With two Bachelorettes for the first time in franchise history, it was only a matter of time before suitors started taking sides—but we didn't expect this.
With 21 men left vying for the hearts of Gabby Windey and Rachel Recchia on The Bachelorette, many of the remaining men began making their intentions clear.
"I think there are men that are clearly here for Rachel and men that might be more interested in me," Gabby said on the July 25 episode. "But there are a couple of men more in the middle ground that I think this week will help us figure out who we should pursue relationships with and who we're not meant to be with."
Before the big format changes could be revealed ahead of another dramatic rose ceremony, however, some important groundwork had to be laid.
Rachel chose Zach for the week's first one-on-one date, which was planned by Queer Eye star and soon-to-be daytime talk show host Karamo.
Karamo helped them get dressed in their red carpet finest and sent them off to the mysterious premiere of a movie called Me & You. It turned out there wasn't any movie at all and, instead, Rachel and Zach were treated to a slideshow of photos and videos of themselves as children.
After they shared that they both used sit by airports with their fathers and name the planes—a coincidence so strange that it could only exist on The Bachelorette—Rachel gave him the rose and Zach called it "one of the best nights of my life."
So far, so good.
However, while Rachel was busy falling for Zach, Gabby couldn't get any of the other men to pay attention to her. She showed up to the mansion and the eligible bachelors were far more interested in showing off their football skills than, you know, having a conversation. Gabby left feeling defeated, saying, "The lack of effort is a decision at this point."
On her one-on-one date with Erich—complete with an awkward tagalong from Gabby's grandpa John—it was clear that Gabby was still struggling. After a sound bath, energy healing, an "intention-setting ceremony" and some bowling—we're tired just typing that—Gabby got very vulnerable with Erich at dinner.
Gabby told him about the strained relationship she has with her mother, but then got up and left the table because she was so overcome with emotion. In a conversation with producers, she said, "I can't explain what it's like to have a mom who doesn't love you."
After theorizing that some of the men like Rachel because "she's easier, I'm too complicated," Gabby rebounded enough to give Erich the rose and the two made out in front of a fire like a couple on the cover of a romance novel.
If all of that wasn't dramatic enough, it was then time for a 19-on-two group date, the largest in Bachelor Nation history. The guys and the Bachelorettes completed some very weird photoshoots—at one point Meatball was dressed as a giant baby and birthed by another contestant dressed in a hospital gown, for some reason—the group got dressed up for a night at SoFi Stadium, home of the Los Angeles Rams and Los Angeles Chargers.
The night was highlighted—or low-lighted, if you will—by an uncomfortable conversation between Gabby and Hayden, in which Hayden told her that he was more interested in Rachel, because Gabby is "rough around the edges." Tyler and Jacob proceeded to tell Gabby that they were only interested in Rachel, as well.
Once back at the mansion, host Jesse Palmer announced that the cocktail party was canceled and the format of the show was being flipped on its head, at the urging of Gabby and Rachel. Jesse explained that, by accepting a rose at the rose ceremony, "you are committing to dating one woman, the woman that offers you the rose and not the other." Essentially the men were being divided into two separate groups.
When it came time, the dynamic from earlier in the episode flipped, as some of the men declared their allegiance to Gabby, instead of Rachel, with Termayne, Alec and Meatball all declining Rachel's roses. None of them were picked by Gabby, either, and they were all sent home along with Jacob.
Because one twist is never enough, Rachel's final rose was saved for Hayden, the guy who called Gabby "rough around the edges" mere hours before, and he accepted. With enough friction between the men themselves, is there about to be some between the Bachelorettes?
Find out what's in store when The Bachelorette airs Mondays at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.