So far, The Bachelors – the latest season of The Bachelor Australia – has been a wild ride.
Bachelor Felix Von Hofe earned himself a reputation as a player within the first few episodes. Contestant Tash Candyce – who’s previously been engaged to two former Bachelors – outed Jess for being in an open relationship with someone outside of the Bachelor Mansion and outed Jasmine for having an OnlyFans.
WATCH: The Bachelors 2 minute challenge
Then Tash dramatically chose to leave The Bachelors with Marj and CJ because they couldn’t handle Thomas giving a rose to Jasmine (although it looks like Tash is coming back to the show tomorrow night…)
And episode six is no different. We open on Thomas and Felix having a bromance moment; the two walk along a beach while sharing their feelings. Felix says he’s grown and Thomas agrees.
He even praises Felix for being willing to still date Jess even though she’s in an open relationship and has a boyfriend on the ‘outside’. This is clearly foreshadowing because the whole damn episode is about the Felix, Jess and the open relationship saga. The poly problem.
The Bachies are allowed to bring three girls each on a group date. And the twist is that the girls’ nominated friends are coming on the date too. Of course, Jess’ nominated best friend is Damien, her boyfriend.
Meanwhile, the girls not chosen to attend the group date are positive drama will ensue once Felix and Damien are in the same room. “I’d pay a million bucks to be a fly on that wall,” Tilly says.
Jess is extremely nervous about Damien and Felix meeting. Alesia is seemingly trying to comfort Jess but makes things worse by saying that Felix will definitely “feel uncomfortable”.
Smash cut to Krystal calling Jess “hypocritical” for apparently telling Krystal that she wouldn’t like it if Damien dated other women… even though Jess is currently dating Felix.
What happened to the solidarity between the girls? I thought Tash, Marj and CJ were the only ones who had a problem with Jess’ open relationship, and didn’t they leave?!
WATCH: The Bachelors first look
Anyway, Damien finally arrives at the group date and he and Jess embrace. Instantly, as Jess is still nervous and panicked, Damien calms Jess down in a sweet and loving way. He tells her to just “breathe”.
The two then chat about Jess’ experience on The Bachelors and it becomes clear that Damien’s willing to be in an open relationship only because it’s what Jess wants. It is extremely obvious that he would happily be monogamous with her and is hoping she’ll be with him and only him.
“It makes me feel very uneasy,” Damien tells Jess when the two talk about the possibility of Felix choosing and proposing to Jess at the end of The Bachelors.
Speaking of, Felix as well as Jed and Thomas arrive. Felix initially chats with Abigail and then Zara before finally going over to Jess and Damien.
And it’s instantly so awkward. After a polite, ‘Hello!’ Felix and Damien size each other up and there’s literal silence. Felix doesn’t even stay and chat with Damien and Jess. He just breaks the awkward silence by saying he’ll have a chat with Damien later before practically running away.
But then it’s time for lunch, where there’s assigned seating for the group date. Felix and Damien are sitting across from one another. Well done producers, well done.
Well, surprise, surprise, the other girls on this group date are not too chuffed about the situation. Zara tells cameras, “The whole group date was essentially about Damien, Jess and Felix. It was not what I expected, um, to be honest,” while Alesia says, “Jess, Felix and Damien. There’s a time and a place and it’s just not here because now everyone has lost time to get to know the guy that they’re here with.”
In a piece-to-camera Abigail says, “It’s becoming frustrating because Georgia [her nominated friend] and I are sitting there like lemons, in silence. It’s basically a three-way conversation with Damien and Felix and Jessica. So the only way we can actually talk or interact with each other is if we get involved…”
Abigail does just that during lunch. She asks if Damien wants to end up with just one person or wants to be polyamorous for his entire life.
Damien says he wants a traditional, good old fashioned monogamous relationship. He even says, “At the end of the day, I want Jess to choose me.” Felix is obviously shaken by this but quickly regains composure.
Abigail then asks Jess what she would do if Felix ultimately chooses her; yesss Abigail! Thank you for asking the real questions. Jess artfully dodges the question and simply says she wants a monogamous relationship with her “lifelong partner” whomever that may be.
While Felix puts on a brave face for the entire lunch, he finally cracks once he’s away from everyone. Felix walks away saying he wants to get a drink but once at the bar, he asks for “the strongest thing” they have. Then he asks himself “What the f**k do I do with Jessica’s boyfriend?”
Let’s all hope The Bachelors is not planning on making a shift to true crime any time soon.
Once lunch is over, Felix and Damien have a one-on-one conversation. “What are your intentions with Jess?,” Damien asks Felix.
Hang on, is Damien Jess’ boyfriend or father?!
Damien then admits that he loves Jess and Felix is blindsided by how “deep” their relationship is. Damien says he’s come on The Bachelors to find out whether Jess loves him and Felix wisely (an adjective he’s not often associated with) says, “I think that’s a conversation for you two to have.”
Suddenly, Jed is on a stage? This episode has been all about Felix, Jess and Damien… we guess Channel Ten felt like they had to give the other two Bachelors at least a few minutes of screentime?
Jed introduces his band, Mood Monroe and tells everyone on the group date that they’re going to perform. But we quickly go back to Felix, who invites Jess back to the Bachelor Mansion because he’s desperate for some “answers”.
Jess tells Felix she is willing to end her relationship with Damien if she feels like her relationship with Felix becomes serious. He seems happy with this response and so, he kisses her. And you’d think that was that.
But oh no, the next day, Damien calls Jess and asks her to come and have a chat with him.
The two meet and Damien says he wants to have a “conscious conversation” with Jess. This is the exact wording Jess used with Felix when he first found out about her open relationship (is there a polyamory style guide or something?) Either Jess and Damien regularly say that in the ‘outside’ (real) world or producers have fed that line to them, perhaps under advisement by their legal team. We’ll never know.
But we digress. Anyway, Damien basically says he loves Jess but he also really likes Felix, so we guess he’s fine with the whole situation???
WATCH: Meet the three men on The Bachelors
Jessica reveals to Damien that she thinks there are currently three options for her: the first is that she leaves The Bachelors to be with Damien, the second is she breaks up with Damien and stays on The Bachelors (he is NOT happy when she says this) or the third and final option is she ends up with two boyfriends. Jess admits the final option doesn’t feel right to her though.
Which does echo something she said earlier in the episode: “I don’t want two partners at the end of this.”
Meanwhile, Thomas (remember him) invites Jasmine on a single date, which ruffles Lauren’s feathers. She’s upset that Jasmine has “jumped the queue” and gotten a single date with Thomas before her. While on their date, Jasmine and Thomas have a conversation about how important physical contact is to them both and then they share a lengthy smooch. Quite important, clearly.
Simultaneously, Felix decides to take Krystal on a single date while Jess is off discussing things with Damien. But this angers Tilly as she wanted the single date. “Kill me now. I’m out. I’m f**king out,” Tilly says to cameras. Perhaps there will be some drama between Tilly and Krystal in a future episode? There probably will be, this is The Bachelors after all.
Finally, it’s time for the rose ceremony and the girls are convinced Jess won’t turn up. But of course she does. However, it’s not clear if she’s broken up with Damien.
Thankfully, Osher asks her and she says, “It’s gonna be hard to choose between Damien and Felix,” so she’s obviously told Damien that she wants to continue dating him AND Felix for the time being.
Everyone waits with bated breath to see if Felix gives Jess a rose though… He does and Zara is sent home. The girls seem very shocked by Felix’s decision and audibly gasp on cue, almost as if prompted to do so. If anything, it just makes us excited to see how they react to Tash coming back.
The Bachelors airs Sundays, Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays at 7.30pm on 10 and 10Play. We’ll be right here.
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