The Bachelorette airs on ABC this evening with an all-new Monday, August 5, 2024, episode, and we have your weekly The Bachelorette recap below. In tonight’s season, 21 episode 5 as per the ABC synopsis, “Following an unexpected visit from her past, Jenn is left with a decision that could change the course of her journey forever.
From luxurious dates in helicopters and on horseback to a more down-to-earth group date at a sheep farm, Jenn and her men take advantage of all that New Zealand has to offer. Later, one man drops some shocking news that leaves Jenn questioning everything.”
We will be liveblogging tonight’s episode of The Bachelorette and you know there will be tons of drama, catfights, and tears. So come back tonight at 8 PM for our live two-hour The Bachelorette recap of tonight’s episode.
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In tonight’s The Bachelorette episode, Jenn’s ex-boyfriend flew out to New Zealand to ask for a second chance. His name is Matt. Matt wasn’t the guy that wrecked Jenn. He was the boyfriend that lasted less than six months and they remained friends once their relationship ended three years ago.
In other words, he had plenty of chances to tell Jenn that he wants something more. He never did. He wasn’t in New Zealand for the right reasons. This man waited until she was on a television show to have his epiphany. Jenn must have told her friends when she was selected as the new bachelorette. Matt had months if not weeks to make his peace with Jenn moving on. And he still waited until he was guaranteed a spot on television to say he’s in love with her.
Matt wasn’t serious about Jenn. He had three years to say something. He only wants her now that he can no longer have her and Jenn deserves better than that. Jenn should be the priority.
Not the afterthought. She should have told Matt as much and she didn’t. She was a messy queen. Its like when she kept both Thomas and Devin in spite of them having a huge public spat. She was smart. She was pretty. She just also happens to be messy and that’s why she allowed Matt to waste her time.
Matt also happened to show up right in time for elimination. Jenn had already sent home Sam N. She gave out roses to everyone she connected with on the dates. She had a few more roses to give tonight and first she had to inform the guys about Matt. She had to tell them that her ex-boyfriend wanted to compete this season against them.
She also said there was a lot of feelings there and she wasn’t sure she wanted to explore them or not. Which upset some of the guys. They were all trying to get as much time with her as possible and then here comes someone with an unfair advantage.
It technically doesn’t matter what Matt’s reasoning was. If Jenn still had feelings for him, she was going to keep him around and that’s what upset the guys. Matt has an entire history with Jenn.
They have inside jokes. They have shared friends. They knew each other better than anyone else in the house. Matt had an unfair advantage with Jenn. He doesn’t get to walk back into her life because he’s bored. Austin was one of the guys that was really upset by Matt’s return. Sam M also said his blood was boiling.
Even Devin was livid. It was only Jenn that wanted Matt around. She wanted the chance to talk to Matt. She wanted closure and she eventually got that. She decided to say goodbye to Matt.
He wasn’t joining the show. He also got to say goodbye to the guys. They were all happy to see him go. Sam M was the sole person to voice it only everyone laughed when they said goodbye to Matt. Matt already wasted the cocktail party. The guys didn’t get a last minute to make their case with Jenn and so she eliminated a few guys from the start.
Thomas finally got the boot. He and another were forced to say goodbye tonight. Only Jenn knows now that her future lies with the guys that did have roses. Its why she told Matt to go back home.
It’s also why she was able to decide who to keep without a cocktail party. Matt’s appearance wasn’t a complete waste. Jenn has a better understanding now of what she needs and wants from a partner to make a relationship work. It wasn’t going to work with Matt. It can work with the others. Jenn later invited Jonathan on a one on one date.
Jenn seems not to have a problem with heights when its her idea. She went skydiving with Marcus. She invited Jonathan to go on a helicopter trip with her. It seems she only had a problem with her date with Sam M because it was his idea to jump off the side of the building.
Otherwise she had no problem with heights. Jenn should have seen that as a sign and she didn’t. Jenn took Jonathan up on a helicopter. They saw the best of New Zealand. They then went on to tour a vineyard. They brought out each other’s goofy side on the day. They played Maro Polo. They laughed a lot and Jonathan got real with her.
Jonathan told her he wanted to connect with her. He wanted to move pass the light/fun stage. He wants to get to know her more and he wants to connect on an emotional level.
They didn’t really do that at the vineyard. Jenn didn’t open up to Jonathan like she could have. She chose to focus on making out with him and that’s led her to enough problems as it is. Jenn was warned by the Australian Bachelorettes that she needs to seek out relationships beyond mere chemistry. They mentioned that to warn her off of Sam N and she didn’t listen.
She still wasn’t listening to the advice on her date with Jonathan. Thankfully, Jonathan wasn’t afraid to make himself vulnerable. He refused to ignore everything else just because he got to kiss her.
He pushed for intimacy. He did that by discussing his past. They both have history with toxic exes and being gaslit. They realized that after sharing experiences. Jonathan was able to connect with Jenn. They had a romcom moment when they made out in the rain and it was a fitting end to a great date. And to her handing off the first rose of the new week.
Jenn also went on a group date. She invited most of the guys that she’s had solo dates with previously. She also included Austin. He was a little disappointed because he’s been hoping to get to know her and he wasn’t sure if he was going to get that chance or not. To make matters worse, he didn’t have much time to do that on the group date.
They had to herd sheep. It was pure chaos. They all forgot to open up the gate before herding the sheep. The sheep ended up going nowhere. And the date got worse as it went on.
They were on a farm you see. The sheep herding was first. They then had to muck out a stall. Jenn was looking for someone to make time her for in spite of being busy and Devin did that.
He managed to find time to do that with Jenn. It annoyed the other guys. It didn’t annoy Jenn. The group date also wasn’t over. They had to comb out feces from sheep’s behind to get the best wool from them. Devin managed to skip out on several parts of farming to make out with Jenn. Jenn seemed to like that. The other guys not so much.
They were all doing their best to get the best farmer award. Devin wasn’t even trying. He annoyed the guys and Austin felt insecure about his time with Jenn. He didn’t get a solo date. He didn’t get any alone time with Jenn. The whole thing was making him feel horrible and he didn’t want to feel that way anymore.
Austin chose to leave tonight. He wasn’t connecting with Jenn. He was feeling low and she never seemed to realize it. Austin had to prioritize his own well-being in all of this. He chose to leave. He wasn’t mean about it. He simply said her future husband was in the room and it wasn’t him.
Austin leaving like that affected Jenn. It reminded her of all the other guys that walked away. She always felt that by not expressing emotion that she was protecting herself.
She also thought it made her appear strong and sometimes men need to see vulnerability. She felt that with Austin. She felt she lost him because she focused on the wrong things and she didn’t want to do that with the other guys. She talked to them. They all got to reassure her. They like what they see. They have strong feelings for Jenn and they weren’t going to walk away like Austin did.
Jenn then had another solo date. This time with Grant. It was Grant’s first one on one date with Jenn. The first thing he did on the date was check on Jenn. He heard how tough it was after Austin left. He checked in with Jenn to see if she was still struggling or if she was feeling better. She was doing much better.
She no longer blamed herself for Austin leaving. It’s not like she made time for him or showed any particular interest in him. She couldn’t blame him for leaving. She did however like that Grant checked up on her.
Grant didn’t really have any kind of alone time before their one on one date to talk. He used his date with Jenn to open up to her. He told her about his father being an alcoholic.
He grew up with his dad constantly drunk. His dad couldn’t hold down a job. He just got clean recently and Grant was finally getting a relationship with his dad. He told Jenn everything. She herself had a troubling relationship with her father. He basically disowned her after he divorced her mom. She then went looking for love in all the wrong places to prove she was lovable. And she found herself in several toxic relationships.
Both Jenn and Grant were looking for someone they could rely on. Love will come next. It just wasn’t as important as reliability because neither of them have ever had that with their dads. Grant got a rose after his date with Jenn. Other than Jonathan, he was the only one who knew he was safe going into the next Rose Ceremony.
This also became important because Jenn decided to skip out on the cocktail ceremony. She felt she already had time with everyone and she knew who she wanted to keep without it.
Jenn gave a rose to Sam, Devin, Marcus, Jeremy, and Spencer. She already gave one to Jonthan and Grant. They all were safe this week and that left Dylan the only one without a rose. Dylan was eliminated tonight.
THE END!