Kevin Foley/ABCWelcome back to The Bachelor, y'all!
This week, Sean Lowe continued to develop stronger connections with several women. "One week in and I find myself digging a lot of women and it's blowing me away right now," he says.
Still, Sean had to say goodbye to three women by episode's end, and it was a bumpy road to the rose ceremony, with one girl falling down the stairs, a competitive beach volleyball match and the ladies getting catty with each other. So, who went home on the ABC reality hit? Find out...
Chris Harrison gathers the girls and informs that that there will be three dates this week: one group date and two one-on-ones, but not all 16 remaining ladies will be going on dates. Cue massive panic. The first lady to get a one-on-one? Political consultant Lesley M., who made the first move and kissed Sean last week. Clearly, Sean was still thinking about the kiss as he takes Lesley to Guinness World Records and reveals he wants to break the record for "longest on-screen kiss" with her, which will "crank up the romance," Sean says. Yes, kissing for a long period of time in front of a screaming crowd is the epitome of romance. "I think my body is numb," a shocked Lesley says when she sees the crowd.
To break the current record, Sean and Lesley have to kiss non-stop for three minutes and 16 seconds and when they first start smooching, Lesley admits it's a little awkward with the crowd around them. "The hardest part was trying not to laugh," Sean says of their brave endeavor. Soon enough, Sean and Lesley forget about the crowd and start enjoying their kiss, and yes, they break the record. "Lesley is a great kisser," Sean says. "That was a very easy record to break for me!"
Later, the two talk over drinks and it's adorably awkward. "You make me nervous and I think I'm blushing," Lesley says to Sean, who admits she made him "uncomfortable" when he first met her. The two kiss, and we're pretty sure Lesley isn't going anywhere anytime soon, especially when they both admit they have started having real feelings for each other and Sean gives her a rose. "I'm falling in love with this guy," she gushes. "He's perfect."
The 12 girls going on a group date are Kacie, Robyn, Leslie, Kristy, Catherine, Taryn, Desiree, Amanda, Lindsay, Daniella, Jackie and Tierra. The invitation hints that it's going to be competitive and the ladies head to the beach to play volleyball. (And the girls immediately force him to take his shirt off. Yay for equal opportunity nudity!) The winning team gets to spend more time with Sean, with the losing team heading right back to the house.
What follows is the most intense and poorly played game of beach volleyball ever to be documented by ABC's cameras. "These girls are giving it all," Sean, the man they are spiking over, says, "but this game isn't exactly pretty." In the end, Desiree, Robyn, Amanda, Jakie, Kacie and Lindsay win, while the remaining girls literally cry while walking off the beach. Bummer City, population: these six beach volleyball losers.
Later on, Amanda, the über-competitive "fit model," decides to make her move and talks to Sean about their marriage, while Desiree says she thinks it's "funny" how different Amanda is when she's in front of Sean. "I honestly don't think she's here for Sean," Kacie says of Amanda, whom she describes as "dark and creepy." For some reason, Kacie decides to "be selfish" and tell Sean about the tension between Desiree and Amanda. Sean, like us, is confused as to why she's bringing this up. "Why are you involving yourself?" he asks Kacie, who soon realizes her plan is backfiring, making her look "crazy." Sean then gives the rose to Lindsay.
AshLee gets the second and final one-on-one date and she's excited to talk about her adoption with the family-oriented Sean. "Nothing can and will go wrong today," she says, which of course is immediately followed by Tierra taking a fall down the stairs. When Sean soon arrives to pick up AshLee, his focus quickly turns to Tierra and getting her to a hospital, as she might have a concussion.
"I don't want to do this," Tierra says as she's being put on a gurney. "This is so stupid. This is not necessarily." She decides not to go to the hospital, which AshLee finds suspicious, saying, "Tierra is the boy who cried wolf. She will go as far as she can, besides the hospital." After spending some time with Tierra, who was just loving all the attention Sean was giving her post-tumble, Sean and AshLee finally go on their date, which combines Sean's love of amusement parks and charity: The duo have Six Flags Magic Mountain all to themselves and Sean decides to bring a long Brianna and Emily, two young girls with chronic illnesses who have been best friends for years, but have never met, along. The four go on rides, play games and later get a private concert with The Eli Young Band. It's a sweet moment.
Later on, AshLee opens up to Sean about her childhood in which she was adopted at six by a family that abused her. "I'm not bitter. I'm not broken," AshLee says , noting she wasn't sexually abused. She then tells Sean about her current family and the first time she met her father. "She hasn't let any of that affect her negatively and it just makes me admire AshLee even more," Sean says before giving AshLee a rose. "My heart is in his hands," AshLee notes, saying she's opened up more to Sean than any other man.
On elimination night, Sean surprises Sarah, who didn't get to go on a date this week, with her dog Leo, who pulls up in a limo. "Truly, truly amazing. I feel like such a hot mess," Sarah says of her reaction to the special guest. After that cute lil' moment, the girls' claws come out as they all try to get alone time with Sean. Desiree steals him from Tierra, Tierra steals him back, then Lesley takes him away. Soon, Robyn swoops in, followed by Lindsay. Kacie later grabs him and apologizes, but Sean is interrupted when he's about to say how he feels about her. "I have no idea what he's thinking or feeling," she says.
Finally, the rose ceremony is upon us, but Sean postpones things to talk to Kacie. "I admire you...and I have way too much respect for you to make you stand through another ceremony when I know in my heart that we're better off as friends, " Sean says. Yes, Kacie is out, y'all! "There are regrets that I have and that's something I have to live with," Kacie says. Also going home? Taryn and Kristy.
(Shirtless Sean count during tonight's episode: 2)