Joey Graziadei's season of The Bachelor is about to head into Hometown, but first, the Season 28 star has to make some tough decisions about who he'll take with him on this part of the journey. At the beginning of the February 26 episode, Joey was shocked after Lexi Young's self-elimination last week. “The six women here are incredible,” he said. "So this week, I hope things get clearer, I hope there's confidence, I hope I start falling in love."
Here's a recap of what happened in the town of Jasper, Alberta, in the Canadian Rockies, and the ultimate reasons why Jenn Tran and Kelsey Toussant left The Bachelor.
Daisy is not in love yet...
On their first one-on-one date in Alberta, Joey and Daisy Kent went horseback riding and took a hot bath. “She was the first real connection I made, and that connection hasn’t gone away,” he said. "It was always there and I felt like I was in love with Daisy."
However, Daisy doesn't entirely agree. Although she can imagine a future with Joey, she is cautious about her relationship. "I'm not going to sit here and say, 'I love you.'" when I'm not around. "
She also told him: "I really, really like you. But...am I there? No."
Joey said it was "terrifying" to hear that he and Daisy didn't quite see eye-to-eye. "It's not what I want... it's my fear, like I need to feel this confidence before I meet her family," he said.
But then she explained why she had reservations about her hometown. Specifically, her family has been with her through very difficult times due to illness and hearing loss, so she is cautious about introducing them to potential partners. This heart-to-heart seemed to resonate with Joey, and he eventually gave her a rose.
Mariah struggles with group date
The group date for Week 7 was a Lumberjack-themed obstacle course where the remaining women enjoyed chopping tree stumps and throwing axes. Maria Georgas, however, wasn't keen on the festivities, not only because she preferred "glamping" to camping, but also because the competition began to reflect her inner feelings. She was "sickened" when she saw Jenn kissing Joey during the interview.
After the date, Mariah raised these concerns with Joey, but he tried to reassure her. "You always discredit what we have, what we can have...and you're doing that now."
However, Maria said she wasn't sure if she would be able to continue the show. She walked away, composed, but the uncertainty still startled Joey. "It looks like you're about to walk out," he said. "If you felt the way I did, you wouldn't do this. It made me want to hold back the feelings I was really feeling."
Joy also heard from other women about prospects in her hometown. Rachel Nance is feeling confident about potential relationship milestones. For her part, Jenny worries that he might feel "most comfortable" with other women in the family, citing her Vietnamese and American backgrounds.
Joey also spoke with Kelsey T., who said her dad didn't know she was on "The Bachelor." (In a one-on-one conversation last week, she explained that religion caused a major rift between them.) "What he thought was best and what I thought was best were so different," she said.
He didn't send roses on the group date because he needed more time to think.
Joey and Kelsey A. Make a Sensation
During Joey and Kelsey Anderson's one-on-one date, the two strengthened their bond by exploring Jasper and going on a polar dive.
Later at dinner, Kelsey talked about becoming closer to her father after her mother's death. They also talked about Joey's father and his thoughts on his son being on "The Bachelor." She shared that her biggest concern is that Joey doesn't understand their relationship 100 percent or is caught between two women by the end of the season. She explained that it would be "devastating," but he assured her that he wouldn't take a knee unless he was sure.
In a confessional, Joy said their one-on-one dinner led to "the best conversation we've ever had." After the date, Kelsey seemed like a likely frontrunner to get Joey's final rose.
Rose ceremony twist
While several women hoped for a chance to talk to Joey again before the hometown rose ceremony, he canceled the cocktail party that night. This shocked Jenn, Kelsey T., Maria and Rachel - the four women without roses. "My biggest fear was that I wasn't going to get the rose, and I didn't even know why," Kelsey explained in a confessional.
Sadly, this fear was confirmed. While Joey did pull Mariah aside before handing out the roses — giving her a chance to explain that "insecurities got the best of her" after the group date — he didn't chat with anyone else, and ultimately Jenn and Kay Elsie was eliminated.
Joey told Kelsey he admired her before she rode off, seemingly speechless on the ride home. Jenny, for her part, was equally confused. "I knew we would be great together," she said in her exit interview. "I know we'll be happy."
