Chris Harrison blogs 'The Bachelorette' season finale
Warning: This blog about the season finale of The Bachelorette contains spoilers.
Well, Bachelor Nation, it has been an unbelievable ride, but now we can finally all congratulate Rachel on finding the love she’s been looking for. She started with more suitors than any Bachelorette in history, and now she is happily engaged. I can tell you that Rachel was as skeptical as anyone when she first came on The Bachelor. Over the course of that season, she realized that love could happen here, but when she started her own journey, she was hopeful, but she was still skeptical. Then Bryan came in and changed everything for her.
But that doesn’t at all take away from any of her other relationships. I’ve never seen a person as torn as Rachel as she said goodbye to both Eric and Peter. The romantic overnight dates in Rioja were beautiful, and it was about as beautiful a place as we’ve ever been. The romance of the location, the great wine, and the sporadic rains really made this whole experience memorable.
Eric is a great example of someone who was open to love but never really thought all of this was going to work for him. He had never fallen in love before, but as he often said, “it’s miracle season.” He may not have ended up with Rachel, but the experience changed his life, and we are all so sure that he has nothing but great things in his future.
Rachel’s relationship with Peter was always great, starting with their first one-on-one date, and Peter has said when he was on that first date he could actually see himself exceeding his expectations and falling in love with Rachel. But there was always just something missing between them. Even though it seemed to be all about their long-term goals, I do think there was something else that got between them, and honestly, I think that something else was Bryan. I believe that if Rachel and Peter had really both decided they wanted to be together forever, they would have found a way to overcome their differences.
Peter is a romantic and also a realist. Those things are not always at odds. It was one of the most heartbreaking goodbyes I’ve ever seen. Peter was not ready to say goodbye to Rachel, and Rachel didn’t seem like she was quite ready to say goodbye to Peter. When everyone went to bed that night, no one was sure what was going to happen the next day. We were all sad for Peter and also for Rachel. But the next morning the sun came up and everything changed. Bryan had no idea that he was the only one showing up that day. He was as nervous as anyone could ever be, but I think the moment he saw her face, he knew that she was going to say yes when he got down on his knee. It was a windy day at the top of the hill, but the bells were ringing and there was love in the air. We are so confident in the love that Bryan and Rachel have found, and we know they’re going to have a wonderful life together.
Obviously we did things a little different last night and took the opportunity to have Rachel talk to Eric and Peter right after we saw them go home, rather than wait until After the Final Rose to talk to everyone. As we saw, it created a more real and raw opportunity for all of them to really talk about their feelings. The conversation between Peter and Rachel was obviously still very raw and there were a lot of unresolved emotions right under the surface. As we all saw on the show, the breakup in Spain was one of the longest and most emotional we’ve ever seen, and Peter and Rachel hadn’t seen each other since those moments. Even though they didn’t really come to any particular resolution, I think they both left the conversation with more conviction that they both made the right decision, and I think that’s really great.
When Bryan came out, it was wonderful to see him get down on a knee and tell Rachel all over again exactly how he felt about her. And it was clear to everyone in the audience that these two are madly in love. They couldn’t stop kissing between the commercial breaks. They were like newlyweds, and I feel pretty sure they’ll be like that for a very long time.
Make sure to come back next week for the two-night premiere of Bachelor in Paradise, the most anticipated show of the summer. We can’t wait for you to see it! As always, thank you so much for all of your support, Bachelor Nation. We could never do it without you!
Bachelor in Paradise premieres Monday, August 14, at 8 p.m. on ABC.
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