Matt in which she talked about the importance not just of falling in love and being in love but of “staying” in love and how you had to plan ways to keep showing your love as life changed it. So smart.

Michelle told Matt she was in love with him. He did not say it back and when she repeated it in the morning his response was “Thank you for sharing that,” which did not inspire confidence considering he’d already told Rachael he was falling for her way before the fantasy suite.

On the other hand, Michelle didn’t have to strap on a heavy backpack and hike through the woods, then put up a tent and sit around a campfire, which is what Bri did. If you thought that tent was going to be Bri’s fantasy suite you’re not alone, but luckily she did get to sleep indoors albeit in a room that was more rustic than swanky.

Why did Bri and Matt have to put up a tent if they weren’t sleeping in it?

Nonetheless, Bri was ecstatic after spending the night with Matt. Like Michelle, she told Matt she loved him and was ready to get engaged. But Matt foreshadowed what was to come in his confessional when he said he could see a life with Bri but also that it was going to be hard sending someone home.

By the time Rachael’s date came around she’d convinced herself she was the one getting dumped. She was supposed to be throwing pottery on a wheel, but instead she was spinning herself into a funk.

I’m going to guess that, given how happy Rachael looks, this was taken after her talk with Matt.

She and Matt left the studio for a chat during which Rachael expressed her fear that Matt’s feelings for her had changed after his dates with Michelle and Bri. Not only did Matt bring up Rachael’s parachute mishap again and how much the thought of losing her had scared him, he said he had fallen in love with her. “I’m completely in love with you,” Rachael responded.

At dinner, Matt was practically bursting with excitement as Rachael told him she was “100 per cent completely ready” to have a life with him.

“Tonight, I’m just thinking about what life would look like with Rachael,” enthused Matt in his voice-over. “She’s smart, beautiful; she’s articulate, she’s sexy and everything she embodies, it’s incredible.”

It sure sounds like a done deal to me. The fireworks outside their window as they passionately kissed were like an exclamation point.

So it was obvious Rachael was getting a rose at the next day’s ceremony. And when Matt handed the first one to Michelle it was clear that Bri was done.

(Rachael is also Harrison’s favourite, it seems. He greeted her before the rose ceremony as Rach and told her it was “so good to see you.”)

Bri left tearfully but told Matt she couldn’t be upset or angry with him. At least we know that Bri’s mother, who promised to help mend her broken heart if things didn’t work out, will have her back. And she’s now free to join the Bachelorette race.

Next week we’ll go through the motions of seeing Matt pretend to choose between Rachael and Michelle. It looks like there’ll be tears all around.

You can watch Monday at 8 p.m. on Citytv. And you can comment here, visit my Facebook page or follow me on Twitter @realityeo

CLARIFICATION: I edited this Tuesday afternoon after reading a couple of other recaps that said Matt told Rachael he had “fallen” in love with her. I swear I heard him say “falling.” I even played that bit over again to double check, but when I listened again today with the volume cranked way up I did hear the word “fallen,” so yeah, sorry Michelle.

One woman’s exit leaves Matt speechless on ‘The Bachelor’

February 23, 2021 / Debra Yeo

Matt James didn’t get the rose ceremony he expected on Monday’s episode of “The Bachelor.”
PHOTO CREDIT: All photos, Craig Sjodin/ABC

Matt James asked a rhetorical question on Monday’s hometowns episode of “The Bachelor,” on which he met the relatives of the four women still in the hunt: “The fact that their families are here to meet me and spend time with their daughter, how can you not be excited about that?”

I wasn’t excited at all, truth be told. This has felt like a gruelling season, first because of the nasty behaviour among some of the contestants, later because of the racism controversy that led to Chris Harrison stepping down as host. It’s the first time I can remember that I started to appreciate weekly episodes less as entertainment than as milestones to the end of the season and not having to watch anymore.

But then the first “hometown” date, with teacher Michelle Young, chipped away some of the stone where my “Bachelor”-loving heart used to be. There were cute children on Zoom asking awkward and funny questions. There were lovely moments of affection and care between Michelle and her parents.

By episode’s end, I was feeling sorry for Matt, who seemed to have the wind knocked out of him when Serena Pitt told him he wasn’t her “person” and sent herself home. The stunned silence with which he greeted her pronouncement was raw and real. He hasn’t seemed that disturbed about anyone else leaving, which makes me think that Bri lucked into what would have been Serena’s rose. More on that later.

Back to Michelle’s date. Taking questions from the children of Ms. Young’s class was probably good practice for Matt meeting the parents later on.

Matt got to “meet” teacher Michelle’s students on their hometown date.

The kids weren’t messing around. “How many girlfriends do you have?” asked a girl named Marnie. “Are you going to have babies?” queried Kelsey and Luke. “Are you going to marry her?” asked Tyler. Matt wasn’t saying, but promised he’d give Tyler a Zoom call when he knew.

Michelle’s dad Ephraim wasn’t quite that direct, but he did ask Matt if he was in love with Michelle. “I am falling for your daughter,” Matt replied. He also said he’d be willing to move to Minnesota if they ended up together.

Michelle had emotional conversations with both her mom and her dad, not just about her feelings for Matt but about how they supported her after what I presume was a bad breakup two years before. “That’s our job, to be there when things get tough,” Ephraim said, which gives me hope Michelle will be just fine if Matt doesn’t pick her.

Later, Michelle told Matt she was falling in love with him. He did not say it back, but he did seem happy she said it, so we’ll see.

Rachael gets a rose from Matt. Should I read anything into the fact that her hometown date
was the only one that the ABC website didn’t provide any photos for?

The next date was with our problem contestant, Rachael Kirkconnell.

If you’re like me, you’re probably hoping that Matt doesn’t pick Rachael because if her social media blunders were more than just youthful ignorance, and the allegations that she bullied high school colleagues for dating Black guys are true, then her getting engaged to Matt can’t end well.

Matt certainly does seem attached to Rachael, however. There was a mishap when they went skydiving and Rachael came in for a rough, face-first landing. She was fine other than bruises, but Matt said the near-miss had put his feelings in perspective. “It’s a different feeling when you’re falling in love and that person’s, like, potentially really hurt and the thought of losing you set in in that moment . . . I didn’t realize how strongly I felt until something like that happened,” he said.

When it came to her family, Rachael’s father Darrell was skeptical, but he wasn’t rude about it. “To me it would be difficult to care about someone when you’re seeing other people,” he told Matt and who the hell can argue with that sentiment?

Rachael wasn’t dissuaded when Darrell suggested Matt was telling the other three women the same things he was telling her. “I don’t think he is,” she said. “It might be a little naive of me to think I’m different, but I really think that I am.”

What could Dad do but tell her she had his support?

Rachael was a little put off, however, by the fact Matt hadn’t asked her father for permission to propose. “That’s not a conversation I want to have with four families,” Matt explained and I applaud the hell out of that remark. He promised Rachael he’d phone her pop when the time came.

If there’s a wedding for these two, Bri might need to pull out the step stool at the altar.

Bri’s date was the most uneventful of the four. There was only one child in view, her mother Lauren’s new baby, and she was too young to ask questions. There were no injuries despite the fact Bri took Matt off-roading.

Even though Matt said he was falling for Bri, her mom wasn’t sure if he meant in love or lust. But when Bri tearfully told Lauren she was falling in love with Matt, Mom was all for sharing that with him. “Worst case scenario we are mending a broken heart together and we’ll survive,” she said.

I could be wrong, but I suspect there’ll be mending to do, only because when Bri told Matt she felt like she was falling for him, he responded, “Thank you for sharing that with me tonight.” It seemed too polite a reaction.

Serena and Matt indulge in a Canadian pastime.

And now for Serena. Like her, I am a proud Canadian so I was most interested in the Toronto publicist’s date. One room of the Nemacolin was turned into a mini Canadaland. There were stuffed moose and beavers; there was maple syrup; there was a map of Canada and Canadian flags; there was a quiz in which Matt couldn’t distinguish between a toboggan and a toque. I’ll be honest: unless you popped into a souvenir store you wouldn’t see any of that stuff just wandering around Toronto. Although, yes, I occasionally eat poutine and BeaverTails and Nanaimo bars, but hold the peameal bacon.

Serena whupped Matt at hockey and beating Americans at hockey is something all Canadians like to do, or at least to see being done.

But there was to be no cross-border love story here. It wasn’t that Serena’s mom and dad and sister were opposed to Matt; it was that the more questions they asked Serena about him the more confused she became about her feelings. She was the only one of the four women who didn’t tell Matt she was falling for him. In fact, she told him very candidly that she was having doubts.

So the next day, Matt went to Serena’s suite to try to resolve those doubts after telling Harrison it was a relationship worth fighting for. Except it turned out to be a pretty fast knockout.

Matt told Serena he could see a future with her. Serena told him that despite the fact he had everything she could want in a husband, “it just comes down to the fact that I don’t think that you’re my person.”

For at least 20 seconds, Matt just sat there stunned before finally responding, “It sucks to hear that.” Serena walked him out and hugged him and handed him into an SUV. And Matt had tears running down his face in his confessional, so that one definitely left a mark.

My guess is that Bri would have gone home had Serena stuck around and that’s just because he seems more into Michelle and Rachael. But with Serena gone, all three got roses — after a warning from Matt that accepting a rose meant accepting everything that came it, including a potential engagement.

Next week it’s “Women Tell All” so expect rancour and tears, including from Victoria, and maybe even some apologies, fake or otherwise.

Then in two weeks, there’s some sexy time on the overnight dates, buckets of tears, including from Matt, Rachael saying she “can’t do this anymore” and Matt telling Harrison that maybe he doesn’t want to do it anymore either, so make of that what you will.

You can watch Monday at 8 p.m. on Citytv. And you can comment here, visit my Facebook page or follow me on Twitter @realityeo

Bachelor Matt James’ final four include controversial contestant

February 16, 2021 / Debra Yeo

One of Matt James’ one-on-one dates on Feb. 15 involved a driving manoeuvre called “drifting,” which seems like a good word for the season as a whole. PHOTO CREDIT: All photos, Craig Sjodin/ABC

After six weeks of spinning its wheels, Matt James’ “Bachelor” season got back on track Monday, at least insofar as the ostensible purpose of the show, which is him getting engaged. Let’s call it “The Fast and the Serious.” And I’m not talking about Jessenia’s “Hail Mary” one-on-one date, which involved a race car and “drifting.”

After weeks of telling pretty much every woman he spoke to that he was into them, Matt finally buckled down and separated the “maybe I can fall in love with you’s” from the “I kind of like you’s,” ending the episode with the four women who’ll get so-called “hometowns” next week.

But first there was a little detour into Red Herring Land. Yes, I’m talking about Heather Martin, who strutted in last week seemingly convinced that she could turn Matt’s head despite how far along the season was, all because her bestie Hannah Brown said Matt was perfect for her.

My eyes are rolling so hard over the idea that Heather jumped on a red-eye flight to Pennsylvania all on her own initiative that they’re doing backflips.

It was one of the more ridiculous production tricks we’ve seen and a mean one too. Like, duh, Matt wasn’t going to let Heather stay, even though he claimed he needed time to think about it. He even told Chris Harrison (who is host at least until the pretaped episodes run out, more on that later) with a straight face that he didn’t know what to do: “When someone I respect like Hannah, who knows me and has dated my best friend, puts her stamp of approval on somebody, that carries a lot of weight with me,” Matt said. Spare me.

In the meantime, Heather was getting the Mean Girl treatment from the other women. It started with a reasonable question from Serena P: Why hadn’t Heather tried to date Matt before he became the Bachelor? Then Pieper accused Heather, who was on Colton Underwood’s season, of Bachelor-hopping. And when Heather apologized for interrupting Pieper’s time with Matt, Pieper replied, “I still do not understand why you’re here Week 6.” Kit added, “Like, bitch, what are you doing?”

At that point, Heather started to cry and say that she felt sad, and Serena C. snarked, “OK, talk about it (in your) interview because I don’t want to hear your tears right now.” Heather walked away.

Was Heather coming there a dumb, dead-end move? Yes, but it was humiliating enough to get sent home by Matt without getting verbally torn apart for it.

Clearly Matt wasn’t listening in when the women unloaded on Heather — or when they cried and grumbled and blustered about her being there — because he commended them just before the rose ceremony for how they handled the “surprise.” Then he gave roses to Bri, Rachael, Serena P, Kit, Jessenia and Abigail, cutting Chelsea and Serena C loose.

The question then became who would get the two one-on-one dates this week. Since Jessenia and Abigail were the only women left who’d never escaped group date purgatory, it seemed logical it would be them. But then Serena P got her second one-on-one and blew that theory out of the water.

Matt and Serena P. hanging out a few episodes ago.

Mind you, Serena might have had second thoughts if she’d known Matt was taking her on a tantric yoga date. I mean, seriously, who thinks practically having to grind your partner on TV with some yoga instructor breathing down your neck is a good time? Oh wait, Matt thought it was great. Serena did not enjoy it and told Matt so, which made me like her even more.

As it happened, Serena’s intense dislike of tantric yoga seemed to be a main topic of their dinner conversation, with Matt blathering on about how much he liked her being real and honest and open and . . . sorry, dozed off there for a second.

Serena got the rose and with it a guaranteed hometown date, although hello, quarantine, so we won’t see Matt visiting Toronto.

The group date was next and sadly Abigail was on it, along with Pieper, Michelle, Rachael, Bri and Kit.

Here are Abigail, Kit, Rachael, Michelle, Pieper and Bri on the part of the group date we never saw on TV.

I really have no idea why Matt would give Abigail the first impression rose and not take her on a one-on-one. But that group date card was the kiss of death for the franchise’s first deaf contestant.

We never saw the daytime portion of the group date, just the cocktail party. Matt actually had the nerve to tell Abigail that all he’d wanted was more time with her. THEN WHY DIDN’T YOU TAKE HER ON A ONE-ON-ONE?

First impressions didn’t count for much for Abigail, unfortunately.

When Abigail told Matt she could picture a future with him you knew it wasn’t going to end well. He told Abigail that giving her the first impression rose had been a no-brainer and he’d been so comfortable in their relationship he’d decided to explore other relationships and, oops, those other relationships got stronger than theirs. None of that clears up the mystery of the missing one-on-one and, in fact, sounds like bullshit, but Abigail took her dismissal with grace and class.

And now, obviously, she’s in the running to be the next Bachelorette, assuming the whole franchise hasn’t blown up by then.

As for the rest of the group date: Bri confessed to Matt that she’d quit her dream job for the chance to be with him. Matt called that huge, but not huge enough to give her the date rose. He gave it to Rachael after telling her that he thought about her whenever he wasn’t around her, yet another indication of her front-runner status.

Rachael and Matt on their one-on-one in a previous episode.

(As an aside, Rachael being a front-runner is obviously going to be a problem for a lot of people after she was called out — and issued an apology for — social media activities that were seen as racist. Chris Harrison has stepped aside as host for an unspecified period of time after defending Rachael, who as you can see is white, in an interview with former Bachelorette Rachel Lindsay, who is Black. I don’t think this controversy is going to just go away nor should it, but I don’t want to address it in detail as an aside in a recap.)

Kit with Matt back when she still thought she had a chance of ending up with him.

Seeing Rachael get the rose shook Kit, who had used her time with Matt to tell him she wanted to delay getting married and having kids until she finished her education and did some travelling. When Matt said he was cool with that, Kit figured it was full steam ahead for the two of them. But seeing Rachael get the rose and get whisked away for a private concert with Aloe Blacc spurred Kit to jump before getting dumped.

Kit went to Matt’s suite and told him she didn’t have the “clarity” she needed and was heading home. Matt tried to dissuade her, but Kit went anyway, saying it was “the right thing for both of us.” Except, in the SUV of Shame, she expressed doubt about her decision, which makes me wonder if she’s going to pop back up in a future episode.

Next on the list of lost causes was Jessenia’s one-on-one date.

Matt and Jessenia went drifting on their date, in more ways than one.

Bless her optimistic little heart: after spending some time learning “drifting” with Matt, which looked like basically a lot of crazy-ass, reckless driving, Jessenia said, “Today really feels like the first day of what could be a long future together.”

That future was measured in hours, however. Matt, who talks a good game about honesty, led Jessenia on by asking her what meeting her family would be like and picking up the rose after she told him she was falling in love with him. He could easily have given her the “you’re great, but” speech without picking the damn thing up. What nasty producer taught him that trick?

Matt told Jessenia they were missing “that intangible love and connection” needed for an engagement and it was so long Jessenia, who was feeling blindsided.

Just like that, it was time for another rose ceremony. Predictably, Matt gave Bri and Michelle the remaining two roses, leaving Pieper feeling like her soul had been stomped on. Considering she just had a one-on-one last episode during which Matt told her to trust him with her heart I can understand why.

Next week, it’s “hometowns,” which means Matt meets the final four’s families at the Nemacolin resort. Expect the usual mix of protective parents and skeptical siblings — plus we’ll be another week closer to the end of this disappointing season.

You can watch Monday at 8 p.m. on Citytv. And you can comment here, visit my Facebook page or follow me on Twitter @realityeo

The Bachelor sends home a favourite and lets in an interloper

February 9, 2021 / Debra Yeo

Pieper and Matt spent part of their date at a carnival in the woods at Nemacolin. Wheee!
PHOTO CREDIT: All photos, Craig Sjodin/ABC

Matt James took one of his dates to a private carnival on Monday night’s “Bachelor,” but it felt like viewers were the ones being taken for a ride.

I mean, is there any good reason why Heather Martin, a contestant from Colton Underwood’s season, would show up halfway through Matt’s season other than to stir up as much shit as possible?

Are ex-Bachelorette Hannah Brown and her pals in charge of casting now? Have the producers decided that Matt’s journey for love is a lost cause and they might as well pump up the drama any way they can?

I get that Matt’s chances of settling on someone to marry seem to dwindle every time he takes another woman on a one-on-one and claims he can picture a life with her. It’s like frontrunner roulette: Oh, he’s really into Bri . . . no wait, it’s Sarah . . . never mind, it’s Serena P . . . spoke too soon, it’s Michelle . . . oops, now it’s Rachael . . . er, it’s Kit? . . . sigh, now he’s into Pieper.

All this while his first impression rose winner, Abigail, is consigned to group date purgatory week after week.

And now Heather comes strolling in like she’s freakin’ Cinderella at the ball? Ridiculous. The only purpose it serves is to drive the other women crazy, just when things were settling down after weeks of sniping and bullying in the house.

Matt with MJ back before he got tipped off to her new girl-baiting ways.

So about that, one of the last of the mean girls got dispatched early in the episode.

You might recall from last week that MJ and Jessenia were on an instant two-on-one after Jessenia outed MJ as an “antagonist” for making the newer contestants feel unwelcome.

MJ figured she could fluff her hair, put her “weak bitch moment” behind her and that Matt would believe her crap about spreading harmony and peace. He did not. She got escorted to an SUV of Shame and driven away, complaining about how “petty” Jessenia was.

Matt was supposedly so exhausted from refereeing MJ vs. Jessenia that he couldn’t endure a cocktail party with the rest of the women ahead of the rose ceremony. That made Ryan and Pieper cry. Serena C, a.k.a. Mean Girl Jr., blamed it on Katie. Like huh?

Matt gave roses to Serena P, Michelle, Pieper, Bri, Chelsea, Katie and Serena C (Jessenia, Kit, Abigail and Rachael already had them), thereby ensuring the Katie-Serena C drama would continue. Magi, who seemed like a sweetheart from what little we saw of her, went home, along with two of the new girls, Ryan and Brittany, which makes you wonder what was the point of bringing them in in the first place. Oh right, drama.

Speaking of drama, the next day Serena C confronted Katie to complain that Katie’s “antics” were costing her time with Matt. “You’re lighting all these little fires everywhere. You’re the freakin’ arsonist,” complained Serena. It escalated into a shouting match. The silliest part? Neither Serena C nor Katie stood a chance in hell of ending up with Matt, so WHY ALL THE YELLING?

Little did they know an even more disruptive force was pulling up at the gates of the resort. It was Heather Martin asking to see host Chris Harrison.

“Heather, what are you doing here?” asked Harrison, echoing all of Bachelor Nation.

Heather explained that her pal Hannah Brown, who met Matt early in the pandemic when she quarantined with him and Tyler Cameron, had told Heather that Matt was her “perfect match.” “I couldn’t let him get engaged and not meet him and not try my best,” said Heather.

Well, we’re six weeks into the season now, so yeah, you could.

Harrison said he had to talk to some other people before deciding if Heather could stay, which meant he and some other people were going to pretend to debate letting Heather in while having a good laugh about how upset the other contestants would be when they saw Heather on rose ceremony night.

*Matt and Pieper with country trio Temecula Road. Don’t worry, they all had their COVID tests.*

In the meantime, Matt had a one-on-one with Pieper. He waited till after dark, drove her to a wooded area of the resort, made her walk into the trees and voila: a whole mini carnival with rides and games and junk food.

Yes, it was pretty sweet. Later, Pieper told Matt about how her family doesn’t use the word “love” and so it was hard for her to express her emotions, but she somehow summoned up the courage to tell Matt she was falling in love with him. Matt told Pieper he wanted her to continue trusting him with her feelings and her heart, which seems like a really bad idea if you ask me.

There was a rose, there was kissing, there was a band. Yes, a country band. What else?

Serena C. works off her Katie aggression with some bowling.

Next up, the group date ladies — Bri, Kit, Rachael, Michelle, Jessenia, Serena P, Abigail, Chelsea and Serena C — went bowling with Matt. They were split into two teams, even though there were nine of them, and the losing team was banished from the cocktail party even though they came back from an almost 200-point deficit and lost by a measly six points. What’s worse is that Matt let them walk back to their suite, frustrated and angry, and waited to send over a date card inviting them to the party.

Double the drama: the losing team was riled up and then they got to disappoint the winning team, who’d been thrilled they only had to divide Matt’s time four ways.

Chelsea took it particularly hard, until Matt assured her that he could see himself with her — well, who can’t he see himself with at this point? — but Michelle got the date rose.

And then it was Katie’s turn for a one-on-one, but first Matt reconnected with his bestie Tyler Cameron over a game of pool and talk of Katie’s “cactus-size vibrator” (um, ouch?). Matt said getting advice from Tyler gave him confidence because he’d seen the process “work” for Tyler except . . . did he actually watch Hannah’s season, because I’m pretty sure she picked Jed. And now she’s apparently dating some model.

Anyway Katie arrived for her date and it looked like she and Matt were going to spend the afternoon at the hotel spa. All right, not a carnival in the woods, but OK. But then Matt told Katie that Tyler was coming in for a massage, and Matt and Katie were going to hide in a little room watching on a monitor and secretly telling the actor pretending to be a masseuse what tricks to play on Tyler and . . . this is a date? I mean, yes, Tyler without a shirt on, I get it. But really?

Matt and Katie have a laugh on a previous episode.

The choice of date was the first clue that Katie was stuck in the friend zone. The unsmiling look Matt gave her at dinner when she said she wanted her love story to be Matt’s love story was another. But then he picked up the rose, so maybe she was going to stick around after all.

Instead Matt blathered a bit about how much their relationship had grown and how she set the tone in the house and how much she meant to him, but sorry, it wasn’t enough to give her a rose.

Katie kept her head high and her eyes dry as she left. Hopefully she remembered to pack the vibrator.

There’s already a groundswell of support building for her to be the next Bachelorette.

It was time for another cocktail party and rose ceremony. The women seemed friendly and contented. They figured the drama was behind them. And then Heather showed up, got stuck in the revolving door, smiled and waved at the women as she walked past them, and interrupted Matt with Pieper.

Matt laughed so hard when Heather walked in I figured maybe he’d heard a clip of her saying she was ready to fall in love with Matt and get engaged. As if.

The other women were not laughing. As my Toronto girl Serena P put it, “If she gets a rose tonight I’ll be rageful.”

Next week, yes, there’s definitely some ragefulness and some tears and Heather complains that people are being mean. Like, what the hell did she expect?

You can watch Monday at 8 p.m. on Citytv. And you can comment here, visit my Facebook page or follow me on Twitter @realityeo

The chickens come home to roost for two Bachelor ‘antagonists’

February 2, 2021 / Debra Yeo

Matt James and friend on a farm-themed group date. PHOTO CREDIT: All photos, Craig Sjodin/ABC

Matt James brought out the Swiffer on Monday night, but what he needed was a heavy duty mop.

The Bachelor, tipped off to all the toxic nonsense swirling around the women, decided to clean house — and it almost worked.

Once Queen Victoria and her mean girl protege Anna had been sent packing, it seemed like something approaching civility might be restored among the contestants. When nice girl Rachael got a one-on-one date nobody called her “slutty” or a “ho.” Sure, the other women were disappointed it wasn’t them, but a few of them even clapped for Rachael.

Even the goat she was trying to milk didn’t want anything to do with MJ.

The goodwill didn’t last, though. MJ, who managed to avoid the purge that eliminated Victoria and Anna, got outed on the group date as an “antagonist” by Jessenia. The episode ended with the pair of them on an instant two-on-one and MJ gaslighting so hard it was like she was Charles Boyer and Jessenia was Ingrid Bergman.

I’m going to go out on a fairly sturdy limb and say that Matt won’t swallow MJ’s balderdash about spreading harmony and peace next week. But, in the meantime, let’s relive the fall of Queen Victoria.

After Katie tipped off Matt to the bad blood between the new women and the so-called OGs, it was fairly certain that a couple of troublemakers were headed for the SUVS of Shame.

Anna with Matt in the proverbial “happier times,” at last week’s rose ceremony.

First up was Anna, who you’ll recall gleefully spread a false rumour that newcomer Brittany was an escort back home in Chicago.

Matt heard the tale firsthand from a tearful Brittany. “This is on national TV,” she said. “My mom watches this show and this could ruin my entire life.”

Anna apologized to Matt, but her tears and her explanation of how horrible she felt weren’t good enough for a reprieve. And it was amazing how contrite everyone else got after they watched Matt walk Anna out of the hotel. “Kiss-assery” was what Serena C accurately called it, although she should have been kissing ass right along with the rest.

Queen Victoria’s reign finally came to an end and not with a rose, like last week.

Victoria even apologized to Catalina for taking her Miss Puerto Rico crown the night she arrived and then she sucked up to Brittany, but it was newbie Ryan who laid the groundwork for Victoria’s dethroning by telling Matt, “She told me to my face that because I’m a dancer, she flat out stated that I was a ho.”

The best part was that Victoria seemed to think she could bullshit her way out of it. She told Matt that her comment about Ryan being a ho was taken out of context, to which Matt replied, “I’m just curious, like what context would calling somebody a ho be acceptable to be taken in?” Yes! Thank you Matt.

Victoria just looked at him and played with her hair, but she had plenty to say to whichever producer had been babysitting her.

“Ryan, she’s the shadiest bitch and I hope I don’t get sent home because of that,” Victoria whined, loudly enough for Ryan and some of the other women to hear.

“Literally, there’s no one here he can marry besides me . . . I’m the only one with a working brain in this room. I’m not even being rude, I’m being serious. If he’s gonna believe some idiot over me he’s not my person.”

Holy delusional, Batman. I can’t wait to see that clip replayed on “Women Tell All” and hear Victoria’s spin on it.

When Victoria finally did get sent home, along with Catalina, Lauren and Mari, she had the nerve to tell Matt, “I honestly feel so sorry for you that you would listen to hearsay and not all the facts behind this situation.”

In reply, Matt just looked at her, which was the perfect response.

So Victoria declared that Matt was no longer her king but a jester, which to my mind is not a bad thing. It means he gets the last laugh.

Rachael plays dress-up inside one of the hotel shops.

The next day, Rachael got the “Cinderella” date. Since there presumably weren’t any swanky stores open nearby (or none they’d break quarantine in the resort for), Rachael was taken to one of the shops inside the Chateau at Nemacolin and gifted with a bunch of designer dresses and a pair of Louboutins.

The dinner conversation was mostly standard talk about Rachael having self-doubt and being afraid to open up. The most significant thing was that she said she was falling in love with Matt and he said it back to her, and I do believe that’s the first time he’s said that to someone.

Imagine how pissed you’d be if you’d just watched Rachael come back to the suite with her arms full of bags of expensive clothes and you had to go on the group date and shovel poop. That’s what Serena P, Bri, Katie, Pieper, Serena C, Ryan, Michelle, Brittany, Magi, Abigail, Chelsea, Jessenia and MJ got to do, as well as milk a goat named Frenchie (who did not like MJ much at all) and gather eggs.

MJ thought she’d be cute and flirty and chase Matt after he threw an egg that broke in her hand, but he ran straight into Pieper doing an interview and began sucking on her face. Awkward.

Hey Matt, remember your first impression rose recipient, Abigail?

Put MJ aside for a moment while we talk about Abigail. I’ve been puzzled that the first impression rose winner has not yet had a one-on-one, which was also weighing on Abigail’s mind.

She told Matt she was afraid she would disappoint him, chiefly because he wants a family and there’s a good chance her children will be deaf like her and her sister. She also confessed her fear of opening up in a relationship after her birth father walked out on the family when Abigail and her sister got their cochlear implants. Matt, himself the son of a single mom as we all know, treated her confessions as fuel for a future together and gave her the date rose. So don’t count Abigail out just yet.

When MJ’s turn for a chat came, things weren’t quite so cordial. Matt told her that some of the other women had identified her as an “antagonist” in the house. MJ claimed to be shocked and hurt, and then promptly proved her bona fides as an antagonist by getting up in Jessenia’s face. Jessenia had told Matt how MJ referred to the original women in the house as the “varsity” squad and the newer women as “JV” or junior varsity.

I mean, I’d rather be called JV than a ho, but I see Jessenia’s point, which was that it made the newer contestants feel unwelcome. MJ claimed she’d “never been involved in anything,” which anyone who’s watched the season from the beginning knows is a bunch of hogwash.

Anyway, enough about MJ. It was time for Kit’s one-on-one. I confess on Night 1 I had Kit pegged as perennial group date fodder and perhaps a sparring partner for Victoria. But Matt had Kit come to his place to bake chocolate chip cookies and smooch a lot.

Kit talked about how growing up in the public eye as the daughter of designer Cynthia Rowley made her keep her emotions hidden and her walls up, but she was being really vulnerable (yes, that word again) for the very first time. She said she was starting to fall in love with Matt.

Matt didn’t say it back, but he said he was happy to have Kit on the journey and gave her a rose.

And just like that it was rose ceremony day again and a card arrived for MJ and Jessenia, telling them to meet Matt at the cocktail party ahead of the other women.

I won’t bore you with the full extent of the she said, she said.

Jessenia said MJ was a liar for not owing up to her part in the toxicity in the house. MJ said all she was doing was preaching peace and harmony (if by harmony you mean saying things like, “The new girls aren’t gonna try to, like, get to the front of the line. Let the varsity squad go in first,” then yes, very harmonious).

Jessenia, who I am totally re-evaluating due to the cool way she parried MJ’s BS, said, “You’ll find out the truth when all this airs and so will he.”

And then Matt walked in, looking grim, and the promo rolled for next week.

We know that Pieper will be pissed, Abigail will be angry, Serena C and Katie will clash, Tyler Cameron will put in an appearance and, lord help us, Heather Martin will make her long awaited (or is that dreaded?) return to “Bachelor” land.

You can watch Monday at 8 p.m. on Citytv. And you can comment here, visit my Facebook page or follow me on Twitter @realityeo

New blood brings fresh meat for the Bachelor’s Mean Girls

January 26, 2021 / Debra Yeo

Matt James started his night with 18 women at the rose ceremony and ended up with 23.
PHOTO CREDIT: All photos, Craig Sjodin/ABC

Dumping new women into the cauldron of insecurity and jealousy that is “The Bachelor” several weeks into the season is kind of a no-miss move if drama is the aim.

At the very least, the original women will be flustered enough to generate lots of bitchy B-roll when the new ladies arrive. If the Bachelor keeps at least one of the newbies you’re guaranteed at least another day or two of tension.

But I imagine the producers practically peed themselves with excitement when Matt James kept (or agreed to keep) four of the five women parachuted in on Monday night, then took one of the four on a one-on-one date, leaving several of the OG contestants in a lather.

And when the jealousy reached new levels of verbal nastiness, well, high fives all around in the production room.

It seems like last week‘s gang-up on Sarah was perhaps a rule and not an exception given what went down this week. As usual, Victoria was the chief Mean Girl, but Anna was a close second, with assists from MJ and Serena C.

The episode began with Matt moping about Sarah’s departure and a few of the women gloating about it. “The trash took itself out,” sniped Victoria. When Katie asked her to stop being mean, Victoria responded, “No, I won’t stop, Katie. I’ll do whatever the fuck I want.”

Matt and Katie, who had no time for Victoria’s nonsense.

During the group date, Victoria tried to get Katie to apologize: “You told me to stop when I wasn’t done expressing myself.” When Katie pointed out that Victoria’s self-expression consisted of calling Sarah names, Victoria retorted, “I can express myself with name-calling if I choose to.” When Katie didn’t back down, Victoria tried to shame her by bringing up the vibrator from Night 1, but Katie — bless her heart — stuck to her guns.

Model Chelsea, who chatted with Matt about the emotional weight that Black women attach to their hair, got the date rose.

By the time the rose ceremony cocktail party rolled around, it looked like the drama had died down. Matt gave a very unconvincing speech about how he was eventually “hoping to get down on one knee” and distributed kisses and compliments to Pieper and Kit and Katie and Bri. And then, just as Victoria started blathering to Matt, host Chris Harrison interrupted and told Matt he had to talk to him. Right. Now.

Matt liked newcomer Brittany way more than the OG contestants did.

Was Sarah back? That’s what the women thought when an SUV pulled up outside. But brunette bombshell Brittany quickly became their new target when they saw her from a window planting a big smooch on Matt (for the love of god, will someone tell Matt to close his eyes when he kisses?).

She was quickly followed by teacher Michelle, dancer Ryan, nurse Kim and Catalina, a former Miss Puerto Rico whose crown “Queen Victoria” stole right off her head.

Victoria fumed that the interlopers were “random-ass hoes”: Anna said she was having a mental breakdown; Katie worried they were “new and exciting eye candy.” Matt called them “a nice surprise” — so nice in fact that he kept Brittany, Michelle, Ryan and Catalina and sent home Khaylah and Kaili, not that it mattered much in the grand scheme of things. It’s mostly changing up the group date fodder.

Speaking of group dates, the next day Matt took Brittany, Ryan and Catalina on a group date with Mari, Bri, Abigail, Magi, Anna and Victoria.

Former Bachelor Ben Higgins was back to oversee a group date.

It was an obstacle course supposedly planned by former Bachelor Ben Higgins: a “Fall in Love Fest” in which the women had to kayak in “pumpkins” across a pond (fall, get it?), then dress in squirrel costumes and hunt for stuffed acorns in a pile of leaves before racing to the finish line.

There was no drama to speak of, unless you count Anna hiding Brittany’s acorn, but that changed at the cocktail party when Brittany interrupted Anna’s time with Matt.

Anna started trash-talking Brittany, egged on by Victoria, who called Brittany “slutty.” Anna claimed to have heard rumours from their mutual hometown of Chicago that Brittany was — gasp! — an escort.

Brittany denied it, saying it was shitty that Anna was drawing conclusions without knowing her. “I know you guys don’t care at all, but it’s really hard,” said Brittany, to which Victoria retorted, “OK, then get out of the house” and laughed.

First off, so what if Brittany was an escort? Would that disqualify her from coming on a dating show? And have we not moved past women slut-shaming each other on this series?

Newcomer Michelle got a coveted one-on-one with Matt.

Against that background, Matt’s one-on-one date with Michelle the next day was a nice respite. The ziplining and hot-air ballooning were fine (some of the other women spied on them with binoculars from a hotel balcony), but it was the dinner conversation that made it clear these two had really bonded in their short time together.

Michelle talked about her work as a teacher, how much she loved her job, how hard the year had been for her students between the pandemic and the killing of George Floyd, and she paraphrased Maya Angelou: “People don’t always remember what you say. They remember how you made them feel,” which happened to be one of Matt’s favourite quotes.

Matt said Michelle had “the type of depth I’m looking for in a woman” and “could be someone that I called my wife,” and you had the feeling it might be game over for the women back at the hotel.

There was fighting as well as fighting words on “The Bachelor,” with guidance from Mia St. John.

Nonetheless, the show must go on, so there was another group date. This time 10 of the women — no newbies, luckily for them — got to train with former world boxing champ Mia St. John and then beat each other up in the “Battle for the Bachelor” while the rest of the women, Harrison and alum Wells Adams watched.

The women didn’t pull their punches, so much so that one bout was stopped after Serena P. got smacked in the throat and the nose by Lauren.

At the after-party, the women began complaining about the new girls again, undeterred by Katie telling them, “At some point we’ve got to get over it and welcome them into the house a little bit.”

It was worse back at the “house,” where Anna and Victoria were tag-teaming again, with Victoria calling Brittany “serial killer weird” and Catalina “the dumbest ho I’ve ever met.”

Katie, who knew firsthand how upset Brittany was about the escort story, decided to tattle. She ran outside to tell Matt there was bullying going on and rumours being spread about the new girls that “could literally ruin their lives.”

So it looks like the poop will hit the fan next week just ahead of the rose ceremony.

There will be tears, recriminations and it looks like Victoria will have a fainting spell of her own.

You can watch all the drama on Citytv next Monday at 8 p.m. And you can comment here, visit my Facebook page or follow me on Twitter @realityeo

On ‘The Bachelor,’ the ‘Mean Girls’ drive a frontrunner away

January 19, 2021 / Debra Yeo

Victoria reads Matt a filthy bedtime story on “The Bachelor.”
PHOTO CREDIT: All photos, Craig Sjodin/ABC

There was some real ugliness on Monday’s episode of “The Bachelor.” The shock is that it didn’t all come from “Queen Victoria.”

In fact, the season’s reigning villain was sidelined for much of the episode while the wrath of the house fell on an unlikely target: front-runner Sarah Trott.

Sarah’s sin was to interrupt a group date that she wasn’t on to talk to Bachelor Matt James, resulting in some of the women on the date not getting time with him. And then Sarah stayed in her room the next day rather than speak to the women she pissed off. So by the time she finally did come down to apologize to them it was like sticking her head in a hive full of angry bees. It was made clear that life with the other women was going to be, in Kit’s words, “horrible” from then on.

The next morning, Sarah decided to go home.

Matt and Sarah during last week’s episode, in yes, happier times.

I have sympathy for Sarah, I really do. First off, Matt and the audience knew what the rest of the women didn’t: that her father was seriously ill, which had to be stressing her out for the three weeks she was at the Nemacolin resort (although one does wonder why, if her father was so sick he could have been weeks away from death, as she told Katie, she would have come in the first place).

Secondly, I can’t imagine what it would be like to really be into someone and not only know that they were dating other people, but have to watch them go on dates with those people. Yes, it’s how “The Bachelor” works, but knowing it and living it are two different things. Not everyone is cut out for it.

Thirdly, how much of a role did production play in Sarah interrupting the date to talk to Matt? Sure, it’s possible that she independently decided she absolutely had to see Matt right there and then. But I have a hard time believing she didn’t get a nudge from production.

The episode began as it ended, with Sarah drama.

You’ll recall that last week we saw her collapse in some sort of fainting spell partway through the rose ceremony. She was fine once she went outside to get some air — with Matt by her side, which had the other women grumbling.

The rose ceremony continued. Victoria got the final rose. Marylynn, whom Victoria had told Matt was toxic, got sent home. Does that suck? Absolutely. My theory is that if if Marylynn had given as good as she got — if she’d argued with Victoria instead of trying to have a calm, adult conversation with her — they both would have been kept around for the drama.

With Marylynn dispatched, Victoria set her venomous sights on Sarah, declaring that the fainting spell seemed fake and Sarah was worse than Marylynn. Hold that thought.

Host Chris Harrison and Ashley Iaconetti Haibon with Matt.

Next up there was a group date that served two time-honoured “Bachelor” traditions: making the group do something embarrassing and bringing back a “Bachelor” alum. In this case, Ashley I. was on a stage reading an erotic passage from host Chris Harrison’s novel “The Perfect Letter” (what’s up with that? has he been listening outside the fantasy suite doors?) as Matt and 10 of the women walked in.

And — surprise — they all had to write their own sexy stories about Matt and read them in front of a live audience, i.e. the other contestants. Most of the prose was more suggestive than salacious, except for Katie’s and Victoria’s, which was filled with words that had to be bleeped out. But Victoria’s seemed to make everybody laugh really hard — except for Sarah.

Sarah said hearing the other women read their stories was “like a knife went through my heart.” She also said that seeing Matt with other people was “triggering” issues from her past involving faithfulness, commitment and jealousy.

Next thing you know Sarah was interrupting Katie’s conversation with Matt so she could tell him how hard she was finding the “process.”

Katie, who is nothing if not forthright, came back to claim her time with Matt, but Sarah said she needed five more minutes. When Katie came back a second time and refused to leave the room, Matt walked Sarah out of the room so he could continue reassuring her — and kissing her — in private.

Sarah then tried apologizing to the women on the group date, but they weren’t having it. Sarah left in tears; everybody else was mad, except for maybe Rachael, who got the date rose.

Would things have blown over if Sarah had come downstairs the next morning and apologized again? I don’t know. But Sarah staying in her room and Matt going upstairs to find her when he was supposed to be taking Serena P. out on a date just made everything worse.

Sarah told Matt she’d been ready to leave the night before; he told her he had “real feelings” for her and convinced her to stay. And oh yeah, not to worry about what the other girls think, which is easy for him to say.

I’d rather show you the donkeys than this photo of Matt and Serena P. from last week.

Then we got a respite from “The Sarah Show,” as Victoria called it, while Matt and Serena Pitt, a publicist from Toronto, went horseback riding. They had a picnic and bonded over the idea of not living life the way other people want you to , and then their smooching session was interrupted by adorable donkeys.

Did Serena get a rose? You bet. She didn’t even have to make any harrowing confessions at dinner. She just talked about her one serious boyfriend and told Matt she could see herself potentially falling in love with him. And then they fell into a hot tub for Champagne and kisses.

Back at the part of the resort where the other women were hanging out, Sarah finally made an appearance just as the second group date card arrived. She apologized both for interrupting the first group date and for not coming down to “clear the air,” but it was a very, very tough crowd.

Serena C. accused Sarah of not taking anyone else’s feelings into account; Victoria said Sarah was treating her time as more important than anyone else’s; and Anna said Sarah’s actions felt calculated.

“Manipulative, toxic,” added Serena.

“I concur. You’re all three of those things, Sarah,” said Victoria.

“Why would you think that we want to make amends with you?” she added. “I do not accept your apology even if you say it 20 more times.”

Kit delivered the coup de grace: “I hope your connection with Matt is very strong right now because the rest of your living situation here is going to be horrible.”

“Yeah,” agreed Victoria, smiling and laughing.

(Just as a reminder of how classy Victoria is, she said if Matt sent Sarah home she’d want to fuck him, because it would be so “hot.”)

Is this the same group of women who said last week they could feel happy for another woman who was going on a date with Matt even if they wanted to be on the date themselves? What happened to that generosity of spirit?

Thank goodness for Katie, who went to see Sarah the next morning to tell her she’d been uncomfortable with the gang-up of the night before.

At first, Katie tried to talk Sarah into staying, saying that otherwise she and Matt would always wonder “what if.” Then Sarah confided about her dad having ALS.

“My dad passed away in 2012, so I 100 per cent encourage you to be with him,” Katie said, with tears running down her cheeks. “I missed out on my goodbyes with my dad so I would never want that for you.”

Sarah stopped to see Matt before she left and he tried once again to convince her to stay, but when she said that she’d prayed about it and she felt “called” to go home, it was clear it was a lost cause.

Sarah left in tears and Matt sadly watched her go.

It would be nice to think we could get back to focusing on some of the nice women who are left, like Abigail. But next week, the producers screw with everyone’s heads by sending in five more contestants, which probably means another week in which Victoria isn’t public enemy No. 1.

You can watch all the drama on Citytv next Monday at 8 p.m. And you can comment here, visit my Facebook page or follow me on Twitter @realityeo

On The Bachelor, Victoria proves she’s the queen . . . of mean

January 12, 2021 / Debra Yeo

Why does Victoria look so happy talking to Matt? Oh right, she’s throwing somebody under the bus.
*PHOTO CREDIT: All photos, Craig Sjodin/ABC*

It’s time to abolish the Bachelor monarchy.

I’m not suggesting we go all Oliver Crowell on Victoria’s ass (he’s the fellow who had King Charles I beheaded in 1649), but it would be nice to see this particular “queen” deposed.

This being “The Bachelor,” however, Victoria will be with us a while longer so she can stir up some more crap. She was doing a fine job of that on Monday’s episode.

The drama started early. The first date card had barely been handed out before Victoria was bellyaching about how she was only there to be with Matt, she was sick of the other women (um, hello, after one day?), she wasn’t there to join a sorority and anybody who didn’t share her distaste for time spent with anybody but Matt was either lying or fake. Oh, and she didn’t want to go on a group date because she couldn’t be her “most authentic self.”

Which authentic self is that? The one who said “I literally am a queen”?

And when Victoria did get put on the group date, she warned the other women not to be “negative.” Oh the irony.

Anyway, while all that nonsense was going on, Matt was off on a one-on-one with Bri, the communications manager with whom he bonded on Night 1 over their shared heritage of being biracial and raised by single moms.

Bri’s reward for getting dumped off an ATV was drinks with Matt in a hot tub
and she got to count his abs, and said there were between eight and 60.

Bri survived with just bruises and a butt full of mud after Matt overturned their ATV while doing doughnuts. “Bri’s mom is going to kill me,” he said, which was kind of sweet and funny.

Never fear: there was a hot tub in the woods surrounding the palatial Nemacolin resort for them to clean off, drink Champagne and kiss in. No offence La Quinta, but this feels like a proper Bachelor franchise date.

And on a proper Bachelor date, you have to sing for your supper (whether you eat it or not), or more accurately spill your guts about whatever makes you “vulnerable,” a term that is giving “journey” a run for its money as the franchise’s favourite word. In Bri’s case that meant talking about the fact her mother was 13 (!) when she got pregnant with Bri, about her absentee dad and about the fact her mother was now pregnant again and had a new fiance, so “I don’t feel like I have a home to go to anymore.”

Naturally Bri got the date rose and a chance to kiss Matt some more while fireworks exploded overhead.

The fireworks were not confined to the outdoors. Inside the resort, Victoria was still whinging about how she didn’t want to spend time with the other women (note that nobody was forcing her to sit and complain ad nauseam to the other women) and now she claimed they were insulting her by questioning her view of things. And when Chelsea asked Victoria not to generalize with her accusations, Victoria zeroed in on roommate Marylynn for wanting to, in Victoria’s words, pick her brain and understand her better. Marylynn responded that she was merely suggesting that she and Victoria get to know each other. But Victoria, declaring that Marylynn was “psychologically disturbed, literally,” hauled her bags out of the room and decided to sleep on a couch.

(I had a look at the cast list just now because I wanted to see if Victoria was a lot younger than the other women, but no: she’s 27 and Marylynn is 28, so there goes that theory.)

So the stage was set for what Toronto contestant Alana (hello Canadian girl, I overlooked you last week) said was sure to be a “shit show” of a date. Truth be told, it was more of a paint show.

*Eighteen Bachelor “brides,” including Victoria, second from left, on a group date with Matt James.*

A whopping 18 women turned up for the group date and were given 10 minutes to put on wedding gowns for a photo shoot with Matt. Victoria butted in out of turn, of course, hauled up her dress to make Matt remove a garter from her thigh and laid a sloppy kiss on him — a little tasteless but on brand, I’d say.

Host Chris Harrison interrupted the photo shoot halfway through to tell the women they’d have to “fight” for Matt and by fight he meant form teams, run around trying to capture stuffed hearts from the opposite team’s goalposts, er, wedding arbours, and pummel them with objects like bouquets dipped in paint.

Here’s what the wedding dresses looked like after the game.

The dresses were shredded and so were the hearts of the losing team. All of them except for Mari, who was named “most valuable bride,” had to walk back to their rooms, leaving the winners to have cocktails with Matt.

So what was Victoria’s big confession during her alone time with Matt? She said she has insecurities and she thought, “Oh, I hope I don’t look fat” while choosing a wedding dress.

“I haven’t been deep with a guy like that in a while,” said Victoria.

Hold that thought; we’ll come back to it. In the meantime, Matt gave the date rose to lawyer Lauren, who told Matt she was looking for “a man of faith” because the key to her parents’ healthy marriage was “to keep God first.” That made Matt happy since the fact he’s a Christian sometimes turns people off, he said.

Moving on: it was Sarah’s turn for a one-on-one, flying over the resort with Matt in a biplane. Matt wasn’t steering, nobody fell out.

Sarah wasn’t ready to tell Matt about her family situation at the start of her date.

Conveniently, as he and Sarah drank Champagne on a couch in the woods, the topic turned to family and how Sarah’s dad felt about her being on “The Bachelor.” If you didn’t know any better, you’d almost think Matt already knew about Sarah’s father’s health problems, wouldn’t you?

Sarah didn’t divulge anything right away, but the confession clock was ticking so, over dinner, she told Matt about her dad’s ALS and how she had quit her job as a TV reporter and anchor to be his caregiver.

I have no doubt that would be a hard thing to talk about with somebody you barely know and it’s a damn sight more “deep” than confessing to worrying you’ll look fat in a dress. Yes, I’m talking about you, Victoria.

Matt’s response was very classy. He said he’d pray for Sarah’s father, that he was “honoured” she had made such a big sacrifice to be there with him and asked, “What can I do through this experience to show you I can be somebody you’d want to be with?”

Sarah said, essentially, that he was already doing it. And she got her rose and her kisses.

There was nothing left by then but for Matt to hand out the rest of the roses. The cocktail party was going well. Matt reconnected with favourites like Abigail and Rachael. And when Marylynn expressed doubt about whether Matt really wanted her there since she hadn’t been on a date, he pulled out an orchid from behind the couch, which he (or somebody, anyway) had remembered was her favourite flower.

Poor Marylynn with Matt before Victoria threw her under the bus.

And then it all went to hell when Marylynn showed the other women her orchid. You could see the malevolent wheels turning in Victoria’s head. After blathering on to a producer about Marylynn’s “toxic energy,” Victoria trotted off to tell Matt that she could no longer sleep in her room because Marylynn was so toxic and manipulative.

I mean, it’s utter bullshit obviously. There’s only one person in the group so far who seems toxic and manipulative and that’s Victoria. But Matt dutifully went to Marylynn with Victoria’s allegations and all she could do was tell him none of it was true and hope that he believed her. Then Matt disappeared without talking to anymore of the women, saying he had a lot to think about.

Marylynn tried to clear the air with Victoria, hoping they could come to an understanding, but Victoria wouldn’t even allow Marylynn to sit next to her on the couch. She walked away saying that Marylynn was “too much for me” and then had the nerve to call Marylynn “crazy.” I don’t like to call other women names, but there’s a word that come to mind for behaviour like that and it rhymes with “itch.”

Anyway, Matt came back to hand out roses and had given away nine of them when Sarah, who earlier described herself as feeling “overwhelmed” by the Victoria drama, wobbled off the dais and, with the help of Bri, sank to the floor behind a couch. “I’m blacking out, I can’t see,” she told the medic who was called over as Matt hovered.

And then it was “To be continued.”

Clearly Victoria is going to get a rose because the promo for next week shows her getting into disputes with other women and she’s not wearing her cocktail party dress. “I’ll do whatever the fuck I want,” she tells Katie.

Off with her figurative — as opposed to her literal — head, I say.

You can watch all the drama on Citytv next Monday at 8 p.m. And you can comment here, visit my Facebook page or follow me on Twitter @realityeo

Matt James starts his Bachelor season on a buzz and a prayer

January 5, 2021 / Debra Yeo

Matt James and some of the 32 women he met on *Night 1* of “The Bachelor.”
PHOTO CREDIT, ALL PHOTOS: Craig Sjodin/ABC

How many TV shows can boast a prayer and a vibrator in the same episode? I’m going to go out on a limb and say, up until Monday night, none. But it was an evening of firsts as “The Bachelor” kicked off its 25th season.

First, and most importantly, Matt James is the first Black Bachelor in franchise history, a development that fans have been agitating for for years. Host Chris Harrison emphasized Matt’s newness to the franchise, since he’s never been a “Bachelorette” or “Bachelor in Paradise” contestant (although he delivers his speeches about potentially meeting his future wife like an old pro). Harrison noted that there were a record number of applications from women who wanted to date Matt. He’s a 28-year-old former pro football player and real estate broker living in New York City who runs a charity that provides experiences to inner city kids, many of them homeless. (Personally I’m impressed that he told his limo driver, “I appreciate you.”)

And then we have the show’s first ever deaf contestant in Abigail Heringer, who earned the first impression rose and the first kiss. It’s also the first time a Bachelor has kicked off the festivities with a prayer.

And, more ignominiously, it’s the first time to my memory a contestant has used a sex toy as a Night 1 prop and we’re talking a full on, light up vibrator. For TV purposes, most of the thing was covered with a black bar, although you can see it in all its glory in the photo below. Katie, who’s a bank marketing manager, was waving that sucker around like a lightsaber, as Matt pointed out.

Perhaps we had fair warning in her “Bachelor” bio, which says she’s looking for a man to create “the right vibe.”

Katie brought a, er, toy to help her through the dark times on “The Bachelor.”

That was definitely the kookiest entrance of the night, although Kaili’s debut was a close second. The hostess strolled over to Matt in a bra and panties with just a short, open robe for cover, and asked him to help her choose between two dresses hanging from the rack she was pulling. Give her points for cheek, in more ways than one. And Illeana, who’s a health food developer, asked Matt if she could put her balls in his mouth, as in meatballs, presumably healthy ones.

Kaili asked Matt for some help choosing what to wear.

There were several vehicular entrances. Fashion entrepreneur Kit drove up in a Bentley; hairstylist MJ arrived in a pizza delivery car and gifted Matt with a pie; health care advocate Khaylah commanded Matt’s attention by driving a pickup truck — with a stick shift — as a reminder of North Carolina, where they’re both from.

“Queen Victoria” told Matt she’s looking for a king with a good heart. Aren’t we all?

And then there was Victoria, whose occupation is listed as queen — Queen Victoria, get it? She showed up on a litter carried by four masked men, with a tiara on her head and a crown in her hands, which she bestowed on “King Matt.”

“I know I’m so confident and I’m so fun, and I know I made a good impression,” she said.

I would add so annoying to the list. The looks on some of the women’s faces said it all when Victoria waltzed in holding up her sceptre and declaring, “The queen has arrived, bitches.”

“You can be the queen of your little thing but, like, no. I’m the president, king, CEO,” groused Kit.

Later, Victoria asserted her royal privilege by double-dipping on time with Matt and, naturally, Kit was the woman she interrupted. Might as well get the animosity established early.

Victoria got a rose at the end of the night, of course. It’s Bachelor 101: keep the annoying ones around, especially when they’ve already started pissing other contestants off.

Luckily there were some roses, pun intended, to be found among the thorns.

Matt meets Abigail, the franchise’s first deaf contestant.

Abigail seems like a sweetheart. Matt was very taken by both her looks and their conversation. Abigail talked about how close she is to her family, particularly her sister, who’s also deaf. And Matt, who was besotted with Abigail’s eyes, leaned in for a smooch and then excused himself to go collect the first impression rose.

Bri and Matt had lots in common, including being biracial and raised by single moms.

Up until that point, I thought the rose might go to Bri, who’s a communications manager with things in common with Matt. They’re both biracial: she has a Persian mother who passes for white and a Black father, while Matt has a Black dad and a white mom. And they were both raised by their single moms after their fathers split.

Viewers met Matt’s mom at the start of the episode and it’s clear that they’re close, although it’s also clear that being from a broken home is part of the reason that Matt has failed to commit up to this point — or at least that’s the narrative for the season.

Matt also had a frank chat with Harrison about the pressures of growing up biracial and of being the first Black Bachelor.

“You’ve got people who are cheering for you to find love and then you’ve got people who are cheering for you to end up with a specific person of a specific race,” Matt told Harrison. “That’s something that kept me up at night. It’s like I don’t want to piss off Black people; I don’t want to piss off white people, but I’m both of those, you know what I mean? How do I please everybody?”

“That’s a lot to carry,” Harrison responded. “The most important thing is if you come out of this with joy, peace, love and you have this amazing woman who shares those things.”

Sarah was one of the women who stood out on Night 1.

With contestants like Abigail and Bri, Matt seemed to be off to a decent start. There were also sparks with Sarah, a broadcast journalist who sidelined her career to be a caregiver to her father, who has ALS; and Rachael, a graphic designer who impressed Matt by talking about her fear of being vulnerable. And he seemed taken with Khaylah and Chelsea, a drop-dead-gorgeous runway model, too.

They all got roses at the end of the all-night cocktail party as Matt whittled the group of 32 down to 24, which is still a lot.

To be honest, I really enjoyed the luxury of having a smaller group when Tayshia Adams took over partway into the “Bachelorette” season with just 20 guys, but I know such streamlining is not the normal Bachelor way.

So what’s ahead for Matt? The usual: lots of making out, lots of crying. Apparently some additional contestants show up, among them Heather Martin, the woman from Colton Underwood’s “Bachelor” season who claimed she’d never been kissed.

I’ll be recapping every smooch and sniffle right here.

You can watch Mondays at 8 p.m. on Citytv. And you can comment here, visit my Facebook page or follow me on Twitter @realityeo

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