The Bachelorette Season 7 - Ashley Hebert

THE BACHELORETTE SEASON 7 - ASHLEY HEBERT

MTA, Finale, and ATFR.......

I am going to start off tonight’s blog with a brief rundown of the MTA from last night.  Some of the guys were brought back again to talk of their journey on the show, and to dish on Bentley, and others on the show.  The “hotseat” had some visitors but before that happened, the guys partook in some ribbing of each other.  The ribbing started with Mr. Sunshine(AKA Ryan) and continued onto the feud between Ben C and William....... how William dissed on Ben C, and how Ben feels that is why he was sent home.  Then of course Tim(aka drunk guy) got his fair share of the ribbing by Chris H. and the other guys there.  Then the ribbing switched to Jeff(AKA the Mask), before William finally took the hotseat.  When the playback happened regarding how William treated Ashley at the roast, even William couldn’t watch it.  Even though William was up there for a while accepting the ribbing that he was given, he also accepted how badly he acted and treated Ashley and has said how much he learned from his experience........Then Ryan got put into the hotseat and went through the process of re-watching his time on the show, only to be questioned by the guys and Chris at the end.  Do I believe how hard it was on him, I can’t say.......guess that is for all of us to figure out.  Obviously some of the guys didn’t believe him though and wondered if he was putting on an act.........Then Ames was brought out for a rewind on his journey on the show, and of course he charmed the audience.  At the end of his time in the hotseat, Chris Harrison gave him the gift of the boxing gloves that he used in Chiang Mai, of course, he isn’t literally allowed to use them at any time, according to Harrison........LOL.  Then of course it was time to re-hash Bentley’s time on the show and how the guys actually feel about him.  There were varying degrees of emotions regarding how the guys felt about Bentley.........not a shortage of adjectives were used, to put it mildly.  This is also the time that Michelle Money was brought up onto the stage to explain her part in sending Ashley the texts regarding Bentley.  Then Ashley was brought up onto the stage to talk with the guys.  While Ashley was brought onto the stage, DeAnna Pappas, Jason Mesnick, and Ali Fedotowsky was brought out to discuss with Ashley the Bentley situation.  By the end, they all remained on the stage and everyone was treated to the bloopers reel........that contained a lot of funny stuff, including Chris Harrison coming out of the RC room and pulling up his zipper...........they caught you Chris.....LOL.  Then the traditional look ahead of whether it is going to be Ben or JP that Ashley chooses. 

FRC

First up is Ashley meeting with her family(stepfather-Mike, Mother-Lori, sister-Christy, and brother-Elliot) and telling them of her journey so far.  Ashley tells her family that with one guy, she has the passion and it could go somewhere, but with the other guy she is more compatible, just the passion isn’t there just yet.  With Ben, she says that they are goofy, funny together and he is much like her that way, he can be serious too and is very successful.  With JP, there is the undeniable burning passion, and nothing else matters.  So the dilemma.....does she go with someone that she’s very into but they are very different(JP), or does she go with someone that the passion isn’t there just yet, but is very compatible with(Ben)?  The family meets JP first.

JP shows up first with a bottle of wine for the family.  As he meets up with Ashley on the beach, she is surprised that he is clean shaven......hmmm.  As the couple sit down and meet the fam, we get a PI from Ash of how proud she was to bring JP to meet her fam, and how excited everyone seemed.  Then the sister starts in with the inquisition as they are sitting down to eat........there are a lot of laughs at the table.  After lunch, Ash, her sister and mom head inside to have a chat.  Christy starts off with saying that she isn’t digging JP with Ash, and Ash may be too much for JP. Both Ashley and Christy get into it, with lots of tears from Ashley as she is saying that she really wants the support and not to be left feeling all alone, with her family all around her.  This of course puts Lori in the middle, figuratively and literally since she’s sitting in between the sisters..........LOL.  Although Lori admitted that Ashley is different with JP than she was with Brad, she still doesn’t see the same turmoil that Christy is seeing though.  Then Ashley sits down with her brother and tells him how Christy reacted.  Again, Elliot affirms that Christy hasn’t talked to JP yet, so her forming an opinion without talking to JP isn’t right........  Then Christy comes to get JP for their talk.  During their convo, Christy admits that she was hard on Ashley telling her that she really didn’t see the connection.  Meanwhile, Ashley is talking to Mike and tells him what happened between Christy and herself..........Mike tries to explain that Christy judging JP when she hadn’t talked to him yet was wrong, he also carries on to explain that this is Ashley’s life, and she needs to do what is right for her.  Then we head back to Christy and JP’s conversation, and of how Christy tells him that she really doesn’t see the connection.  Then Christy asks JP what’s the part of him that tells him that this is right and he could propose to Ashley in a couple of days.  JP explains that everytime he is around her, he is smiling, JP proceeds to tell Christy that 100%, he is in love with Ashley.  A bunch of things come up in their conversation........the age card, the set in his ways, the honeymoon phase of their relationship.  WOW, then when she admits that she wouldn’t be happy if JP proposes to Ashley.........holy crow..........     Then after JP said goodbye to the family, he and Ashley headed down the beach to talk.  JP is frustrated that Christy might actually persuade Ashley to make a different choice than him and the fact that he was being compared to how Ashley was when she made her HTD with Brad......that really ticked off JP.  The whole family meeting left JP more frustrated than ever and more unsure of where Ashley stood than ever before as well.

Next up..........Ben comes to meet the fam.

First up, Ashley heads over to talk to Christy about what happened with JP..........Ash explains to Christy that at the end of the family time they were talking and of how JP felt like a failure and how he feels that his relationship with Ash may be in question as he fears that Christy might say something to change Ash’s mind about him.  The two of them got into a battle royale over how Ashley feels she isn’t getting support from her sister, the one person that she thought she would get the most support from, etc.   Then Christy heads back into the cabin and gets Lori involved........yikes.  Obviously Ashley filled her family in on the Bentley situation as during the conversation between Lori and Christy, they are talking about Ash’s feelings towards the guy that left.......Christy was saying that Ash had a gutt reaction towards Bentley, now is having a gutt reaction towards JP, and Christy is just trying to “Protect” Ashley from herself and hurting the way she did after Bentley left. 

Ben then arrives to meet the family.........he too is bringing a bottle of wine for the fam.  As they get inside and Ben meets everyone, they have some quality time laughing and then Ashley and Ben both do their doggie voice imitations and things get carried away for a bit.......LOL.  Then Ben and Christy head outside for their chat.  During their conversation, Ben admits that he has thought everything out and completely is in it.  Then Christy admits that she see’s Ashley being herself and that is something that she was looking for.  Ben admits that he is 100% in love with Ashley and knows that she’s the one that he wants to be with........they started out as friends and has gone a whole lot more.  Ben has also admitted to Christy that he has had to go into this with confidence or the process will eat you up.........Christy admits in a PI of how she appreciates the openness and honesty that Ben spoke with.  The family sat down for lunch, and afterwards went back into the house for some more time for talking before Ben left.  In a PI, Ash admits that Ben brings out the more kooky side of her and one that she likes....he’s successful, funny and a really good guy.  After the family goodbyes, Ashley and Ben went out to say their goodbyes as well.  In a PI, Ashley admits that with Ben she could have everything, but she can’t forget how she feels with JP and has come to the realization that she needs to make this decision on her own as all her family has done is left her more confused than ever.

Ben’s last date...............

As Ben comes to meet Ashley for their LCD, Ash says in a PI that the last few dates with Ben have gone great.  She’s looking forward to spending time with him.  They are doing some small talk while they wait for the heli to come and pick them up for their date.  They tour around Fiji on their way to the landing site where they partake in a mudbath.  The spot that they are at, has healing properties and people around the world come there to partake in it.  As they strip down to their bathing suits and climb into the mud pools, we get a PI from Ben stating that mud is never a great thing till you find yourself doing it with someone that you really like, then it becomes a very sexy thing.  As the two of them are spreading mud all over each other, you can see that they are totally enjoying each other’s company.  They continue to rub the mud all over each other and stay there for some time.  After their day, they head back to the resort where Ashley goes to Ben’s place for the evening portion of their LCD.  After they pour the champagne and sit down, Ben begins telling Ashley how he feels the family time went, of how he talked to her mom and Mike, and Christy.........Ben tells Ashley of how he got Christy’s approval for the engagement, then he finally tells her that he loves her and has tried a few times to say it.  They immediately start kissing again.  Both Ash and Ben say in their PI’s of how they could see themselves kissing each other for the rest of their lives.

UP next............JP’s LCD

Ashley is down on the beach waiting for JP to arrive when she is giving us a PI of how her date with Ben the day before went unbelievable, and of how today is her last chance to be with JP and to find out where they stand together.  As Ashley states, how her sister feels about JP has made Ashley step back and really think of how the relationship is going and what it means to her.  She wants to make sure she could really see a life with JP beyond the passion and the moment.  As JP and Ash heads upstairs to talk, JP admits that he’s worried that the conversation with Christy might actually hamper their relationship.  They both realize that their relationship just works..........JP states that he thinks that they are a perfect fit and Ash is thinking now of the reality of their relationship.  Ashley then asks him if he is wanting to actually start a life with her and not just let her fit into his.......you could see he is frustrated with that question and asks her what she thinks.  Hmmmm, JP is calling Ben, the other guy.........that seems strange in a way, but all right.  Probably something that he is doing with himself as a coping measure........but he does say that he will take all day long to make sure she knows how he feels about her.  Then he proceeds to tell Ashley that he got a piece of advice from her stepdad about putting everything out there.  Then JP admits to Ashley that he told her entire family that he is madly in love with her.  You could see her melt with that.  As they head down to the beach for a walk, Ash admits in a PI of how JP proved himself to her today by telling her how he feels and she could see his sincerity in it.

They head back to JP’s place and have some more convo.......JP pulls out a gift for Ashley...........a letter that he has written to her about his feelings and where he could see them going from here..............Ashley admits in a PI of how she gets lost in JP and it feels so good.  In JP’s PI, he says that it is love or nothing........either he walks away completely in love, or he walks away with nothing and it is the not knowing that eats you alive.

Up next..............Ashley’s reflections

Ashley wakes up on FRC day writing in her journal, and reflecting on her journey to get to where she is now......especially stating that she isn’t going to let outside influences make her decision for her.........she needs to make it on her own.  With JP, she feels so good about her relationship, his smile is captivating, and their relationship is built on this unspoken attraction and romance, she feels so safe with JP and trusts that he’ll never let her fall.  Ben, so easy to be with him, fun and playfull, be herself, sees Ben as everything, a friend and a lover, the relationship is so easy and comfortable, feels like she’s known him forever.  She’s made her final decision and hopes that he feels the same.

Ben is getting up and heading off to pick up a ring, the whole while telling us how he feels so comfortable and natural with Ash, how he loves her completely and then with picking out the ring, he is feeling so good and confident in the one that he chose..........As Neil Lane says, the one that Ben chose is a forever ring, with the two overlapping lines, it is an infinity ring.......and Ben tells him that their relationship started out as friends and has gone completely beyond that now..........

JP is now reflecting on their time as he is getting ready to head out to choose the ring for Ashley.  As he states in his PI, he has been in love before, but this is completely different as he has never felt this way about anyone before.  As JP is looking at the rings, he is going in a completely different direction and is looking at the princess cut diamonds............hmmmm.  As JP tells us, he knows that he is going to propose, the ring decision, the future.......he is completely confident of all of it.

As we are seeing all of them getting ready, they are all reflecting on their journeys and where they can see themselves from here on out.

Up next..............FRC

We see the seaplane arriving, and out steps..........Ben............As Chris Harrison walks Ben to meet up with Ashley, you can see him beaming and it is heartbreaking as you know what’s going to happen.  As Ben walks to meet up with Ash, we get a PI of Ben reflecting on the fact that four years ago he lost his father and this day, he will welcome another addition to the family............ouch.  When Ben finally meets up with Ash, he starts out with how everytime he sees her he falls deeper in love with her, and he’s thanking her for that.  He then takes a knee and asks her to marry him and make him the happiest man on earth........ouch........for him to get down on a knee and not be stopped.........then for it to take as long as it did........double ouch.  When Ash finally got him to stand up, you could see the frustration and hurt all over him.......definately breaks the heart.  That was a painful goodbye......

The next seaplane arrives and Chris is there to greet JP as he gets off the plane.  They both walk up to where Ashley is waiting.  After kissing, JP starts with his speech about them being there together and him asking her a long time ago to take a leap of faith with him..........Then Ashley states that she is in love with him and has been wanting to tell him that for a long time..........Next, JP takes a knee and plain and simple, asks her to marry him.  After accepting, they embrace and share a nice long kiss.  As they are seen hanging out together, a replay of the time that they spent together was flashed before us along with the song “I can’t fight this feeling anymore” by REO Speedwagon............Then we see JP accepting the last rose, and the two of them running down to the water’s edge for a walk in the surf...............

ATFR...................

Of course with Ben on stage, they go through his story and the FRC/Proposal.  I feel so bad for Ben as you can see he is still visably torn up about it, but is acting the gentleman that he is.  Ben admits that not only was it a long flight home, he went straight home to the wedding of his best friend and to act like nothing has happened.  Ben like others before him wants to know when the decision was actually made and of course what JP had that he didn’t(so to speak).  Ashley went on to say that that day, she felt anger from Ben, but after watching it back and knowing how he felt, she can now understand the anger part.  Ben also gives props to Ashley for giving him what he found out in the process.........he got more into his emotions, his realization of where he now stands.

Up next.............JP and Ash

After Ben left the stage, Ash and Chris were talking of the relationship between Ash and JP and how JP has helped her through the process while filming and afterwards since they have been able to skype every night for a couple of hours.  Of course she was gushing for a while about her man.  Then JP came out on the stage to join Ash and Chris.  JP is saying how having to keep all of this a secret is like living a double life and all you want is to spend time together out in the open.  Then they are talking about the tabloids, of how he’s had a hard time being on the sidelines and not know the whole story.  Then the issue came up of Christy and her feelings towards JP.  Christy was brought up onto the stage and explained where she was coming from and of course mended the fences with Ashley and especially with JP.  As far as their future plans, Ashley is going to finish her schooling, then move to NewYork.  They are planning on getting a new place together and taking things day by day............and when things settle down, will get their wedding plans straightened out.  Meanwhile, the company is sending them back to the Islands of Fiji where they got engaged.............

Well, that’s another season of the bachelorette done.  I will be doing blogs on Bachelor Pad 2 as I did for season one, but this time, my blogs will be posted on After the Rose site, so please join me on there every Monday night for the newest blog posting.  Look forward to talking to you all there............

Epi 9 FD;  Fiji Bound, and One Return Gives Pause for Thought

Tonight’s epi began with a look ahead as to what is going to happen tonight..........we see we have the return of Ryan, and three sexy fantasy dates to look forward to.

We see images of Fiji as Ashley is talking about the country and how she’s always wanted to go there.  As Ashley takes a walk around the Namale Resort, we get a PI from her talking about each of the guys she has left.

Ben:                            The more she gets to know him, the more she see’s herself with him.  He’s everything that she’s been looking for and there’s never a dull moment.  Her first spark with Ben happened on the orphanage date in Phuket.  A huge part of his personality is fun and playful, but more than that there is the sincerity and the honesty that he has.

Constantine:            very physically attractive, a good head on his shoulders, handle situations.  Smart, honest, thoughtful, good communicator.  Their relationship is moving very slow, has meaning and depth to it.  True to his feelings and a relationship she could see lasting a very long time.  Loves Constantines family.  Feel more connected and took the largest step forward after htd.

JP:                               Gorgeous, looked like a model out of limo night one, loves his smile, sincere, grown man, knows what he’s looking for.  After the first date, she knew it could get serious.  Attractive, emotional connection, good balance.

First up...............Ryan

Yes, Ryan comes back and surprises Ashley and asks for another chance to spend time with her and a possible

connection/explanation.  Ryan says that he is there as he feels that there are unexplored feelings, and wonders if

she may have some regrets regarding sending him home.  Bottom line, he just wants to know if she’d be interested in giving them another try?????  So Ryan slips her a piece of paper with his hotel room on it and asked her to think of the possibilities of them having another chance.......

Up next..............Ben’s date

Ashley is waiting on the dock for Ben when she is rethinking Ryan’s return and how she did second guess herself on his departure but is really looking forward to Ben’s date and wants to concentrate on that right now.  After Ben arrives, they board a catamaran for a day on the ocean.  After they board the boat, they begin talking of Ben’s HTD and actually how well it went.  Ash mentioned that she was nervous around his mom as she really wanted his mom to like her.  They lay down and put suntan lotion on each other.......totally flirting with each other and loving it.  After they laid in the sun for a bit, they dove into the water and went snorkelling in some of the best snorkelling waters ever.  After they board the boat and begin on their journey back to shore, it is obvious how close they are getting due to them constantly touching, hugging and kissing each other.

After they met up for the dinner portion of their date, it is obvious how much their relationship has grown through the day as she greeted him with a kind of a baby voice.  As they sit down to dinner, they are talking of their journey today and their time.......how comfortable they are with each other, how easy their time together is.  It was funny watching Ben as he was so very close to telling her at dinner that he’s falling in love with Ash.........After the date card is handed out, they head back to the fantasy suite to check it out.  As they wander around the suite, we get voiceovers from both of them regarding to how their relationship is going, what they feel will come out of it and how their feelings for each other are growing........we then see them in the pool, hugging, cuddling and kissing as there are more voiceovers from both of them.  Then we see Ben picking Ash up and carrying her inside............

Up next..............Constantine’s date

Ashley heads out to meet up with Constantine for their date and as they are catching up, Ashley is doing a voiceover regarding how slow their relationship has gone thus far.  They head off together and Ash surprises him with a heli ride over the islands.  They tour over the reefs below in the ocean, and see the greenery of the islands.

Their flight path of course goes directly over Ryan’s head as he is wandering in the ocean, checking out the reefs and is doing some voiceovers of how he really hopes that she’ll change her mind and want to spend some more time with him.

Back with Ashley and Constantine, they land on this island and wander through the forrest to find the Bouma Waterfalls on Taveuni Island, Fiji.  Constantine is so surprised to find out that they are actually jumping off the waterfall and swimming through the water in the springs.  As they head back to the beach for a picnic, they begin talking of their hometown date and how Constantine is feeling about things now.  As they are talking about how many houses he looked at before deciding on the right one, Ashley is saying that it directly relates to their relationship and whether he can actually jump into a relationship without having to think so long and hard about it.  As she states in a voiceover...............Constantine is one that probably has to wait a while before making a decision and time is something that they are running out of........(sound familiar, something that Jill said to Reid in Hawaii on their FD, hmmmmm).

As the head back to their hotel to get ready for the dinner portion of their date, they soon meet up on one of the balconies at the Namale resort.  As they sit down to dinner, they are talking about whether they are going to get the closeness that they want.  Maybe it just isn’t there......  As they talk it out, they decide that maybe there just isn’t the closeness there between them that needs to be there in order to carry things on, and thus because of the respect value between everyone, they decide that maybe they should go their separate ways tonight.........Constantine leaves Ash on the balcony and heads back to his cabin to pack and leave Fiji.

Up next...................Ryan

Ashley heads over to talk to Ryan and give him the decision on whether he will be given a second chance or not.  Ashley tells him that on paper, walking out of the limo, Ryan fit the bill, but after a while, it really turned out differently.  Ryan admitted that he did get emotional after Taiwan, and she admitted that seeing him in Fiji reaffirmed what she already thought of him as being a great guy...........And she did admit that letting him go was the hardest one as it was a bit premature......... But with all things considered, she really didn’t feel that there was enough there between them to give things another go and in fact she now feels that she did do the right thing by letting him go in Taiwan.  Even though Ryan looks like the rug was swept out from under him again, he’s happy that she has found the passion that she wants.  As they say their goodbye’s, Ryan states that his life is missing his one true love but at least his heart is open now and he wants it even more.

Up next............JP

Ashley heads back to await JP and the start of their date.......... After greeting each other, they look towards the ocean to find the plane coming to get them.  As they flew out over the mountains then over the ocean, they headed off to their own island.  As they spend time in the shallows talking, they are both hugging and cuddling.......they are talking of spending six months in Fiji, then six months in New York.

After they leave the island and head back for their dinner portion of the date, they meet up for a picnic dinner and talk of their possibilities of a life together.  Then Ash confides that she said goodbye to two guys this week.  She told him of how the date went with Constantine and that he left...........and of how somebody came back.  Of course he was surprised.....and Ash explained about Ryan and how he is gone now too so it is left to just Ben and JP.  Ashley told JP that she remembers being at this point and that you can’t hold back or we won’t get to where we need to be.  JP says that he wants to be the last guy standing but because he wants her and not to just be the winner.  Ashley then presents JP with the fantasy suite card and they agree to head off for some quality time together.  After checking out the suite, Ash heads off to get changed.  She comes back in this skimpy number(again reminiscent of Jill in her season and the FS with ED).  The last we see of JP and Ash, they are kissing and hugging on the bed.

Up next..............Ashley has her talk with Chris

They start talking of the dates, first off with Ben...........if you were to write out a guy for her, it would be Ben.........they had a wonderful date, playful, fun and really got to know each other, probably the one she is most compatible with.

With JP, it was a wonderful date........They have something for beaches and lets say they got to really know each other better.  They compliment each other, and she feels that they can make each other very happy

Constantine............there was no real romance there and she feels that he gave up early when it came to find that out.

Ryan...........it was harder saying goodbye to him than Constantine as it was Constantine that initiated the breakup........where as with Ryan, she could see the pain in his eyes.

They are still having a rose ceremony as she “needs” to know that they are wanting to accept the roses too...........sound familiar............kind of the same thing Brad said last season when he said good bye to Ashley before the Rose ceremony and he still felt the necessity to have the ceremony for the women to accept his roses.

The roses were handed out to Ben, then to JP and of course both guys accepted the roses gladly.

Well, next Sunday is the Men Tell All, followed by the LCD’s/FRC on Mondays episode.  Then we will see the AFTR immediately after the FRC.  I will be back next Monday with a followup on Sunday’s show as well as the FRC on Monday.............See you all then.  Have a great week everyone!

 

HTD’s.........Pizza Pie, a Carriage Ride, Rollerskating, and a Wine Chaser

Tonight’s epi began with Ashley at her apartment talking about how things went last week and how glad she’s back in the USA, and telling us a bit about the guys and what she wants to find out about each guy.

Ben:  She says that she loves everything about Ben, he’s so a guy, physically attractive to her, his build is great and just a man.  This journey for Ben has been about opening up and getting real with his emotions.......they have a very real connection.   More than ever, she could see herself with Ben, it would be very rich and exciting.  There would never be a dull moment with him. 

Constantine:  One of her faves from the beginning, he’s been gorgeous and attractive from the beginning.  He is one that seems sexy to her.  Real sweetness about him, and in Taiwan, she thought that they could actually have something together, definite chemistry, the total package for her.

Ames:  He is really funny, humble about his accomplishments, never met anyone like Ames, Ames would be perfect to share a life full of spontaneity and adventure.

JP:  Feels like she’s known JP forever, comfortable and secure around him.  Feels relaxed around him and not a care in the world, be playful, emotional, and carefree.  She hopes they stay in the moment and know that everything is real........with JP everything is there, the physical and the emotional, she really needs to make sure it is very real for both of them.

First Up:

Constantine in Cumming, GA. 

After Ashley arrives, they greet each other with a great hug and quick kiss. As they sit on the picnic bench and talk, the conversation was quite light.  As they head over to Giorgio’s, the family restaurant, they greet everyone and get busy making pizzas.  After making their pizza and salad, they head outside for a chat and to eat.  After eating, they get into some serious conversation, and Ashley states in a PI of how much chemistry there is between them.

They then head over to the family’s place for Ashley to meet up with dad, Dimitre, mother, Alenia, and sister Maria.  When they arrive at the house, there is a welcome home sign outside for Constantine.  After the introductions were made, they sat down to a lamb chop dinner, and the family were all kibitzing together.  After supper, Ashley and Alenia went out for a chat.  The main thing that “mom” wanted to know is if she would re-locate if they were meant to be together.  Then “dad” and Constantine head off for a chat.  Dad just wanted him to make sure that he has the right person, not to rush into everything, and just to make sure that everything is perfect in the beginning.  At the end of their convo, the big fat greek family scene happened when the whole extended family just showed up.  As they all hooped and hollered around, Ashley stated in a PI of how she was in love with his family, how much fun they had, and she knew that there would be something great there if she chose him.  They had a kiss before Ashley left, and of course the whole fam damily was watching and hooping/hollering when they kissed.  The two of them were still standing on the lawn when we left.

Ames in Chadds Ford, PA

Ashley arrives at Ames place and after they greet, he takes her inside to meet his family:  sister Serena, sister’s hubby, Randy, mother Jane, brother Jim, brother’s wife Tracy, and the nieces and nephews.  As they head in for some conversation, they were all sitting around laughing and talking, then Serena took Ashley aside for some more one on one conversation.  Serena and Ashley are talking about Ashley’s feelings towards Ames and that Ames is like the proverbial onion.........you have to keep peeling back the layers before you find the whole Ames.  Ames and his mom also sit down for a chat as she just wants to know how strong his feelings are for Ashley.  The way Serena was talking.........is Ames actually too perfect for her????  Then Ashley and mom have a chance for a chat.  They are talking about how their relationship is going slower than the other ones and in a PI, Ashley states that even though her relationship is going slower with Ames than with others, maybe slower is better, but on the other hand, she is still looking for that passion that seems to be missing with her and Ames.  Ames then sits down with Serena and she tells him that if he feels that strong about Ashley, then kick up the romance another knotch. 

When they leave the house and family, Ames has arranged for a carriage ride into the woods and have a picnic under a magnolia tree.  Here they get a chance to have a serious talk and Ashley carries on to dig away at those onion layers.  Ashley then tells him that the ones that ever made him feel unpopular when he was younger were stupid.........they then shared a kiss.  As the two of them ride the carriage back through the woods, they ride out of site to us listening to Ashley talking of how this could be a fairytale romance that she will tell her children.

Ben in Sonoma, CA

As Ashley runs to meet up with Ben, we get a PI from Ashley saying how sexy she finds Ben, the hair, the fashion, everything about him screams sexy to her.  As they head off, they go to the winery to sample some wines, then head off to a picnic.  As they enter the winery, we get another PI from Ashley saying that while they are around the winery, she is seeing the romance, the sophistication, the knowledge and the passion that he has.  As they taste some wine, they share some kisses and Ash makes a comment that she wished her mother was there and how she would of loved it.  Ben says that she can come for the holidays.  As they head to an older house to sit on the veranda for a picnic, they are talking about how Ben has only brought 1 other person home to meet his mom.  Then with his sister, she lives in San Francisco and they are very close.  As they get into conversations of his father’s death, it is serious conversation, but it is also obvious that Ashley is totally wanting to learn more.  Before they go to the familie’s place, Ashley admits that she’s nervous meeting them as she knows how important it is and Ben admits that he’s feeling fine and confident about things as he feels confident about them.

As they arrive at the parents place, Ash has flowers for the mom and she is introduced to Bens Mom,  and his sister, Julia.  As they are sitting down to eat, Ben has his arm around Ashley and the four of them are talking about Ben’s experience with this in genera.  Julia admits that she’s the one that signed him up for the show.  He admits to his mom and sister of how he’s been able to get into the emotional side of him and because of that, it has really changed him.  Julie and Ben head off for a talk, and she is just trying to find out how deep the feelings are going and how he truely feels.  Ben then sits down with his mom, and again, tells his mom how deep the feelings are going.  He tells his mom that he hadn’t told Ash yet that he loves her, but has told her the feelings run deep.  At the end of the evening, Ashley said her goodbyes to Ben’s family and he walks her out to the car......as it pulls off, Ben is looking on.  During this time, we get a PI from Ashley stating how she can really see herself married to Ben.....

JP in Roslyn, New York

Ash arrives at the park and meets up with JP..........As they walk up to each other and hug, they head off to a rollerskating place.  As they skate around the rink, holding onto each other’s hands, they share some kisses.  Once they are done skating, they settle down for a “picnic” in the middle of the rink.  JP tells Ash that she’s going to meet his mother, Ileen, father, Peter, brother, Roy and girlfriend Andrea.  With JP’s last relationship ending so badly, he tells her how his family will be so protective.  Ashley is still concerned how strong and secure their relationship is.  He says that he is opening his heart for it to be broken, but hopes it’s not him. 

Ash and JP arrive at the familie’s place.  As they sit down and dig into the lasagne, they are laughing and kibitzing back and forth.  Then Eileen takes JP out for a chat.  When Eileen asks if he’s in love, all he could say is that there are alot of signs pointing to it.  After being asked, JP admits that if he’s feeling it, he will propose to Ashley.  Eileen admits in a PI of how Ashley is great and all, but she is very guarded as to them getting engaged this early on.  Then Ashley and Eileen head out for a chat.  Eileen voices her concerns of the possibility that JP is going to be left heartbroken again..........Kinda reminded me of the edit Jason got in DeAnna’s season of how Jason might be the one hurt again.  Anyways, at the end of the conversation, they still had reservations of JP getting hurt again, but they all like Ashley.  At the end of the date, Ashley says her good byes and heads out.........JP walks her to the car and it drives off, leaving him standing there watching her leave.

Up Next.............Ashley and Chris have a heart to heart

Ashley and Chris sit down to talk about the guys...........starting with Constantine’s date..........Ash says that it was the best date, so much fun, so much depths were reached.

Ames.............Ash finds their conversations so stimulating, she learns more about him, about herself, and he is so smart............Ames had everything she was looking for and would be the best husband.

Ben.............Ben really surprised her, planned such a great date, the date was everything she could ask for and more.......she also found an emotional/vulnerable side of him.  She found the family to be sophisticated, thoughtful, educated and warm......so welcoming.

JP...........his mother was the sweetest one to talk to, so warm, open and accepting.  Ash felt really good about JP’s hometown.  She fell in love with his family.

Up next..............Rose Ceremony

As Ashley enters the room and gives her customary speech about how warm and welcoming all the families were, she hands out the roses to Ben, JP, and Constantine, leaving Ames to make the solo walk out to the limo and his way home.

Things of note tonight................the only hometown where the parents didn’t speak on camera in a PI was for Ben.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Bachelorette 7 Epi 7;  Taipe, Taroko and Finally USA Bound

 

First of all, I want to apologize for not being here for epi six to summarize it all, but I was back home for a long awaited family reunion.  There was well over a hundred of us there and we all had a blast.  I saw 2 cousins that I hadn’t seen in well over 20 years.  One of those had just had a heart transplant surgery and is well onto his road to recovery, full of life and so thankful for being there to see everyone.

Tonight’s epi began with a look back to Hong Kong and what happened that epi with JP at Victoria’s Peak and Tram, with Lucas in Kowloon park on the Saffron Sunrise Junk Boat for their dinner, and with the rest of the guys in Stanley Market and the Dragon Boat races.

Then we get Ashley talking of how she really loves Taiwan.......the scenery, the food and the general ambiance of the country.  As we see the guys on the airplane, then the bus, we hear Ashley talking about each of the guys.....with Ryan, she always felt safe, always enjoyed the conversations and loved his energy.  With Lucas, they had a great date together in Hong Kong and he is a real and genuine guy.  With Ames, he is one of the most unique guys she has ever met, so sweet, so intelligent.  She loves Ben, he is so funny, he has so many things going for him.  Constantine, easy to talk to, easy to look at.  JP makes her feel so comfortable and secure.  Ashley is saying that she is looking for the whole package and that is the only way she is going to take home the guys.  As the guys arrive in Taipei, they meet up with Chris and he explains that they are having four dates, and not the traditional three this week.........three individual dates and one group date.  The only date that has a rose on it is the group date so this week is mainly a matter of spending time with Ashley. 

In the pi’s we get as the guys check out their suite are Lucas hoping that he gets another 1 on 1 date with her but does feel confident anyways.  Then we hear from JP whining of how he is done with the group dates and he feels that he is the one that is on a different level with her than anyone else.........kinda reminds me of Chantal last season with her constant PI’s of how she is done with the group dates and is just wanting Brad on her own.

The first individual date goes to Constantine.  Let your love light shine.........Love Ashley.  While Constantine is getting ready for his date, we get some more whining from JP of how difficult it is to watch the guys get ready for dates with her.........not that it is any different for the other guys as well, but for some reason, we only get JP whining about it.

They take off to the train depot and catch an old fashioned steam train to the village of Pingsxi where it is a small village steeped in tradition.  The customary tradition that the community has is the letting go of the lanterns that have dreams and wishes written on them.  The idea is that when they write their wishes on the lanterns and let them go, their dreams will come true.  As the two of them are on the train on their way to Pingxi, they are holding hands and just in general being very affectionate.  When they arrive at the village, the two of them find a station set up with a lantern ready for them to write their dreams on it.  As they figure out what to write, Ashley is finding out how serious Constantine is taking this lantern tradition. 

Meanwhile back at the hotel, the next date card arrives.  As Ames heads out to grab it, you can see the tension in the room.  Ames reads out the card............Ben, lets spend a gorges day in Taiwan...........Love Ashley.  Immediately you see Ryan disappointed that he didn’t get the date, but JP looks like he could kill.........LOL. 

Back in Pingxi, Constantine and Ashley are having their dinner and talking about hometown dates.  Ashley tells Constantine what she finds attractive about him.......physically he is what she finds attractive(so knowing that Ben and Constantine have some of the same looks, ie hair, does that correspond to him then??), he is a family man which is so important to her.  Ashley also asks Constantine if he feels that he could fall in love.........and of course the guy says you just never know.

After dinner, they head out over the gorge area where they let their lantern go, in the process, they see numerous other lanterns rising into the night.  After letting their lantern go, they shared some sweet kisses.....

The next day, Ashley meets up with Ben for their date in the Taroko Gorge.  As they get on board their moped and enter the park through the gates, they are travelling down the gorge and kidding each other the whole way.  As they take a break, they stop at the gorge overlooking the only temple in the park and share some kisses while walking across the suspension bridge.

Meanwhile, back at the hotel, the guys are awaiting the next date card.  Constantine heads out to grab the card and read it out..........Lucas, Ames, and JP...........Grooming you for the big day.  This leaves Ryan with the last individual date.

Back in the Taroko Gorge, Ben and Ashley arrive at the Silk’s Place Hotel and get ready for their dinner.  When they meet up again, they are walking out to the outside patio area for their dinner.  As they are enjoying their dinner, they are talking about hometown dates.  Ben admits that he is really wanting them to take things to the next level and is looking forward to it.  By the end of the night, they were spending a lot of time cuddling and smooching..........Ben admitted to really being on the tip of the next step and is really enjoying it.  Ashley admitted that she was feeling like Ben is her boyfriend.

Back at the hotel, it is the next morning and Ben and Ashley are still at the gorge, while Ames and Ryan are at the table talking.  It is obvious that JP is pretty ticked off as he is trying to ignore the guys.  We get a PI from Lucas saying how upset JP is and it is obviously putting tension between him and the guys as Lucas alludes to in his PI.  In JP’s PI, it is extremely obvious that not only is he jealous, but he is actually very pissed off that Ben still isn’t home from the date.  After a while, Ben shows up at the hotel and begins to tell the guys about his date as they are the ones asking the questions.  Meanwhile if you look at JP, it is like he is shooting Ben daggers with his eyes........LOL, JP then gets up and storms out of the hotel room.  In a PI, he is still very upset and carrying on about watching the other guys go out on dates with Ash.........come on already.......I think we get it.  LOL. 

The three guys head to the wedding photographers to meet up with Ashley.  They find out that all three guys will get dressed up in traditional wedding garb and have their pics taken with Ash.  Immediately JP starts in with his frustration and “anger” over having to watch the other guys getting dressed up and taking their pics with Ash.  As the guys go to the dressing rooms to try on their garbs, we see Lucas in the traditional Taiwanese wedding garb, then Ames comes out with a garb that is a cross between an ostrich and John Lennon as Lucas calls it, then JP gets changed and comes out in the traditional tux.  At this time we get a PI from Lucas stating how much JP has been pouting about Ben and his date, of how he has been really cranky to be around, then he gets the tux.........can you imagine how he would of been if he had to wear one of our outfits..........he would of thrown a fit like a 15 year old.........

As the guys head out to meet up with Ash, they begin the photoshoot.  First up was Lucas and after taking some traditional pose pics, they then got to kiss for some photo’s.  Then was Ames and Ash’s turn..........again they did some traditional poses, then carried onto the kissing pics.  At this time we get another PI from JP whining once again of watching the guys with Ash and how unfair it is to him to have to watch...........come on, this whining now is getting a bit much.

After they finish with the photoshoot, they head off to the regent lounge area, and we get another whining PI from JP..........enough already JP!  First up to get some quality time was Lucas and they started talking about the hometown dates and since he was married before, she wanted to make sure that Lucas wouldn’t feel akward with bringing her home to meet the fam.

Back at the suite, Ryan’s date card arrives.  Ryan.............let’s get a taste of Taipei.

Back with the group date, Ash and Ames are talking and Ames shows some pics to Ash of his family and of him when he was younger.  They spend some time talking about him taking her home for their hometown date.  Finally JP gets time with Ash and starts whining..........AGAIN!!  You can tell through their conversation that Ashley’s eyes were opened up as to how JP may be handling things and you can see she was uneasy at points.  She asked him if it was anger, if other things like that were coming into it.  I guess it would create pause for anyone.  Then she gets up and goes to get the rose.........was it a sympathy rose, knowing how she felt on the photoshoot that she had with Brad.........IMO, maybe so.  So of course after he gets the rose, he is fine.........are you serious..........all you’ve been doing for days is whining..........yikes!!

Ashley is in Tai-Shek Square waiting for Ryan to come so they can begin the last individual date of the week.  As Ashley is waiting for Ryan, she is talking about her feelings for him, of how she liked him from the beginning with him being her first impression rose, then of how she feels comfortable, he is so sweet, a really nice guy.  When Ryan does come, he kinda runs towards her and picks her up.........as they begin their date, they head over to Longshan Temple where they witness everyone praying en masse.  As they come across this one idol, Ashley says that it is the matchmaking god.  As she hands him a “brick”, and she keeps the other one, they are suppose to make a wish and if their “bricks” land on the opposite sides, their wish will come true.  After they threw them down, they both landed on the same side.  As they head off to watch the Tai Chi class, they are talking and it is obvious that Ashley is in a bit of a turmoil regarding her feelings for Ryan.  As they wander around the park at the square, they come across a picnic that is set out for them.  As they are talking about hometown dates and what they would find at Ryan’s home, you could see the turmoil in her face.  On paper, he is the perfect guy, but the real romance that she is looking for just might not be there.  As she tells Ryan that she doesn’t think he’s the one for her..........she’s really confussed as to whether she made the right decision and if maybe the romance would smack her in the face, but it didn’t through their day together.  As Ryan heads off doing his farewell interview, you can tell how much this is hitting him.  Because of how she said to him that she doesn’t know if the romance could be there, you can understand how he could interpret it to also be a form of the ... scenario..........wonder what that means now.  As he wanders around town making his good bye interview, he is really hit with the realism that he’s going home without her and maybe that is when he realized how much he actually cared for her??

When Ashley meets up with Chris, she says that she knows what she wants to do and there is no sense in having a cocktail party.  Chris then heads off to inform the guys that there won’t be a cocktail party, but they are heading directly to the rose ceremony.

As the guys all line up and Ashley comes in, she hands out roses to Ben, Constantine and Ames, which leaves Lucas heading home.  Next week are the hometown dates and we will go to Ben’s in Sonoma, Ames in PA, JP in New York, and Constantine in Atlanta.  I will be back next week for another roundup as to what happened in that episode. 

 

 

 

 

The Bachelorette 7 - Epi 5:  Temples, Boxing and Elephant Trekking

 

Tonight’s epi began with the traditional look ahead of what will happen this week.  It also highlighted once again, the slimeball that is called Bentley.  The guys take a bus from the hotel to the airport in preperations for a flight to Chiang Mai.  Chris is waiting to greet them to Chiang Mai and the Mandarin Oriental Dhar Devi hotel that they are staying at while they are there.  In the meantime, we are getting PI’s from both Ryan and Nick saying that they are touring around after Ashley on the quest to find love......then Nick comments on how out of it Ashley seems and he hopes that things will change in Chiang Mai.  After Chris finishes his speech, the guys run off trying to find their villa.  After taking a good look around, Chris comes back and tells the guys that there is a 1 on 1, a group date, and a 2 on 1..........after which, he hands them the first date card.

Constantine grabs the card and reads out.................Ben F.............Let’s fall in love in Chiang Mai, Love Ashley..........in Ben’s PI, he states that there is a 100% chance that she will be kissed today.  Ashley shows up to pick up Ben and to say hi to the guys.  After they leave, Ames does a PI saying how the guys know that Ash and Ben F have chemistry, and it is hard seeing them go off together.

Up next.....................Ben’s 1 on 1 date

As the two of them head off of the hotel property walking hand in hand, we get a PI from Ben and he’s commenting on how everytime he sees her, things get better and better..........Ash also comments on how much time they spent together on the last group date.  As they take off from the hotel in the open aired taxi, they are having fun pointing out the different sights for each other to see.  As they head into town, they come across a market and stop there......they spend time walking through the outdoor market, tasting food, trying on clothes and just really enjoying the day.  They eventually stop at a Chinese Umbrella painting shop where each of them begin painting their designs onto some of the traditional umbrellas.........Ash makes a comment about putting the umbrellas onto the mantal in their home, so Ben jokingly asks her where do you propose we move to..........then Ash kids him about the idea that he may be proposing already..........they seem like they are enjoying their lighthearted banter.  As they continue to walk around town, they come across the huge Chedi Luang Temple.  They sit down on the bench there to talk and Ash says that one of the rules is no kissing.  So they’ll joke around about having mental kisses.

As they meet up for dinner, they head out to the hotel grounds to enjoy a cultural performance....As they walk along a pathway to a door, they open it up to find their dinner table in the middle of an elaborate display that was lit up with lanterns.  During dinner, they begin talking about day to day things and what Ben’s life is like on the vineyard.  Then they talked about how Ben’s dad played a huge part in his life and he died.

Back with the guys, the next date card arrives and Nick gets it..................Constantine, Ames, Nick, Blake, Lucas, Ryan, JP, and Mickey............Love is worth fighting for.  This of course leaves Ben C and William for the 2 on 1 date.

Back with Ashley and Ben, they are still talking of what Ben wants to do from there, what he see’s for the rest of his life and he says that he wants to find the one that he can travel with, spoil and spend the rest of his life with......In a PI, Ash states that Ben is saying all the things that she wants to hear............Ash then asks Ben to accept the rose..........after which, the fire dancers/fire eaters then come out to do their ceremonial dance and we are left with Ash and Ben exchanging some really nice kisses.

Up next.......................Group Date, boxing.........Muay Tai style

As the guys pull up in the van, Ashley is there to greet them and tells them what they will be doing that day.  They are going to learn how to Muay Tai box.  They spend 3 hours learning how to box, complete with situps, pushups and etc.....getting a great workout.  Once the trainers feel that they have learned enough, it is revealed to the guys the new boxing gear that is there waiting for them.  As they put on the gear, they are sent out to a public boxing forum and that is where the guys learn that they will be fighting one another.  First up was Blake and Lucas, with Blake winning, then up next was JP and Mickey with JP winning, then Ryan and Ames........Ames ended up getting clocked in the fight and eventually ended up going to the hospital to be checked out.  As Ames is loaded into the ambulance, it is very obvious how bad Ryan feels right now.  Next up was Constantine and Nick with Constantine the winner.  After the battles ended, we see Ash waiting for the guys at the lounge in the hotel.  After the guys show up, they do their traditional greet and then they all sit down to talk.  Ryan is the first to get some quality time with Ash, followed by Mickey; while Mickey and Ash are talking, Ames shows up and is warmly greeted by the guys.  It was obviously a huge relief to Ryan that Ames is alright.  Ashley then takes Ames aside for some quality time..........

Back at the villa, the three remaining guys are sitting around talking when the group date card arrives..........Guide me to love.......Love Ashley.  Then on the other card it reads, 2 men, 1 rose, 1 stays, 1 goes, signed Chris Harrison.

We then catch up with the guys and Ash as they are sitting around talking.  Blake is the next one to get some QT with Ashley.  When Lucas catches up to them, he takes Ash aside for a while.  Lucas nailed it that she’s still thinking of Bentley and that he is more her type.........just from the looks and such.

After having some good quality time with most of the guys, Ash hands out the group date rose to Blake.  After pinning the rose on Blake, the two share a nice kiss.  Afterwards, Ash makes a toast to Ames for being such a good sport and hanging in there.

Up next.................2 on 1 date Elephant Trekking

Ashley is at the Elephant Life Experience waiting for the guys........As the guys arrive and Ash greets them with a hug, they head off to check out the river as they board a bamboo raft.  After rafting for a while, they pull off to the side and set down to a picnic.  Ash takes William aside first and he tells her some crap of how he is ready to go home and is looking forward to the dating websites when he gets home and all that bilge..........William’s true colors are definitely showing today.  As Ash and William come back from their chat, she says that she is sending Ben C home right now.  When she tells him what she found out, he contradicts what William said, she still wants to send Ben packing.  The maid comes to the guys suite and takes away Ben’s suitcase.  As Ben floats down the river and away from Ash, he tells how he knows William sabotaged his chances there with Ashley.

As Ash and William meet up for their dinner, they walk down a path to a table set out in a “garden” setting.  They continue to talk about the day and their date thus far.  As Ash and William continue on with their dinner, we see JP and Blake talking in the room about the chances of William coming back and what that will mean for his confidence level.  Then we see Ash and Will talking about what Will said with regards to wanting to be a 30 year old boy.........she definitely sounds like she doesn’t want that and as she puts it, she wants a man.  She says that she is going to say goodbye to William and walks him back out.  Next we see one of the room attendants grabbing William’s suitcase from the room which pleases the remaining guys immensely.  Ashley walks back to the table and grabs the rose.......she voices her concern about being alone in the end as she places the rose on one of the burning fires........

Up next.................Cocktail Party

As the guys file in for the cocktail party, Ashley is talking of how the weeks dates went okay, but the 2 on1 was really tough and it also made some of her insecurities come to the forefront again.  After Ash arrives at the cocktail party and makes her speech..........Ryan is the first one to take her for some 1 on 1 time.  During their one on one time, Ryan just wanted to reaffirm with her that he still has that same feelings that he had on night one and that he is definitely there for her.  Up next for some private time is Constantine and they again are talking about his feelings for her as well as how she is feeling about him.  Once their talk was over, Constantine goes back to the guys and states that bringing someone home to meet the family is such a big thing, you really want to be sure that you are wanting to be with that person.............he doesn’t know right now where he stands with that.  The next one to get some private time is Nick.  They have a chance to have a general talk of feelings, but you can tell that things just aren’t right with Ash.  Later, JP and Ash get to have some time together.......Ashley brings up how JP would feel when they get back to normal life.  JP also admitted to her that when she came to pick up Ben for their date, JP felt that knott in his stomach and it was the first time when he could honestly say it bothered him that she was going out with someone else.  Then JP asks Ash what’s going on with her.......After going back to rejoin the guys, Ash states once again, that she can’t stop thinking about Bentley and needs closure with that before she can carry on with any of the other guys.  Ashley says that she’s also asked the guys to be really honest with her, yet she feels that she hasn’t been extremely honest with them and now is feeling kinda hypocritical of the whole situation.  Chris comes in and breaks things up.............taking Ash with him to the deliberation room.

As Chris and Ashley are talking, it is obvious that she is still on the fence.  She tells Chris that somehow, someway, she needs closure with Bentley.........She asked Chris to arrange for it.  As she does her deliberating in the room as to who she is giving roses to, Chris leaves to give her some privacy.

Up next................Rose Ceremony

Chris comes in and delivers his customary speech and when done, Ash enters the room.  After her speech about honesty, she hands out roses to Constantine, Lucas, JP, Ames, Mickey and Ryan.  Nick was sent home on his own tonight.

Well, that’s it for tonight............I am going to be out of the country for the next couple of episodes but will be back for the HTD ones and will at that time summarize the two episodes that I will be missing.  Until then, hope you all have a good few weeks.

 

 

 

 

 

The Bachelor Epi 4;  The Orient  Adventure Begins

 

Tonight’s epi began as usual with a look back at the previous epi and also a look forward as to what would happen tonight.  As Chris Harrison comes into the living room, he begins his spiel about what’s happening this week, that there is a group date and 2 individual dates, but he doesn’t have the date card today............instead, he tells the guys that they are heading to Thailand to continue their journey to find love.  Get ready for the mother of all road trips, they got 2 hours to be on the airplane.  Chris leaves the room as the guys scramble off to pack their bags.

Next we see Ash in the boat cruising to Phuket and we get reminded once again of the connection that she had with Bentley.........is this guy ever going to go away??  As she states, she feels that she may of been neglecting the guys due to her “loss” of the slimeball Bentley but she is really hoping to dig herself out of the hole and be there for her and the guys.

As Ashley sits down with the tour guide to plan out her few days, we are getting glimpses of the guys boarding their flight for Phuket.  As the guys arrive at the Phuket Renaissance Resort and Spa villa, we are still seeing Ash planning their events while they are there.

Once the guys get settled into their villa, the date card arrives and it is JP to read it out.  Constantine.............Let’s sea Phuket together, love Ashley..................Nick immediately pipes up in a PI, that he’s bummed as he hasn’t had a one on one date with Ashley so he hopes that it rains for their date............hmmmmmm.  As Constantine retrieves his suitcase and puts it by the door, he heads out to meet up with Ashley.

Ashley is standing by a dock waiting for Constantine to arrive..........as they are greeting each other and Ash tells him that they are going to take a cruise out to a private island, the skipper of the boat comes up and says that the weather is too bad to head out so they have to come up with plan B.  Plan B consists of shopping through the old town section of Phuket on Soi Romani Road.  It is one of the oldest roads and shopping districts in the old town area.  They were going into the different shops, trying on hats, looking at fabrics, etc......While they are touring around, they pass a temple, then onto the street where the come upon an older guy at which time they stop to talk to him and ask questions about how long he’s been married and if he has any advice........This guy had been married for 36 years and the advice that he could give was to forgive and forget, don’t try to win..........

Meanwhile back at the villa, the guys were talking about whether they thought Constantine would get a rose........JP pipes up saying that if he don’t get one he doesn’t care as that would give more roses to the rest of them.  The next date card arrives and Lucas is the first to get it and read it out...........Ben F., JP, Blake, Mickey, West, Ben C., Nick, Lucas, William and Ryan..............Let’s make the world a better place. 

Back with Ash and Constantine, they are sitting down in an outdoor “cafe” enjoying a beer and conversation together.  Towards the end of the first part of their date, Ash says in a PI of how her heart is healing after Bentley and she’s ready to finally give a piece of it away to one of the guys that are still there.  As the two of them sit down to dinner, they begin talking of their connection and the possibilities for the future. 

At the villa we see JP, Ben F, and Blake talking in a room about their time there and feelings towards Ash.  JP is getting frustrated and sounding like he is starting to have a real hard time with the process, meanwhile Ben F admits that he’s already kissed Ashley before and he is trying to say that if you keep going frantic and worrying about the process, it will be really hard.........try to take it easy as it will be what it will be.

Back on the beach, Ash and Constantine are talking more and getting down to the nitty gritty of what they may have together.  Constantine admits that before he would of been so afraid of failure that he wouldn’t put it all out before but now he feels that he can and wants to.

Up next......................Group Date

At the beginning of the group date, Ashley stated in a PI of how she feels that she owes it to the guys to give them a really good date today as her mind and heart had been with Bentley and now that he’s gone, she’s going to put her mind and heart on the guys that she has left.  As the guys arrived at the Baan San Fan Orphanage, Ash tells the guys what they are doing today on their date.  The guys split up into different groups and get to work either painting, cleaning, unloading plants and planting them, or just pitching in everywhere when needed.  Some of the guys were starting to have a hard time with Ryan, but from what I saw, he is an eager guy to get things done.  Ashley goes from group to group to see how the guys are doing and pitch in where she can.  She finally found Ben F. painting a mural for the kids.  Ashley comes in and starts to paint flowers and as she states, the more time she spends with Ben, the better she is feeling about Bentley being gone..........  Once they are finished with their work, Ash introduces the kids to the guys.  As the kids went inside to check out the changes that the group did, out comes the guys with bikes for the kids.

That night they went back to the lounge at the hotel for the after party.  Ben is the first one that Ashley takes aside for a chat about the day.  They both went in for a really good kiss(according to Ash) and as she says, she felt it more in an emotional way so it meant more to her.  Back with the guys, there is a group of them that are dogging Ryan once again.  It sounds more like jealousy versus anything else.  Ryan is the next one to get some private time with Ash.........They are both talking about what they want in someone and Ash states that she wants to be able to flirt with someone and have that physical connection.........they both agreed that they have “it”.  As Ash and Ryan are still enjoying their time, we look over and find JP, Blake and Mickey talking about who is going to get the group date rose and it is JP that states if the rose goes to Ryan again, people would leave........hmmmmmm  a little jealous are we JP??  Ash then talks to Blake, Lucas, and then JP.........they head out to the beach to have a chat.  As they talk, they bring up the last date that they had and how Ash felt that she owed him a better date.........meanwhile JP says that it was a perfect date.  Ash states that she feels that JP is one sexy man.........

Back at the villa, Ames date card arrives...........Ames............It’s more romantic in the rain...........Love Ashley.

At the lounge, Ash gets interrupted before she hands out the group date rose by Ryan as he wants to have another chat with her...........kinda reminded me of how Ash was ticking off the ladies and talking to Brad right before he handed out the group date rose during her time on Brad’s season.  Anyways, when Ash came back, she handed out the rose to Ben F................because JP didn’t get it, you could see the jealousy in his eyes........At the end of the date, they all head out into the pool to play.

Up next..................Ames individual date

We first see Ash waiting on a dock for Ames to show up for their date......... After their greeting, they board the  boat for a tour to Phang Nga Bay...........or James Bond Island area where they get off on their canoe to do the caving/sea kayaking tour.  After their tour on the catamaran, they boarded the sea kayak to enjoy the caves that led into other lagoons and different scenery.  After a while, they pulled up on this private beach and enjoyed a picnic lunch together.  After sitting down to talk for a while, they got back into their canoe and headed back to the main boat for their journey back to shore.

As the two of them met up for dinner, they climbed down the staircase to where their dinner was set up on the beach.  In PI’s that Ash gave, she says that because Bentley is now gone, she is finding herself opening up to the possibilities of what if with the other guys and if Bentley was still there, she’s not so sure if she’d give him another thought before.  As they are sitting there at dinner, the conversation gets deep as it is Ames that is engaging her in conversation mostly.  Ash asks Ames what he’s looking for in a woman, and he says that he’s got no list, but goes on feelings.

Up next.................Cocktail Party

As all the guys show up for the cocktail party, Ash arrives and through a PI, she says that last week the cocktail party was cancelled but this week she is in a different place and is looking forward to getting some times with all the guys.  First she takes aside West and gets into some serious conversation as to whether he is ready to start another relationship considering his wife’s death.  Then she takes Lucas aside and asks him about his ex wife and whether he is ready as well.  During the cocktail party, Blake takes his “opportunity” to take Ryan aside and tell him that the guys don’t like him.........Blake comes off as a whiner more than not with that.  Right after that, Ash takes Ryan aside to talk to him.  She asks him if this is the way he always is.........so energetic and happy.  Ryan answers by saying that there is enough crap and sad stuff about life.........why hang onto that when you know life could be over in a flash........hang onto the good and fun times.  After their time together, Ash states in a PI of how she knows Ryan P is great, is so positive, so successful and could bring out the best in her.  After Ryan and Ash get back to the group, Chris comes in and brings a halt to the cocktail party.

As Chris and Ashley heads off to have their chat, Chris brings up the Bentley thing once again and trying to figure out if Ashley is ready to move on.....As she said at the end of the conversation with Bentley.........she says that there may be a couple of guys that she can develop a relationship with that would surpass what she felt with Bentley.  Chris then says that two guys are to be sent home, at which time Ash says that she wants to add another rose to the ceremony tonight which leaves only one guy going home.

Up next..................Rose Ceremony

Chris comes back in and informs the guys that another rose will be added to the group of roses to be handed out thus only one guy will be heading home.  Ashley comes in to give her customary speech and the roses are handed out to:  Lucas, Ryan, JP, Nick, Mickey, Blake, William, and Ben C. which leaves West to catch the next flight home.

Bachelorette 7 Epi 3: Finally, Bentley Finds the Exit Door

 

Tonight’s epi  began with a brief look as to what to expect tonight............Can I say that I KNOW I will be totally fed up with Bentley before the show even begins??  Sheesh..........we’ve been treated to some tools on this show before but Bently takes the cake!!

So we first see Chris Harrison coming into the house and giving his customary speech regarding the dates this week, etc. and before he leaves, he drops the first date card on the table once again.  Ryan is the first one to grab the card and read it out..............Ben C..............Love strikes in a flash!

Ashley comes to pick Ben up and they head off to a studio to rehearse the dance that Ashley knows they will be performing in the Americana Mall.........  After they practice their dance in the studio and Ash feels confident with it, they head to the mall and after sitting there for a bit, they get up and begin their dance........meanwhile others are watching and then when he least expects it, music starts and everyone there joins in.  As the date progresses, they both look like they are having lots of fun.  Once they finish dancing, the Far East Movement group was there to perform a concert afterwards.  Once the band is done, the crowd chants for them to have a kiss.  After they left the mall, they went out to dinner and got to get to know each other a whole lot better.

Back at the mansion, the next date card arrives and Chris is the one to read it out............Ames, Ben F, Blake, Chris, Jeff, Lucas, Nick, Ryan, William and Bentley.............Make me laugh.  Bentley chimes in with one of his little quips of the night...........wants to go out for the fun, not for Ashley, knows that Ash is digging the stuff that he’s putting out so will go in for the kill...............this guy is starting to ramp up the el sicko meter...........got a feeling it will get a lot worse before the night is over.

Meanwhile back with Ash and Ben, Ben is telling Ash that if they had this “first date” in the “real world”, he would be finding a way to contact her for a second date..........Ash decides to give Ben the rose, and afterwhich they enjoy some smooches.

Up next......................group date

After commercial break, we are treated to birds chirping, chipmunks munching, and a serenity scene........then the phantom music begins as we see mask man er, Jeff standing on the balcony and as he tells us in a PI, today will be the reveal day with regards to finally taking off his mask.

After Ash comes into the house and sits down, Jeff asks her to go outside for some time and after they sit down, you can see that Ash would rather be somewhere else, but listens to Jeff talk to find out that he wants to reveal his face today before they take off for their date.  After the mask comes off, Ash states in a PI of how she thought he is older than she thought but he does look cute.  Now that one fiasco is finished with, they head out to the limo and on their way to their date. 

They head into Hollywood to the Comedy Store where they meet up with the roastmaster general, Jeffry Ross.  After Jeff tells the guys the idea of their “roasting” today, the guys head off to try to get their spiels figured out before Jeff Ross brings them back onto the stage to begin.  As everyone files into the comedy store, and Jeffry introduces Ashley, Jeffry then calls on Lucas to start things off.  First of all, he picks on Ames and his forehead, then Jeff/masked man, then went Ryan followed by Ames, Blake, Jeff, Nick, Ben F, Chris, and then William.  Now he definitely stepped over the line.  He first started picking on Ash with her being Brad’s leftovers, then went in and said how he thought he was there to find Emily or Chantal and it ended up being Ash.............after every jab, you could see her sulking back into that big chair.  I felt so bad for Ashley by the time that William finished with her.  When the group went off the stage, Ash found a quiet corner and her emotions got the better of her.  Good ole’ Bentley found her and as he said in a PI, he was going to go up to her and take the opportunity to mess with her head.  The whole time he is “comforting” her, he is stating in a PI of how ugly it is when people cry.  Towards the end of their time talking, he said a real low blow IMO as we all in the listening audience hear his wise cracks and his put downs of Ash...........he told her that he could promise that at least 24 of the guys showed up for her..........we all know he definitely isn’t including himself in the ones there for her!

After Ash came back to the group of guys, she mentioned how the small b@@b thing didn’t really bother her as it is true, but the fact that she was really worried coming into the situation that there would be a bunch of guys there looking for someone other than her.........when that was brought up at the roast, that is what hurt her the most.  After she finished talking, William asked to take her aside for a chat.  William said that maybe he should pack his stuff and leave as he truely hurt her and didn’t think he belonged there anymore.  After their talk, she talked to Chris, Jeff, and some other guys...........the whole time, she is saying in a PI of how she really doesn’t know if she will ever satisfy any of the guys, doesn’t know where she stands............then Ryan takes her aside and is able to convince her that he is there for her and her alone, etc........at which time they share some kisses and she is obviously feeling better.

Back at the mansion, the next date card arrives and Ben is the one to retrieve it and read it out...........JP, there is no place like home.........Love Ashley. 

Back at the comedy store..............Ash and Bentley head off for another chat and she confronts him with regards to the emails/texts that she got from Michelle Money.........of how he is there to promote his business and not for her.  In his explanation, he immediately says that it may of come from Michelle as she knows his ex-wife and that neither of them are good sources for info..............Man this guy is a slippery eel..........In a PI Ash states how she feels for him, feels protected............  In a PI, the slippery eel himself states how that was close and he thought he was going to get caught........

After Ash comes back to the group, she is readying herself to hand out the rose.  After she asks Ryan to accept the rose, you can tell that Bentley is kinda beside himself that he didn’t read her better as he seriously thought he was getting the rose.  Bentley then states in a PI of how since he didn’t get the rose, he is justified in leaving.........give me a break guy...............good riddance.

The next day, Ash is at her house walking around outside meanwhile her PI states how over the moon she is with the eel and how if it was up to her, she’d run away with him.  Meanwhile we are at the mansion and here’s the eel thinking and trying to figure a way to get out of this easily for him.  I could go on and on about the nastiness and crudeness of the eel, but I think you all get my opinion on that.  He does go to see Ashley and after several minutes of crying, hugging and Bentley’s crap, he leaves.  Ashley is left with a “broken heart”.  After Bentley leaves, she crawls into bed for a good ole’ fashioned cry...........after she gets up, she gets ready for her date with JP.

Up next................JP’s date

JP arrives at Ash’s door with a bouquet of flowers and the two of them head into the living room with their takeout containers to have their dinner by the fireplace........after some immediate consoling on JP’s part, they decide to carry on with their date together.  After they finished eating, they changed into their sweat pants, and came back to the fireplace.  JP in his PJ bottoms and Ash in some lounging bottoms, and her glasses.  She thanked him for being there for her and just letting herself be her.  She also voted that the kisses with JP were definitely better than Bentleys.

Up next.............Rose Ceremony

Ashley arrives at the mansion and immediately heads to her deliberation room where Chris finds her.  They begin their chat time and as hard as he seemed to try, Chris couldn’t knock her out of her glum after the eel left.  Chris heads out to where the guys are waiting and tells them there will be no cocktail party but they will go directly to the Rose Ceremony instead.  As Ash enters the room and gives her speech about the week and how tough it was and how she’s looking forward to the next week.............the roses were handed out to:  Constantine, West, Mickey, Ben F., Blake, Nick, Ames, Lucas and William.

Well, that’s all for this week............hope you all enjoyed the show and my blog.  I will be back next week with another instalment and now that Bentley is gone hopefully the drama will be as well and Ashley can find the love that she is there for.

Bachelorette 7 Epi 2: The Dating Frenzy Begins, then There’s Bentley

 

As tonight’s epi begins, Chris does his customary speech about the dates and what to expect......as he leaves, he flops the date card on the table.  Ames snags the card and reads it out:  William, want to make a splash in Vegas, I do, love Ashley. 

Next we see Ash at her pad and she is reminiscing about “last night’s” first night rose ceremony and how she feels so lucky..........yada yada.........  She arrives at the mansion to pick up William.......and they head off to the airport for a private jet to Vegas. 

Meanwhile back at the mansion, we have Jeff and Ames talking other than the mask and Ames wanting to know when it is finally coming off........Not much was said, but Jeff still has that dang mask on..........give it up already!

As William and Ash pull up at the Bellagio in Vegas, they head into a cake shop, and William is starting to look nervous.......  Once they finished with the cakes, they headed to find some rings.......Then Ash points him down the hallway to the wedding chapel.  William was sitting there on a pew all by his lonesome waiting for Ash to come back, but in walked the minister........dressed in full regale.  This of course makes William even more nervous.....in walks Ash to start going down the isle, when William noticed she had no bouquet so he grabbed the vase and handed it to her......as the minister asks William if he chooses Ash, he says yes, which of course gets Ash prompting in a PI that she couldn’t believe that he agreed ........so of course she put the brakes on things and said that one time this might happen, but not yet. 

As they come outside to the pools at the Bellagio, William finds out that they are taking a row boat to where they are having their dinner in the middle of the fountains.  As they were having dinner, William told her about how his dad is an alcoholic and how he was beaten up and died.........of how his watch is still set on the time that his dad died.  Ash was obviously touched by his story and how things went.  Ash then tells him how she has an alcoholic father as well and that the story is really hitting her close to home.

Back at the mansion, the guys get their date card and find out that Constantine, Ryan M, Chris, Ben F, Nick, Bentley, West, Lucas, Stephen, Blake, Matt, and Ames are all going on the group date............In sin city, boys will be boys..........Love Ashley.

At the Bellagio, Ashley grabs the rose and asks Will to take it........Once he agrees, they share some intimate kisses as the fountains go off.

Up next....................group date

As the guys head off to meet up with Ash in Vegas, she is standing outside the hotel waiting for the guys.......they all head inside to find out that they are going to see the Jabbawockeez show.  The guys are split into two teams and the best team stays to do the live show with Ashley and the other team is sent back to LA. Team B(The Best Men):  Matt, Constantine, Stephen, Chris, Ryan M, and Ames,   Team A(No Rhythm Nation):  Ben F, Bentley, Blake, West, Lucas, and Nick.  As both teams practice their routines, Ash keeps filtering in, back and forth and seems pretty impressed with the routines that they have come up with pretty quickly.  The teams were judged and it was decided that the No Rhythm Nation had the best routine so would be on the stage that night.........the other team was directly sent back to LA.  As the crew learned their routines, they were obviously having fun.  Later, they all went on stage to showcase what they learned and all of them thourally enjoyed it...........

After the dancing was done, Ash and the guys went outside to finish off their date.  The first one to get some quality time on the date was Blake........they went off for a few minutes and had a few laughs.  Next was West and he told her about his wife and her dying. 

Back at the house, William started bragging about his date.........the wedding cakes, the chapel.

As Bentley and Ash head down the hallway to where they are having some private time, he begins bragging in a pi of how he really isn’t into her but is there for the competition of it all........man, this guy is really getting on my nerves with the little amount of respect that he is showing for Ash.......the fact that he has “it all in the bag” as far as he is concerned..........shows how little he respects Ash................and then to top it all off.............the douche gets the rose; What??

The next day the next date card arrives..........Ryan M is the one to get it and read it out.........Mickey and JP..............Love is a gamble, and I will be seeing one of you in Vegas.............then there is a coin in the envelope as well.  After the coin is tossed, it is Mickey that wins the individual date.  Ashley is at the airport waiting for him when he comes off the escalator.  As they head back to the Mandalay, they constantly flip coins throughout the date to see what happens.  After 3 flips of the coin, it is decided that it is white wine, Ash goes to get it, and Mickey controls how fast she goes up the chair elevator to get it.  Once the wine is retrieved, they head towards the aquarium.......on the way, they flip the coin again to decide if Mickey is carrying her or giving her a piggy back ride.........Once they are seated, they again flip a coin to see who is going to ask the other something........Mickey wins and asks her when the last time she cried...........which Ash responds it as being when things didn’t work out for her the last time and all the self doubts creeped in.........

Back at the mansion, Matt and Ryan M are talking about Jeff and the stupid mask.......everyone has definitely had enough of it already.

Mickey is waiting for Ash to come down the stairs and she says in a PI of how impressed she is with him.  As they enter their suite for the night with the incredible view of Vegas, they sit down to dinner and Ash asks Mickey about his family.........When Mickey goes into detail about his family, of how his mom has died, and how he is a true mamma’s boy...........he went on to explain the lessons that his mom taught him about life, etc.

Back at the house, JP and William are outside talking about how disappointed JP is that he didn’t get a date........

Back in Vegas, Ash and Mickey are still in their suite and she picks up the rose and decides right then and there to use the coin to decide if he gets the rose or not............so when it is flipped, it comes out as heads and that means that he gets the rose.........then Ash lets him in on the secret and says that she was going to give it to him no matter what.  After which they head out to the beach area at the Mandalay and walk on the sand together, even rolling up their jeans to their knees and walking in the water...........just as they were about to leave, the music started........of course this surprised the heck out of the guy, and Colby Colait begins singing.  The two of them enjoy some romantic kisses and dance away to Colby...............

Up next................cocktail party

The guys were all waiting for Ash as she arrived for the cocktail party.............JP was the first one to haul her away for a chat........he did a coin toss for a kiss.........of course she really enjoyed it.  Ash told him to relax, enjoy the process as she is interested in him and wanted him to know it.  Then Nick steals her away to teach her a line dance, then William shows up to steal him away for some time..........  followed by Jeff, Ben C, and finally Bentley who once again reinforced how much of a douche he is.......man, that guy has no respect for women.  After Chris comes to get Ash, she gives her customary speech and they head off for a chat.

Up next.............rose ceremony

After Chris comes in and gives his customary speech, in walks Ash to hand out roses to:  West, Constantine, Ryan P, Ben C., Nick, Ames, Lucas, Jeff, JP, Chris, Ben F., and Blake.  This leaves Stephen, Matt, and Ryan M. catching the next flight home.

Next week seems to be full of drama..............Hope Bentley is finally kicked to the curb.  Hope you all have a great week and will be back next week to summarize the drama fest that ensues!!

Season Premiere, Eye Candy and the Drama Begins

Tonight’s epi began as all new seasons do............a look back at her and Brad’s story and how things went wrong for her and she was let go.............yada, yada, yada.  Then we get into the comeback kid routine in Philly and then she is named the next bachette and that is where we pick up on it tonight.

As Ashley gets ready to head to the mansion, we are given a looksie into some of the guys and who they actually are..........or not???? We were given a look into the lives of Ryan P., JP, Ames, Ben C., Ben F., Bentley, Anthony, West and William.  Ashley is then introduced by Chris, and as they head in for their talk.....She alludes to being there this time to find her husband, and that she’s worried that the guys won’t like her, that they won’t stay.  She is also worried that the guys aren’t there for the right reasons.  Ash was pre-warned by one of the ladies from Brad’s season about Bentley so she’s worried about him being there, keeping him, etc..............

As Ashley heads out to meet with the guys, the first limo pulls up and out comes Ryan P., followed by:  Jon, Lucas, William, Mickey, Drunken Tim, Ben C, Stephen, Chris D., West, Anthony, Rob, Ames, Matt, Mask Man Jeff, Ben F., Frank, Mike, Chris M., Ryan M., JP, Nick, Blake, Bentley, and Constantine.  After all the guys went inside, Chris came up to her and reminded her of the First Impression rose and the usual speech.........

After Ashley gets into the house and says the customary speech, Ryan P is the first one to steal her away for some quality time, followed by Ben F., then Matt.  When Ash was having her time with Matt, he phoned home to his mom and Ashley had a chance to have a quick chat with her.........definately something new from these first meet and greet nights.  She immediately piped in with the “motherly advice” in reference to the concept that if they forego their separate rooms.... remember........ 1) their moms are watching, and 2) use protection.........Matt immediately got completely embarrassed.

You can tell that through the night, mask man Jeff was definitely getting exiled from the group, and Tim the drunk was definitely getting more drunk as the night went on.  Then of course Chris comes in with the first impression rose, which amped up the evening even more..........Most of the “drama” from the night revolved around Jeff and Tim.........They both should of been booted??  Ashley heads out to find Tim and wake him up........after getting help from the guys to do it, they make a quick escape out of the house and send him packing before the rose ceremony even begins.

After they finally give Tim the boot, Ashley gets a chance to sit down with Jeff and she finds out why the guy is wanting to keep his face hidden.........something to do with her finding out if she likes the real guy hidden behind the mask.........or some houey like that............LOL.

Afterwards, she and JP get a chance to talk, and it seems that they are making a great connection.........she finds out that his nickname at work is cupcake............a name that she wished her hubby would call her one day.........hmmmmm.

Then Ash sits down with Bentley to finally get some answers from him as to why he is there and what he wants out of the process.........is he telling the truth..........who knows, but if the previews at the end of the night are any indication of who this guy is...........wow, he is some piece of work.

After her talk with Bentley, Ash gets the first impression rose and hands it out to Ryan..........In a PI, Bentley even admitted that he’s not attracted by her...........sheesh.........what’s with this guy.

Up next........................Rose Ceremony

After making the customary speech, Ash begins handing out the roses to:  Jeff, Constantine, Ben F., Lucas, Stephen, Matt, Nick, Chris D., Ryan M., Blake, Mickey, Ben C., West, William, JP, Ames, and Bentley.

After seeing the previews for the season..........it looks like it is going to be a good one coming...........can’t wait to see the Asian highlighted areas!!