The end of the rodeo. Brooklyn Willie was sent home by Zach Shallcross on the Monday, March 6, episode of The Bachelor — and she didn’t see the breakup coming.
“In the moment, yes, I did truly feel blindsided,” the 25-year-old contestant exclusively told Us Weekly at the recent Women Tell All taping. “However, you know, having time to reflect after that, I do feel like I got the closure I needed, and I respect him for it truly. While I did feel blindsided in the moment, I respect his decision.”
Brooklyn told Us that she had real feelings for the 26-year-old lead.
“When you have feelings that strong, they don’t ever go away. He’s a great guy, but, you know, if anyone ever has any doubts about me, that’s not someone I truly want to be with,” she explained. “So, I don’t still think he could be The One, but I do still have feelings of mutual respect for him.”
The rodeo racer event wants her partner to have similar qualities as Zach.
“I would definitely say I am looking for someone that is emotionally intelligent — Zach is very able to speak on how he felt. I like that,” she said. “But also, someone who is able to have those hard conversations and is able to receive them but also have them himself. I really admired how he was very intentional and knew exactly what he wanted, he didn’t settle or lead anyone on. So I’m looking for that too.”
Brooklyn’s run on the show is over, but she won’t be forgotten. Fans were rooting for her after she opened up during a February episode about being abused by a past partner.
“It was hard in the moment,” she told Us, noting that she wasn’t sure if she wanted to share her story on camera. “But I’m so thankful I did it and especially on such a big platform. … If it can help just one person, then maybe that’s why God had me go through it.”
During Monday’s episode, Greer Blitzer and Kat Izzo were also eliminated. Zach’s final four contestants are Charity Lawson, Ariel Frenkel, Gabi Elnicki and Kaity Biggar.
“I don’t take the goodbyes well,” Zach told Us of the surprising exits. “‘Cause the feelings just don’t evaporate once you make that decision.”
The Bachelor airs on ABC Mondays at 8 p.m. ET.
With reporting by Hannah Kahn
