Ben Higgins has been shepherding his sister-wives across America, and the time has come for them expose the rest of the world to their polyamorous love. Ben and his leading ladies hit Mexico City during the Monday, February 1, episode of The Bachelor, and so many important developments took place: 1) Olivia Caridi sensually ate some crickets. 2) JoJo Fletcher uttered the sentence: “Ben already tasted my taco, and he loved it.” 3) Ben rejected one of his contestants for refusing to hold his hand. Any guesses as to who? Spoiler alert: Her name sort of rhymes with blueberry.
In Which Amanda and Ben Sail Around in a Balloon, Miraculously Live to See Another Day
Amanda Stanton‘s date began the way all good dates do: with Ben waking her up at 4:30 a.m. and shoving her in a hot air balloon. Amanda was given a mere 15 minutes to get ready before Ben took to the skies and engaged her in his favorite activity: making out while airborne. After this intimate moment, Amanda opened up about her failed marriage, explaining that her ex cheated on her. “I found an old cell phone of his, there was a bunch of text messages from ex-girlfriends,” she said. “Girls that he was meeting on online dating sites and stuff like that.”
Amanda’s honest reveal ended up making Ben fall even harder for her (yep, she got a rose!), and he sweetly cooed, “It breaks my heart to think someone wouldn’t wrap you up, and wrap your daughters up, and love on you in those moments.”
Adios, Jubilee!
Hablas Español? Not so much. Ben’s contestants were asked to both cook and learn Spanish during their group date, which was just too much for their poor brains to handle. Like, they literally just could not. Tragically, Jubilee Sharpe had a jealousy-induced breakdown due to finally realizing she’s on a dating show, and refused to play ball with Ben. “I just don’t feel like this means anything because he wants to kiss everybody,” she said before refusing to sweet-talk Ben in Spanish.
Jubilee took her seething resentment one step further when she wouldn’t hold Ben’s hand, which majorly hurt his feels. “You pulled away from me — how’s that supposed to make me feel when I try to grab your hand in front of the group, and it gets pulled away?” he asked before sending Jubes packing. “It would be unfair of me to tell you that I thought that something could exist.”
In the immortal words of Clueless‘ Cher, way harsh.
Ben Vogues with Lauren, Is Basically a Male Model
Blue steel! Ben and Lauren Himle enjoyed a high-fashion date, where they got to play dress up and walk the runway in a designer show. Much like they’re walking the runway that is life, right?
Ben and Lauren also had a much-needed deep convo, which inspired Lauren to admit that she’s “falling in love,” and Ben to whip out his rose. “I was in a very serious relationship for over four years — he was my first real love,” Lauren said in an especially vulnerable moment. “Suddenly, out of the blue, he broke up with me … it ended up that he had been cheating on me with, like, three different girls.”
That’s a bummer, but Lauren’s reward for getting real? Why, a make-out session with Ben on some random street corner, of course. Worth it.
In Which Olivia Has Bad Breath, Calls Amanda a “Teen Mom”
Fact: Everyone loathes poor Olivia. This girl has reached Bachelor villain status, and Ben’s ladies lost it when she got the group date rose. “She literally makes me want to throw up, and her breath is horrible,” Emily Ferguson complained to cameras. “Ben was like, ‘Hey, let’s get some mint, Olivia — I really wanna try the mint.’ Meaning, her mouth smells like s–t.” Um. K.
Meanwhile, Olivia didn’t do herself any favors when she told Amanda that her life was like an episode of MTV’s Teen Mom. “Isn’t it common sense not to tell somebody that you remind them of a Teen Mom episode?” Amanda complained. “It’s like, you remind me of Snooki who was on Jersey Shore, and she was a hot mess all the time.”
Olivia apologized, but that didn’t stop her enemies from ratting her out to Ben, who had some serious concerns about whether she was — wait for it — there for the right reasons. Tragically, the episode ended with Ben halting the rose ceremony to talk with Olivia, so you’ll have to wait until next week to find out who was eliminated. Will Ben dismiss Olivia from his cornucopia of lady friends, or will she charm her way back into his heart? Only time will tell.
Tell Us: Should the girls give Olivia a break, or did she deserve to be ratted out?
The Bachelor airs on ABC Mondays at 8 p.m. EST.
