Ben Higgins faces the reality of parenthood and has to defend himself in front of one girl's brothers, as JoJo gets a letter from an ex-boyfriend.
- Feb 23, 2016
AceShowbiz - "The Bachelor" was back with the awkward hometown dates in the new episode which aired on Monday, February 22. Ben Higgins visited the hometown of each of the remaining four girls and met their families.
Ben first visited Amanda Stanton's house in Laguna Beach, California. He met her daughters Kingsley (3.5) and Charlie (almost 2). It started out fun as they spent time playing on the beach, but things took a turn for the worse once they got in the car to return to Amanda's house. Amanda's younger daughter Charlie couldn't stop crying. "The kids are a little worn out," Ben admitted, "The car ride was a little rough."
Amanda's father expressed his concern that Ben wasn't ready for fatherhood. It's true as Ben himself admitted, "Amanda's dad really made me think about what it takes to be a parent. And honestly, that makes me a little nervous."
Ben's next stop was Portland, Oregon, Lauren B.'s hometown. They walked around the town and made out at a whiskey library before Ben met her parents. Lauren's sister Mollie raised a few concerns, but he won her over after he emotionally talked about his feelings for Lauren. As her family members reminded her that Ben's still dating three other girls, Lauren decided not to profess her love for Ben.
Next, Ben met Caila in Hudson, Ohio. Ben said his relationship with Caila was the "deepest" one among his relationships with the remaining four girls. They had a date at a toy plant because her dad is the CEO of the toy company. They imagined their future as they built their future house and made out inside the toy house.
Caila was ready to say the "L" word to Ben, but her father's hesitation about her "falling in love with a celebrity who has a thing for polyamory" caused her to hold back. On the other hand, her mom said she could tell that Ben loved Caila. In the end, Caila didn't tell Ben she loved him because "I'm scared of getting my heart broken."
Before JoJo and Ben's date in Dallas, Texas, she got a letter which she thought was from Ben. As she read it, she realized it was from her ex-boyfriend who basically told her that he's sorry for his mistakes and wanted to get back with her.
"No! No! I don't want to read this," she said furiously to the camera. "That's not what I want to read. That's so f**ked up. I didn't want to go back there. I was so excited about today. For two years, I begged for him. And now that I finally move on? It's selfish. Ugh. I deserve to be with someone who knows how much I'm worth from the beginning. All of my insecurities came from him. I'm so mad."
JoJo called her ex Chad to tell him that they were completely "done." When Ben arrived, she opened up about the letter from her ex and said while crying on his shoulder, "I'm just the happiest I've ever been. I don't want you to think for a second that my feelings are elsewhere 'cause they're not."
The two then headed to JoJo's family home. Her mom loved Ben but her brothers grilled Ben. They questioned his feelings for JoJo and accused him of delivering semi-scripted lines. "I don't know if you were coached on your answer, or what it is," said JoJo's brother Matt. "As a brother, I'm like, 'Dude, my sister is way more into this guy that he is into her.' "
Ben tried to answer them as diplomatically as he could and defended himself in front of the family. When speaking to the camera, he pondered, "Am I that evil? Where I have planned this all out where I just wanna get their sister to the point where she was falling for me and then break her heart on purpose, just because I like watching people get hurt?"
After the hometown dates, Ben sent home Amanda in the rose ceremony. Amanda said, "Don't be sorry. I just feel like, if you were having any doubts after my hometown date it would have been nice if you'd let me known then, rather than send me to L.A. to send me home with a rose ceremony."
In the limo, Amanda admitted she was "definitely falling in love with him." Ben himself was so sad after sending Amanda home, spending the night sobbing.
