The Bachelorette Producers Sink to a New Low

They couldn't just leave it alone. They had to show the moment Chris Harrison told the remaining cast of The Bachelorette that Eric Hill had died. This is a new low for the show.

I understand that it affected the people on the show, the people running the show and even watching the show, but did they have to use footage of the exact moment and exact facial reactions for teasers to get viewers to stay tuned? If there was still any doubt about how SMARMY this show is sometimes, this locks it in. That's not to say that we won't watch the show anymore because, hey, it's smarmy/fascinating but I wanted to say that I was offended by how they used Eric Hill's death for teasers. Harrison says they thought about how to do it, tell the remaining cast members the terrible news, and felt that bringing everyone to his home would be best.
The only person smart enough to leave the room after the five Bachelorette members got the news that Eric had passed away was Marcus. Andi went outside to bring him back in the room. Then the producers and staff moved in to hug everyone. It seemed real enough and I'm sure the news was shocking. Staff moved from person to person to hug but Nick remained sitting on the couch and yawned when a hairy man tried to hug him from behind. Turn off the damn cameras!
This is my opinion on how they handled things, still trying to do damage control rather than pay a quiet, respectful tribute.

Moving on...

Here's a quick re-cap of last night's show:

Hometowns

The first stop was Milwaukee to reunite with Nick. The excited, boyish version of Nick took Andi to the public market to food-taste, then on to a brewery to drink-taste an ale called "Nick and Andi", then to a bar to learn how to polka. Cute.

The fact that Nick can polka and thinks it's a "Milwaukee Dance" was adorable. Andi was 'down' with the polka, she said. At the family home, armed with a bouquet of flowers, we got to meet Nick's enormous family gathered in front of a portrait gallery of childhood photos. I lost count of siblings at eight. What confused me was his introduction of everyone with their spouses, taking the count over 15. I had another sip of Sauvignon Blanc instead of counting. My favorite sibling was Bella, the 11 year old girl who was such a cutie. I think Andi would be better off with a younger sister than Nick. The mom was freakishly stylish and put together for someone who birthed all those kids. I liked her a huge bunch and Nick's stock went up considerably.

Next stop was Arlington Iowa and farming country to see Chris. Andi loved his checked shirt and vest (?) and was turned on by the fact he owns a nice house, a huge tractor, and hired a plane to fly by their picnic pulling the words "Chris loves Andi". I'm hoping his family uses that verb a bit loosely because I see heartache for this big Iowa farmer. The flat cornfields of Chris's homeland don't seem to be enough for Andi, even though she vowed she hunted with her Dad and wasn't a city girl. (Have you seen how much makeup she wears to hunt bad guys in the slums of Atlanta?) Even Chris's mom later said she loved Andi which melted my heart. In turn, I loved his family who even left the house after dinner to play Ghost in the Graveyard outside with Andi. I wanna live in Iowa now.

On to Josh's hometown--Tampa Florida-- where the Aaron Murray fan club reigns. Aaron this, Aaron that. OMG. Shut up about the brother! Oh, unless this Bachelorette thing was all about the brother being drafted into the NFL. Josh's devotion to his younger sibling was touching and we witnessed another side to the baseball lovin' jock--a side that might involve a good life partner if Andi doesn't have to join the Aaron fan club and get on board the love train for football watching. The mom was nice enough but the whole date was clouded by the family's excitement about the upcoming NFL draft for the little brother. Only Aaron got off topic with Andi and actually talked about his beloved bro Josh. Even though Josh talks like Elvis on speed, I have a new appreciation of the big galoot and his possible feelings for Andi.

Dallas, Texas was the scene for the next hometown visit. Apparently Marcus is German/Polish, raised in Canada but now lives in Texas. This is a wee bit confusing. Andi did a ton of smiling on this date and when Marcus drove her around Dallas pointing out pretty parks, then took her to a bar to strip for her (a la first date,) her smile got bigger. "He's really hot" was heard three times, leading us to believe that Andi meant "I can't think of anything else to say about this embarrassing occurrence." Is hot good husband material? If Marcus is that buffed, how much time does he spend in the gym? Maybe Andi was wondering these things. The family was nice. The mother was a bit stoic, the Fergie-looking sister was pleasant, the older brother was nice and Marcus cried when Andi drove away. His deep feelings for her led me to believe that Marcus's love is genuine. We see Marcus and his bedroom eyes again next month in Bachelor in Paradise so hopefully he gets over his reality show crush.

Back in L.A., they went to Chris Harrison's Bachelor pad to hear the news of Eric Hill's death and they next day the five contestants were back at the mansion for the rose ceremony. It was too soon after bad news to do this elimination. The fact that they allowed Andi to stand up there and cut Marcus after saying to the men that they'd all get through this grieving process together was crass. Boom. Bye Marcus. You won't get through this together. Not you. Not with this group AND you will now have to go through a breakup with the girl you wanted to marry. And, you will walk away knowing she's off to a tropical vacation with fantasy room dates. Good luck with that broken heart. And grieving.

I'm severely disappointed with THE BACHELOR this season. I didn't mind the Juan Pablo season so much. He was fun to watch but this season has had some pretty awful moments. I know the producers are doing damage control for all the fans who didn't like J.P., and now damage control for Andi after kicking Eric Hill off the show, but as a devout fan I'm being asked to watch entertainment that makes me cringe more than I like in an 2-hour show.
Oh, and Bachelor in Paradise is coming up in August and it looks like anything but Paradise with all the tears and backstabbing. Will I watch? Probably. Like slowing down at an accident scene on the highway, I probably will tune in. Dammit.

Kim Hornsby is the author of THE HUSBAND HUNT, a free book on Amazon that resembles a season of The Bachelor. She lives in the Seattle area where she also writes Bestselling novels.

Des and Chris Publish a Book of Poems on Amazon

If you believe the media, Bachelorette sweethearts Des and Chris have broken up and Des has returned to Los Angeles.

But I'm here to tell you that it isn't true. Desiree Hartsock and Chris Seigfried recently moved to the Seattle area and are doing just fine as they plan where they want to live and how elaborate they want their wedding to be next summer. I live in the Seattle area and the two lovebirds have been spotted at the gas station, a Seahawks game, Discovery Park, the grocery store, and around the northern part of Seattle known as Ballard.
Our local TV station and NBC affiliate, KOMO interviewed them a few days ago and during the ten minute question and answer period they seemed happily in love and making plans for the future. Des has moved here permanently and is looking to continue designing her bridal collection and Chris is back at work in the Mortgage Broker business. A book of poetry was released last night (Saturday August 24th), written by the couple, titled Diamonds and Hearts.  Does this sound like a breakup is in their future? I'd say all the naysayers and the people who claim to have seen them arguing can just go eat a big cake to sweeten up a bit because there is nothing wrong with Des and Chris's relationship.
In the KOMO interview, they laughed together, finished each other's sentences and expressed an interest in eventually settling in the Green Lake area. According to Des, she's not afraid of the imminent rain and is looking forward to spending her winters here.
The couple did caution the public to not believe everything written about them and indicated that they don't even read the tabloids or pay attention to what is being said about them in the news.
From what this Bachelor Nation member could see, the new Bachelorette couple may just make it. These two seem to understand the difference between TV love and real love. Watch the interview and tell me if they don't look more grounded. Hopefully they'll double date with Jason and Molly and laugh about the crazy show they once went on to find love. Remember that the Seattle contestants usually do exceptionally well in this reality franchise and when Chris and Des made the wise choice to avoid L.A., they left behind the frills of being on the show to come north to where paparrazi don't venture.
Good luck Des and Chris from this mom in the suburbs!

Kim Hornsby is the author of The Husband Hunt, a novella series on Amazon that suspiciously resembles The Bachelor. The second book in the series was modeled after The Bachelorette.

The Bachelorette Wants to Quit

The episode of The Bachelorette that we've been waiting for is over and the mystery of who dumped Des has been solved. Brooks is not in crazy love with Des and can't see himself proposing in two weeks.
But first, Drew's date on Antigua, the jewel of the Caribbean. Tucked inside a convertible jeep, the two kissing fools drove, stopped to kiss, drove some more, kissed some more. They ended up at a party (with a view), complete with drinks, souvenirs, limbo, dancing, mid-day picnic and loads more kissing. He's a cutie for sure and Des thinks he's hot. I think if you are not the mother of a teenage boy, Drew is appealing. Just sayin'. The dinner on the beach was cancelled due to torrential rain and the kissers had to proceed directly to the fantasy suite. Drew didn't seem to miss dinner too much at this point. They settled on the rose petal strewn bed to kiss, and kick the cameras out.

Next came Chris from Seattle's date, but by this point we all knew the ding dong ditch guy was Brooks. They gave it away in the opener. We sat on pins and needles waiting to see what would happen. For the next date, Chris and Des got in a helicopter, flew around the islands in the breathtaking beauty of teal, green and white fluffy clouds, and landed on Barbudo beach to have a picnic. If kissing is any indication of love, Chris has his work cut out for him in the Fantasy Suite. But, he and Des are very cute together and I think Chris might have the best sense of humor. He is a definite fan fav at this point too and if the unthinkable happens and he doesn't end up with Des, we just might be seeing more of him on The Bachelor later this year. At dinner he asked if Des could live in Seattle, offering the tidbit that they could get a cute little house on the water. Okay, I live in the Seattle area and that's exactly how my husband got me here but do I now live on the water? Nope. 15 years later, we are happy but not on any body of water. And it rains like crazy pants here from October to June. I was screaming at the T.V. to tell her this, but she ended up saying she could live in Seattle. Yes, indeedy, she could if the love was strong enough. Des and Chris had dinner on the beach while the most annoying birds (or an oil drill) squealed in the background for the entirety of their dinner and then during their fantasy suite tour.
 After loads of locking lips in the hot tub, we left them alone for the night and traveled to Idaho where Brooks was consulting his mom and sis about not being crazy in love with Des. At that point it was written in stone and all that needed to be done was for Brooks and his hair to get to Antigua and break up with the woman who was falling in love with him. He had no idea at this point that she was in love with him. He might've thought that Chris was the one. Or Drew. After a big ole heart to heart with ChrisBHarrison, he met with Des to break her heart in a twenty minute crying fest on the end of a picturesque dock. Was there any woman out there who didn't feel her pain? It brought back baaaaad memories of the same thing happening to me once and remembering that, I built a big wall around my body on my couch, metaphorically speaking. It took another 20 minutes for Brooks to walk down the road. He was so broken up too. Des wouldn't let him go and he wouldn't walk away. He wanted to make it right before he left but didn't he know the formula? You tell them it's over and leave. At that point you can't comfort them. You are the enemy. And didn't we all wonder what his idea of love is if he's missing her so much before he gets in the limo? I think Brooks is too mixed up and hope like crazy that they don't bring  him back next week because he gets second thoughts. That's just a recipe for heartbreak souflee.

Next week Des tells ChrisBHarrison she just wants to go home. She's done. It's over. The gig is up.  If I was Mike Fleiss, THE producer of this show, I'd let her take a day or two, and everyone could re-convene after that. Maybe even fly everyone back to the mansion or a new fancy spot for thinking time, have Des see a counsellor and continue if she thinks there is any hope. Seriously though, I doubt that there is any hope for the other two men after this. I wish I was a fly on the hut when the producers talked about what to do in Antigua. I wonder if Des's contract came out and a lawyer was called. Poor Des. I hope by now she's moved on from Brooks and is in love with Drew or Chris but it was hard to watch. Especially because I have the flu. This episode with so many tears and hugs and hair pulling left me feeling more fluish. At least Des's mascara didn't run.
Now all we have to do is wait another excruciating week to find out what the heck they decide to do.

In the meantime, check out the 2 hour read The Husband Hunt, FREE on Smashwords for download on a reading device or phone. Click here The romance story is based on a reality show much like The Bachelor with roses, a mansion, fantasy dates and house drama.
Kim Hornsby is the author of Amazon Best Selling Novels The Dream Jumper's Promise and Necessary Detour, both available on Amazon for download or print.