A onetime front-runner on Michelle Young's season of The Bachelorette has quickly wilted.
During the ABC dating show's Monday, Nov. 2 episode, things took a turn between the series lead and Jamie Skaar, the lucky recipient of her first one-on-one date last week.
Although they shared an instant bond, Jamie appeared to be heading into treacherous territory when he told Michelle toward the end of last week's episode that the men in the house had widely discussed whether she had a previous relationship with Joe Coleman. However, the men were floored to learn of the accusation and adamantly denied the claim, with Jamie remaining mum about having started the drama.
On tonight's episode, Jamie was clearly surprised when Brandon Jones got the group date rose over him. At the end of the date, viewers saw Jamie appear to pull a producer aside and then criticize Michelle's actions.
"The challenging part with Michelle right now is that she's basically just in f--king spring break mode," the biotech CEO complained. "It's a little bit of a turnoff."
Ultimately, everything came to a head at the start of the cocktail party, when Rick Leach reiterated to Michelle that none of the men had questioned her character. This led her to mention that Jamie was the one to tell her about the supposed conversations surrounding her past with Joe.
At that, Rick informed Nayte Olukoya and Casey Woods that Jamie had been the culprit. The three guys then confronted Jamie, who said he told Michelle that "speculation" about Joe had "created this character in the room."
After Nayte doubted that a "character" had been created, Jamie demurred, saying he hadn't been involved in the conversations. He then confused the guys by saying he was worried about the viewers watching the episodes at home, leading Nayte to ask Jamie if he's "threatened" by Joe.
The rest of the guys learned about Jamie's role in the drama, and no one was pleased, with Joe even telling Jamie he's a "snake." Michelle returned and could tell there was tension in the room, and she soon brought up Jamie having mentioning that his friends saw her "in Minnesota walking with a light-skinned dude."
After pulling Jamie aside, Michelle told him their "trust was completely broken" by Jamie bringing up the story about his friends in Minnesota. "I'm very hurt by you right now," the schoolteacher shared. "I don't trust you at this moment, and I have to be done with it, and so I do think it's best that I walk you out tonight."
As she led him to the door, the former runner-up from Matt James' season of The Bachelor told the camera that Jamie had been someone she "could see a potential future with," and then she let the guys know the cocktail party was canceled. "I've worked really hard to build a strong character and will not stand to be manipulated in conversations," she told the group.
The men were pleased about Jamie's departure but also bummed about losing time with her as they went straight to the rose ceremony. "Jamie was a snake behind the scenes, and Michelle addressed it and took care of it," said Clayton Echard, who is set to be the next Bachelor. "Every freaking rose night, there's drama."
After the episode aired, Jamie took to his Instagram Story to share some negative direct messages he had apparently received from viewers, and he also seemed to mock the show's fan base.
"Ppl that were looking for summin to be angry about or towards found it," he posted. "I'm [unfazed]. They'll be on to their next trigger next episode & next szn. I know very little about this show and [Bachelor Nation] but it seems pretty clear that this is the pattern for some of them."
For her part, Michelle appeared to reference Jamie's "spring break" comments by tweeting after the episode, "What can I say…teachers truly do love Spring Break #nomoregradingpapers #naptime #icanpeewheniwantto."
The Bachelorette airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. on ABC.