All Philly contestants on ‘The Bachelor’ are out now that Allison left
Spoilers ahead — you’ve been warned.
It’s safe to say Joey Graziadei wasn’t ready for a Philly girl.
The Collegeville native sent Allison Hollinger — Philadelphia’s last contender standing on this season of The Bachelor — home in Tuesday’s episode.
This week, in a TV version of a meeting that could’ve been an email, ABC gave us a double feature with episodes on Monday and Tuesday, packing in two international excursions, six dates, more psychological warfare, the return of the infamous two-on-one date formula, and two elimination rose ceremonies.
Still, even with four hours of content, we didn’t actually learn much. And Philly’s Allison hardly got any screentime, making her exit unsurprising.
Let’s get into it.
🌹 The basics
The episodes featured the first international trips of the season, with Joey and the women heading to Malta and Spain.
In Malta, Joey went on a successful one-on-one date with Lexi Young, a group date, and a dramatic two-on-one date that forced Joey to choose between Maria Georgas and Sydney Gordon.
In Spain, Joey went on one-on-one dates with Kelsey Anderson and Rachel Nance. He also went on an additional group date. There were two rose ceremonies, bringing the number of women in the running from 15 down to 10.
The highlights included Joey and Lexi going on a date where they roamed through Malta and ended up in an empty church.
In a peak “Bachelor producers set out to traumatize these women” moment, a priest randomly appeared to tell Lexi — who has shared that she has infertility issues — how important it is to have children.
“It’s a wide range of emotions for me because my whole life I feel like I was called to be a mother,” Lexi later shared with a supportive Joey. This season, women have been prompted to trauma dump and this episode was no exception. Joey then gets a hero edit for doing the bare minimum and embracing the women after they got really vulnerable with him.
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Moving on, Joey took the women on a group date to receive “knight training.” He was shirtless for some reason — another recurring theme in Bachelor universe — with a chainlink hood, and agreed to participate in the grand finale, where they all attempted to catch sausages in their mouths without using their hands. The innuendo was far from subtle.
“I cheated,” Allison admitted in a rare interview this episode. “Immediately I said ‘no,’ and grabbed one and put it in my mouth.” That’s our Philly girl.
The episode also featured a long-awaited two-on-one between Maria and Sydney, who clearly hate each other. Joey ultimately chose Maria and in a chef’s kiss moment, an opera singer appeared on a balcony above the couple and began singing “Ave Maria.” Truly incredible work.
After Sydney’s departure, we got a new villain edit unlocked, as previously innocent-seeming Lea revealed her distaste for Maria and tried to stir things up between her and the other women. Just when we thought we’d be drama free!
Tuesday’s episode kicked off here, with Maria feeling the pressure from Lea’s heel turn ahead of the first of two rose ceremonies. After narrowing down the group from 15 to 12, Joey shared that they were headed to Spain.
Joey whisked Kelsey A. away for a picnic date. Kelsey revealed over dinner that her mom died of breast cancer. After their vulnerable moment, she revealed that she’s “falling for” Joey and they danced as a flamenco guitarist played for them.
On the group date, Joey and the women did a paint-and-sip style activity. Jess Edwards won the challenge and extra time with Joey, where they slipped on swimsuits and made body art together.
Later, Rachel and Joey got a one-on-one date where they learned how to flamenco dance. Their chemistry was undeniable and she continued to solidify her likelihood as a finalist.
🌹 Philly flair
There’s barely anything to report here.
Since her sister’s departure two weeks ago, Allison’s presence has faded significantly — typically a hint in editing that a contestant probably won’t last.
To drive this point home, Bachelor data analyst Suzana Somers reported that Allison had received 4.7 minutes of screentime all season leading up to Monday’s episode and had a “high” risk of elimination based on a formula she created that weighs roses contestants have received, individual date time, kisses shown, screen time, and villain/drama narratives.
Even when Allison left, she wasn’t given a post-exit interview like Edwina Dorbor (who also left that night) was. We hated that for her.
This means no Philly women are left on the show and the only local representation we have is from Joey himself. Though he grew up in Collegeville and then moved to Hawaii, some of the show’s opening episode footage was filmed in the city, giving us a little hope we could get more screentime around hometowns.
We’re also hoping to see Allison and her sister, Lauren, on Bachelor in Paradise, something they both said they’d be interested in. We’re also hoping unofficial Philly ambassador Susan Noles of The Golden Bachelor is named ABC’s first Golden Bachelorette.
🌹 Who went home
Five women went home between Monday and Tuesday’s episodes.
They were:
Sydney Gordon
Allison Hollinger
Edwina Dorbor
Madina Alam
Autumn Waggoner
On next week’s episode, the women will head to Montreal and the drama will continue.
A preview shows the finale episode with Joey crying alone on a platform, presumably abandoned. But Bachelor producers have pulled tricks like this before, so who’s to really say?
The Bachelor airs on Mondays at 8 p.m. on ABC.