ABC/Rick RowellA little food for thought, Bachelorette fans.
And by food for thought, we mean: You might get so sucked into this "Bachelorette conspiracy theory" floated by Glamour that you forget to do work, sleep, eat or feed your kids or pets for a few days. You have been warned.
Here's the theory in a nutshell: Is there any chance that Kaitlyn fell for Shawn in the very beginning of the season, told him, pissed off all the other guys, basically ruined the whole show because everything was over, and then producers brought in Nick to cover up the whole thing and save the season?
There are always many conspiracy theories about what happens behind the scenes—and this one is intriguing, to say the least.
But before you get sucked into the same time-suck vortex, allow us to present the info we've learned from inside sources who work on the show, which make it pretty clear that there's no way this theory can be 100% true.
1. Nick ASKED to come on the show. In order for the "cover up" theory to be true, producers would have reached out to Nick and asked him to come on as a viable suitor for Kaitlyn (since the other guys supposedly all already knew that Kaitlyn had chosen Shawn). Nick started the conversation. He wanted to be on the show.
2. Nick came on the show before they shot anything in San Antonio. The moment Ben H. has talked about, in which Kaitlyn surprised him and Shawn and came to their hotel room to tell Shawn he was "The One," happened in San Antonio. Nick was already on the show by that point—so there's no way that moment happened and then producers decided to bring Nick in to cover it up.
3. Nick and Kaitlyn had sex. This is the point that simply does not compute. If Kaitlyn had had already chosen Shawn, why would she have sex with Nick? The sex was indeed real, according to multiple sources, including, of course, the best sources: Kaitlyn and Nick themselves. Would a girl really tell her whole family—her father—that she had sex with a guy right before they met him if it weren't true? That's just a whole bag of crazy that is…way to crazy to be true.
That said, some of the "twists" this season remain…interesting. As you fans know, the whole season was shot in Ireland and all the hometown dates were scrapped. Even the final rose ceremony took place back in L.A. at the mansion. Maybe it was budget constraints (last season's Bachelorette struggled in the ratings), or a desire to simplify after the complex beginning (two Bachelorettes—#neverforget). But it's also possible that producers decided to shorten production time because Kaitlyn already had made her choice. And how long could they possibly string it out? And do you really suck four families into it, in their own homes, when the game has already been called?
And for the record, Kaitlyn herself has said "It was always Shawn." That was her answer when asked during a conference call with reporters, "Was there ever a chance of it being someone else?"
Bottom line: Kaitlyn clearly knew at some point she definitely wanted to end up with Shawn (despite her letting things to all the way to the end with Nick). At what point that happened and when it was made clear to everyone else? We'll never fully know, of course. But the fact that we find all of this so insanely compelling just speaks to how much The Bachelorette producers remain on top of their game. The finale had massive ratings (the best Monday night summer for ABC in two years), The Bachelorette was the most tweeted about reality show all summer, and clearly, we cannot stop talking about it. Even three days after the finale.
Crazy-Train Bachelorette 2015? We miss you already.