Spoiler alert: The following article contains spoilers for the final episode of season 21 of The Bachelorette..
Throughout the season, promos for the final episode of “The Bachelorette” featured host Jesse Palmer telling season lead actress Jeanne Tran, “No Bachelorette has ever done this before.” Finally, on Tuesday night, viewers got to see Jeanne make her decision.
On last week's episode of “Fantasy Suites,” Jen narrowed her field down from three contestants to two, sending Jonathan Johnson home. Their breakup was emotional, with both admitting they had a strong connection, but Jonathan didn't progress as far as Devin Stader and Marcus Sjöberg.
Going into the finale, there was no clear frontrunner: Jane's decision to tell Marcus she loved him was easy for her, but he wasn't ready to respond to it — while Devin had confessed his love much earlier, after their hometown date, but didn't hear those words in return until he approached Jane in a state of anxiety days after their night in the fantasy suite.
But during Tuesday's three-hour finale, Jane's decision became fairly clear after she took the two men home to meet her family.
While visiting Jane's family, Marcus confesses to her mother Trinh and her aunt Lilan that he did not love Jane.
“I think I can get there. I know I’m not feeling well right now,” Marcus said. “For the past few weeks, I’ve been blaming myself. It’s like, why am I not feeling what I want to feel? I’ve been missing that certainty and it’s making me unsure. And I want to get there for her.”
Before their final date in Hawaii, a confused and frustrated Jane approaches Marcus in his hotel room for answers about where they stand in their relationship.
“I don’t know if you’ll see me in your future,” she told him.
“I know my feelings for you are real and I can imagine them with you,” he said. “I don’t understand why I’m so afraid to move forward with someone I care about so much.”
Even though Marcus finally tells her that he loves her and wants to fight for their relationship, Jane sends Marcus home without going to their final date.
The morning after her breakup with Marcus, Jane said she was still not sure if she should accept Devin's offer.
“I really need to follow my heart today,” Jane told host Jesse Palmer. “When I went in today, I thought I knew what direction I wanted to go, and I woke up this morning with a completely different perspective.”
Then Jane shared her plan, saying, “I have to choose for myself. I'm not going to let Devin propose to me today – I'm going to propose to Devin.”
“I want him to know that I will fight for him every day, and I will choose him every day,” she added.
But “The Bachelorette” didn't offer a marriage proposal, it went to Jesse in the live studio.
“You won’t be watching this show,” he revealed. After a long pause, he continued, “That’s true. And because of what’s happened since that day in Hawaii, we’ve decided it wouldn’t be appropriate for anyone to watch it until we hear from Jen.”
Jen then joined Jesse on stage, where she revealed to the audience what happened after she and Devin left Hawaii following their engagement.
“It was a really tough two months,” Jane began, trying hard to hold back the tears. “We left Hawaii and we were engaged and very happy. I thought I had found the person I wanted to spend the rest of my life with, and then, basically, as soon as we left Hawaii, things were completely different. I felt like he was pulling away from me.”
“I felt like I was secondary to everything else in his life… and I didn't understand why,” she added. “We had a happy couple. [visit] “I planned it early last month and the night before he called me and called off the engagement. He told me he didn't love me anymore and didn't feel the same way.”
Jane said Devin “regretted getting engaged” and she knew “the whole time it was completely different.”
Devin joined Jane on stage.
Next season of “The Bachelor,” Joan Vasos will helm the inaugural season of “Bachelor Golden,” which premieres Sept. 18. Next spring, ABC will launch the 29th season of “The Bachelor,” led by Jen’s ex-fiancé Grant Ellis. Season 10 of “Bachelor in Paradise” will premiere in 2025; Jonathan received the first invitation to the season during last week’s “Men Tell All,” followed by Hakeem Moulton, another of Jen’s exes.
More to come…
