NOTE: This post contains spoilers for Season 28, Episode 9 of The Bachelor.
Hello Bachelor Nation members, and welcome to my recap for episode 9 of Joey’s season of The Bachelor. This was a big episode for Joey and his three remaining ladies, Rachel, Daisy, and Kelsey A., because it was Fantasy Suite week! There were plenty of highs and lows, some cameos from our favorite Golden Bachelor ladies, and a confusing note left on Joey’s door. Let’s get into the recap.
Rachel's Fantasy Suite Date
Rachel started off Fantasy Suite week by chatting with Susan Noles from The Golden Bachelor. Rachel told Susan how she appreciates that she can be herself around Joey and she is falling in love with him. However, she still had a bit of a wall up because her last two serious relationships ended in cheating. Susan advised her to not let fear get in the way, be vulnerable, and remember that she has to love herself before she can love anyone else.
Then Rachel met up with Joey for the daytime portion of their date. They jumped into a cenote (which is an “underwater cave situation”, according to Joey) from platforms of varying heights. Things were going well until Rachel hurt her jaw during the last jump. “She always tries to put on a brave face,” Joey said, but he wasn’t buying Rachel’s “it’s fine!” act. So, the two took a trip to the hospital, just to make sure there was nothing seriously wrong.
After an X-ray, which showed that everything was fine, Rachel and Joey headed to dinner. Rachel opened up to Joey about some of her fears, including that she waited too long to open up to him about her feelings and was now playing “catch-up” with the other women.
Rachel also admitted that she was struggling to differentiate between the feeling of being cheated on in the past and her feelings about Joey currently dating two other women. Rachel broke down crying, and Joey told her that he understood how hard this week was.
Then he invited Rachel to spend the night with him in the Fantasy Suite, and of course, she said yes. The next morning, the two snuggled a bit before reflecting on how the night went. “I finally told him I love him,” said Rachel. In his confessional, Joey said, “I am falling for Rachel. I love how much fun we have. It was nice to wake up next to someone that you feel so comfortable with.”
Kelsey A.'s Fantasy Suite Date
Before her date with Joey, Kelsey chatted with Leslie Fhima from The Golden Bachelor (who was Gerry’s runner-up). The two bonded over the fact that they both lost their moms around the same age, and Kelsey told Leslie about the way she sees butterflies as a symbol that her mom is with her in the moment. “I see myself in her a lot,” Leslie said before Kelsey admitted that she loves Joey.
Leslie advised Kelsey to be “completely organic”, present, and make the most of every second of her overnight date. She then told Kelsey that she was extremely confident after her overnight date… but ended up heartbroken. “Just always have something in the back of your head that you might not be it,” Leslie told her, and Kelsey’s face dropped.
After Leslie rained on her parade, Kelsey met up with Joey. “The way that Kelsey makes me feel is different,” Joey said in his confessional, but he was hoping to hear some version of the L-word from her to make sure she was feeling the same way. During the daytime portion of their date, he and Kelsey took a boat ride, discussed future homes, and then swam with turtles before heading off to dinner.
At dinner, Kelsey told Joey about her convo with Leslie the Party Pooper, and Joey understood why she had told Kelsey to be careful. He thought he was Charity’s one and only, after all. He also told Kelsey that he struggles to open up because he still has “that fear that it can be taken away”.
Kelsey finally got up the courage to tell Joey that she is in love with him. By now we all know that Joey can NOT hide his feelings. They show all over his face, and Joey was beaming when Kelsey said she loved him. “I’m falling in love with you fully,” he told Kelsey. Was that almost a full blown L-word from our Bachelor?!
To no one’s surprise, Joey invited Kelsey to spend the night with him in the Fantasy Suite. They spent the next morning kissing on counters and making breakfast. Is this a rom com?
Daisy's Fantasy Suite Date
Last but not least, Daisy chatted with Sandra Mason from The Golden Bachelor before her date with Joey began. Daisy explained to Sandra that she told Joey she’s falling in love with him and he said that he feels the same way. “Don’t worry about the others,” Sandra advised Daisy, because it’s not about a competition with them but rather her relationship with Joey. Daisy left the conversation feeling pretty good, unlike Kelsey after her chat with Leslie.
Joey and Daisy rode around on an ATV for the daytime portion of their date and happened upon a random couch in the middle of the jungle. There they sat down and Daisy, much like the other women had already done, expressed how difficult the week had been. The “space in-between”, when she knew he was with other women, was particularly rough.
Speaking of being with other women, Kelsey was back at the hotel freaking out a bit because of her conversation with Leslie. “There’s still two other women, so it’s scary,” Kelsey said in her confessional.
Okay, back to Daisy and Joey. The two headed off to dinner, where Daisy told Joey that her ex was not very emotionally available and she would get “shut down” when she tried to talk about her emotions. She said she feels safe to open up with Joey but is still not used to that feeling since she was shut down so often in the past. Then Joey opened up about a pre-Bachelor Universe relationship, in which he “didn’t make her feel as special as she wanted to feel”. It made him question his confidence and whether he was a good person. He then said he’s afraid of someone falling for Joey the Bachelor and not Joey the person.
“You’ve honestly changed my life and how I look at myself,” said Daisy. “I’m just really thankful for you.” Joey loved Daisy’s reassurance and told her he’s falling in love with her. Unsurprisingly, Joey and Daisy spent the night together in the Fantasy Suite, and everything seemed just peachy the morning after. As Joey and Daisy said their goodbyes, we cut to Kelsey looking particularly upset in her room. Looks like trouble’s brewing…
"We need to talk."
Kelsey was mid-spiral at this point and well on her way to self-sabotaging her relationship with Joey. Thanks for that Leslie! “There’s something I need to talk about with Joey,” said Kelsey as CCTV footage showed her going to Joey’s room to leave the note from the previews in his door. Kelsey, no! You were doing so well.
What exactly does Kelsey want to talk about? It wasn’t immediately clear. “I would rather leave now than have my heart completely broken,” she said, which makes it seem like the conversation won’t be great. Will it be some sort of an ultimatum?
We’ll have to wait until next week to find out. All we got to see at the end of this episode was Joey finding and reading the note. “I don’t understand what this is,” he said, “I’m confused.” Join the club, Joey.
So, who do you think will be Joey's final two?
Now I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but according to Suzana Somers (@bachelordata), the woman who goes on the first Fantasy Suite date never wins the season. There has been only one exception- Hannah Ann during Peter Weber’s season (and we all know how that went). Unfortunately, the data doesn’t bode well for Rachel. Considering she didn’t receive a “falling in love” from Joey, I think she’ll be heading home.
That would leave Daisy and Kelsey… if Kelsey doesn’t somehow sabotage the good thing she has going with Joey. What do you think? And, are you looking forward to the Women Tell All next Monday? I certainly am! Join me to recap it next week.
