On-his-knees sorry! Following his hasty exit from Season 11 of The Bachelorette, former contestant and once-standout suitor Ian Thomson issued a heartfelt apology to Kaitlyn Bristowe during the Men Tell All special on Monday, July 20.
Thomson enraged the Internet and Bristowe during the season when he bowed out of the running after claiming that the Bachelorette was only on the show to “make out with dudes on TV.”
In his exit, which aired on June 22, Thomson lamented ABC’s choice of Bristowe as the Bachlelorette. “I’m being punished for being an intellectual,” the Princeton grad, who once suffered a near-death experience, said during his car ride home. “Seeing how badly Kaitlyn’s been at being The Bachelorette, I feel like I know what it takes to be The Bachelor.”
Thomson’s words did not go down well with Bristowe, who sounded off against him in a Snapchat video the following day. “Somebody bake Ian a humble pie. I mean, that guy. ‘Ooo, I go to Princeton. I’m so intelligent. I’m so well spoken. You’re so shallow, Kaitlyn — but my ex-girlfriend is way hotter than you,'” she joked on the app. “I don’t feel sorry for Ian because he’s probably going to be the next Bachelor,” she sniped sarcastically.
On Monday, during Men Tell All, a more contrite Thomson appeared before Bristowe. “I have something to give to you, Kaitlyn,” he said as he made his way down to her while holding a red box. “I know that it wasn’t on camera when I gave you the [apology] notes, but I gave you notes every week.”
“He did,” Bristowe revealed of Thomson’s numerous attempts to apologize.
The L.A.-based executive recruiter also apologized to the audience and viewers across the country. “I’m sorry to America, and I’m sorry to people in the audience that were offended by things that I said, because that’s not a representation of who I am. And I’m really sorry and I really apologize.”
The audience cheered in response, while his fellow suitors applauded him.
The special also included Bristowe speaking out about being slut-shamed throughout the season by the public. “I like to think of myself as a tough person,” she reflected to host Chris Harrison, “but spreading hate the way people have been is not okay and it’s been hard.”
Watch Ian’s apology above, and tune in to the finale on Monday, July 27, at 8 p.m. ET.
