Joey Graziadei's season of The Bachelor is coming to an end, but not before we sit down with this season's eliminated contestants on Women Tell All. The March 18 special promises to follow up on last week's cliffhanger from "Fantasy Suite" and the fates of Rachel Nance, Kelsey Anderson and Daisy Kent.
Jesse Palmer kicked off the show with the exciting announcement that "Bachelor" alums Kathy Swarts and Susan Noles will host a new podcast , "The Bachelor" Happy Days: The Golden Hour,” the podcast is launching soon.
Then there's some fun footage of Joey and Jesse hanging out at a Bachelor watch party, and then Joey's Women Tell All begins in earnest.
Maria-Lea-Sydney play staged
The first confrontation of the night involved Lea Cayanan, who was questioned by several of her castmates about her motives for throwing that one-on-one date card into the fire on night one.
Leah said she was "just business" and tried to prevent other cast members from worrying about their dates being stolen. However, Mariah Georgas disagreed with Leah's comments about doing it for the benefit of other women, with Starr Skyler saying Leah's tears that night felt like a "performance."
Medina Alam also opened up about Leah pulling her aside in Malta and demanded an apology. Lea said she was "very sorry" and admitted it was not her place to confront Medina about her friendly issues with Maria. After receiving criticism from cast members throughout the night, Lea walked off the stage in tears during intermission. When she came back, Maria hugged her.
Sydney also explained why she felt "necessary" to defend Medina at the start of the season (despite Edwina Dober's claim that Sydney didn't like Mariah at all). Jesse Edwards also spoke out, claiming Mariah told her to shut up multiple times, which she denied.
Later in the evening, Maria, Sidney and Leah seemed to have completely reconciled - Leah told Maria she looked like a "wonderful woman" and the three embraced.
Review of The Bachelor
Several women were given a chance to talk about their exit from the show, with Lexi Young praising Joy's reaction to her endometriosis talk and reiterating that her decision to quit was "only fair" to her and Joy.
Jenn Tran, who left "Hometown" before, said being on the show had a "huge" positive impact on her relationship with her mother and family. Kelsey Toussant similarly said her once-estranged father was "very present" in her life after the show ended.
About that note...
Of course, one of the most anticipated parts of the Women Tell All special is finding out what happened to Kelsey's "we need to talk" note to Joey.
She came to his room and said she missed him, explaining that the day they met made her "wonder." She also said she wanted to meet his family.
Joey would have been relieved, but said in a confessional that he "shut down" after the note stoked his fear of rejection. "It's too bad," he said.
In her confessional, Kelsey said she felt bad for causing him stress and wished she had handled the note differently.
rachel leaves the bachelor
Unfortunately, after "Fantasy Suite", Rachel did not receive a rose from Joey. Joey simply explained that he didn't have "that loving feeling" for her. She told the camera she felt it was her fault for not speaking out sooner. But in "Women Tell All," she thanks him for boosting her confidence and letting her know her worth. In an interview after the special was filmed, Rachel opened up about her feelings.
"I've been saying all season, what's going to happen is going to happen. Whatever can find me, will find me," she tells Bustle. "I think being injured also taught me to let other people take care of me, which I wasn't used to doing...so, it was a beautiful reminder for me to slow down."
Rachel opened up about the racist comments she received after an episode of Hometown and how her parents, who love sharing their culture, were upset to see their daughters attacked that week.
Jesse addressed the audience directly, calling for an end to the "clear rise in hate" on social media.
The night ended with a slew of never-before-seen footage from all season, and finally, we got a sneak peek at the finale — including a tearful final rose ceremony (or lack thereof) where Daisy said something felt "off" between her and Joey ".
