Later, Lace! Ben Higgins‘ most lovably insane contestant eliminated herself during the January 18 episode of The Bachelor, after weeks of eye-sex related meltdowns. Find out what pushed Lace Morris to the very brink of Bachelor-induced insanity, plus details on Jubilee Sharpe‘s dramatic fight with Amber James.
Also, it should be noted that at least five full minutes of this episode were dedicated to whether Olivia Caridi has “fat toes,” which only seems like it should be relevant if Ben has a secret foot fetish. Praying this is not the case.
Ben Opens Up About His Dad’s Heart Surgery / Makes Out With Lauren B. in a Hot Tub
Lauren B. was the lucky lady who scored Ben’s first date of the week, and by “lucky,” we mean “terrified.” Due to Chris Harrison‘s love for gravity-defying dates, Ben and Lauren climbed into some rickety plane and zoomed around the sky before eventually being rewarded with a hot tub in the middle of nowhere. Their only company? A giant tree. Oh, and a team of cameramen recording their every lip-lock.
“That was amazing,” Lauren cooed after kissing Ben, going on to tell cameras, “Kissing Ben is perfect. Everything about it is perfect. I could do it all night long.”
Ben and Lauren had a great connection, and he even opened up about his dad’s triple bypass surgery. “I meet my parents at the hospital, and my mom is a mess,” Ben said before giving Lauren a rose. “I just saw the pain she is going through, but also her fear of losing this person. … It was a good reminder, and also a hard reminder, that that’s what I’m looking for.”
In Which Olivia’s “Fat Toes” Dominate Ben’s Group Date
Time for some good ol’ fashioned Bachelor ball play! Ben herded his ladies into a soccer stadium to compete for his love, and naturally the sentence “I have zero ball-handling skills” was uttered. Good times. The ladies seemed to have fun, but unfortunately Rachel suffered a devastating “leg cramp,” wherein she lay splayed on the field and had to be nursed back to life by Ben. Typical.
Team Stripes won the game, and their reward was a group cocktail hour that was the opposite of romantic due to everyone discussing Olivia’s toes.
“She does have fat toes,” Amber mused, while one of the twins helpfully added, “Toes shouldn’t be a big deal, but I think her boobs are fake.”
Obviously, Olivia found out about the #ToeShade, but took it like a champ. “Am I aggressive? Yeah,” she said. “Do I have bad toes? Yeah. I know I do, I hate my toes.” Basically, Olivia has 99 problems, and her toes ain’t one. Although the fact that she didn’t get the rose might be because Ben gave it to Amber instead. Shrug.
Lace Calls Jubilee “Cocky As F–k”
Ben + Jubilee sitting in a tree? M-A-Y-B-E! The army vet managed to get over her “awko-taco” behavior (to quote one of the brilliant minds of Bachelor Mansion) and have a great time with Ben on their one-on-one date. You know, other than when she spat out caviar and announced that she’s “obsessed with hot dogs.” In fact, Ben even compared her to his ex-girlfriend, Bachelorette Kaitlyn Bristowe. “I don’t want a Disney Princess,” Ben assured Jubes. “I want someone who’s real.”
Jubilee ended up confiding in Ben about the fact that her “whole family died,” which led to Ben saying he wants to understand Jubilee’s “layers.”
Sounds good, but the bad news? Jubes’ lady friends felt like she didn’t appreciate her date, and fully flipped out when she gave him a back massage during the Rose Ceremony. Naturally, our favorite musing was from Lace, who said, “Jubilee got a rose last night, so she’s just cocky as f–k.”
Lace Leaves the Love Nest
Sigh, Lace. Despite trying her best to stay strong, this stressed-out contestant started crying on the group date and wouldn’t stop talking about herself in the third person. “Here’s Lace. She’s blunt. She wears her heart on her sleeve,” Lace told Ben. “I’m a lot. I’m going to be honest with you. I’m a lot. … I’m so much fun to be around! I have a lot of friends!”
Ben’s response? “Thank you.”
Sadly, Lace realized her time was up during cocktail hour, and decided to leave the show before Ben could eliminate her. “I’m mad at myself for the way I’ve acted since I’ve been here,” Lace told Ben. “I want to be able to offer you more. I just feel like going home might be easier, and just continue working on myself and trying to better myself. Because, like my tattoo says, you can’t love someone else until you truly love yourself, and I don’t know if I truly love myself just yet.”
Lace’s tattoo is so wise, right?
Olivia Voices Concern Over Her Cankles
Ben shocked his gaggle of ladies by starting cocktail hour on an extremely dark note, informing everyone that two close family friends had died in a plane accident just days before. “Two people who are close to my family passed away in a plane crash last night,” Ben said. “Obviously, that adds an element to today for me.”
Thanks to this news, the cocktail hour was slightly somber. Until Olivia brought up her cankles, that is. “I hate my legs. People have written blogs that I have cankles,” the news correspondent said, seemingly forgetting that Ben’s family friends had just died. “I try to be strong all the time, but it’s the scariest thing ever.” #StayCankleStrong
Jubilee Officially Has No Effs to Give
Jubilee incurred the rage of her friends thanks to #MassageGate2016, and was having none of it when they tried to stage a drama-fest. “I don’t know what you guys have going on, but I don’t want any part of it,” she said. “Like, I don’t know what you guys are doing, but this s–t ain’t cute. …This is bulls–t — I don’t know what you guys are doing, but leave me the f–k out of it. Go away. Leave me the f–k alone.”
Poor Ben ended up getting in the middle of a fight between Jubilee and Amber, who accused Jubes of being unappreciative of her date. Jubilee tearfully explained that any unappreciative comments were made as a joke, and Ben leapt to her defense, saying, “I want her to make jokes. I want her to be comfortable because I think that’s the only way that I’m going to be able to see who she is.” Well, this is awkward for Amber.
Ben Rejects Two Members of His First Wives Club
Bid farewell to Shushanna Mkrtychyan and Jami Letain, who Ben sent packing into the great unknown. “I feel like I literally just got smacked across the face,” Jami said. “My lesson from this is don’t ever expect anything from humans. Gonna start adopting cats now.”
Our life motto, to be honest.
Tell Us: Should Ben have taken Jubilee’s side or stayed out of it?
The Bachelor airs on ABC Mondays at 8 p.m. EST.
