-Gabby had the first 1-on-1 date and it was nothing too eventful. But again, if you wanna have in your mind that Clayton picks Gabby in the end, you could easily dissect things said and done on that date to make a case for it. He said she blindsided him in the best possible way. They had a night portion where she opened up to him, they made out, they went in the hot tub, and made out some more. There’s clearly a connection there with Gabby. Then again, we already know there’s a connection there with three women since we’ve seen in the previews he fell for Gabby, Rachel, and Susie. It’s just a matter of how it all plays out. So many things being said, so much misinformation out there, so much editing trickery and social media fake outs, it’s definitely been a lot harder to figure out what’s real and what isn’t. He didn’t pick 3 women in the end. He picked one. And there’s cases to be made for all 3 if you just look at the edit and social media. I’ve heard things that have nothing to do with what’s being shown on Monday nights or about social media. I’m just trying to narrow down what is real and what isn’t.
-The group date consisted of a roast with Canadian actor/comedian Russell Peters, who was a judge for a few seasons on one of my favorite reality shows, “Last Comic Standing.” Funny guy. This probably isn’t the show for him since his material is much more crass and biting than what we saw last night. I love how they piped in the laugh track during the roast. There were literally like 20 people there, yet it sounded like we were watching an episode of “Two and Half Men” with how much laughter was piped in. We barely got to see much of the roasts as two women’s roasts were completely left out: Rachel and Teddi’s. We saw Marlena go off on Shanae, which was awesome. Susie got in a bench warmer joke on Clayton. Sarah went after Mara for being the oldest one and having a gap in her teeth. Mara went back at Sarah for being the youngest left. Hunter took a shot at Shanae with a Jeffrey Dahmer reference. Hopefully there’s a DVD extras release of this date and more of what was said. I won’t keep my hopes up.
-At the after party, Susie pulled him aside and instead of roasting him, decided to compliment him and tell him what she likes most. His smile, his dimples, he’s very compassionate, and she learns something new every time. What I do know is next week, Susie makes a pretty bold proclamation to him in Croatia by slipping a note under his door, telling him to meet her at some tower, and that’s where she professes her love to him. Had I put that in the spoilers back in December? I don’t remember if I did or not. If not, well, now you know. I believe that makes her the first one to do that this season, right? At least to his face. So look for that next week. Rachel ended up getting the group date rose which, I mean, must solidify she wins the whole thing right? Rando IG accounts say she does so might as well just take their word for it.
-We saw the beginning of the 2-on-1 date with Genevieve and Shanae, followed by tons of voiceovers from the women back at the hotel basically saying this will be a make or break date for Clayton. Look, the only reason she made it through Houston was for this exact reason: to put her on a 2-on-1 date. He has zero connection with Genevieve that we’ve seen, so we know this won’t go anywhere for her long term. But with Shanae being this seasons villain (something you’ve known about since the day this date happened back in October when I posted about it), it only made sense to put her on this 2-on-1 because they knew this is where he’d send her home. So yes, our long national nightmare ends next Monday night when he sends Shanae home and Genevieve stays. Only to still not get a 1-on-1 in Croatia or Vienna, and basically agreeing to leave in Vienna. You talk to any past lead and they’ll tell you, you don’t put someone on the 2-on-1 that you ever have the intention of picking in the end. They don’t wanna put them through that. I don’t think it’s any surprise there’s nothing really there between Clayton and Genevieve because we haven’t seen any of their connection. If there was, they’d show it.
So we wrap up that 2-on-1 date, Hunter and Marlena are eliminated at the rose ceremony in Toronto, then 9 of them head to Hvar, Croatia next week. That spoiler will be up on TikTok and IG Reels later today or tomorrow. Nothing that you didn’t already know from December (except for maybe the note about Susie and the note thing), but be on the lookout for that tomorrow.
Send all links and emails to: steve@realitysteve.com. To follow me on Twitter, it’s: www.twitter.com/RealitySteve. Instagram name is RealitySteve, or join my Reality Steve Facebook Fan Page. Talk to you tomorrow.
