The Bachelorette: Ryan returns to ask Ashley for another chance, Constantine chooses to leave
Constantine left "The Bachelorette" during his dinner date with Ashley after he confessed that he did NOT feel like he was falling in love with her. Ashley wasn't shaken. Earlier in the episode, Ryan, who was eliminated a couple of episodes back, returned to ask Ashley for another chance. Ashley sent him home saying she didn't feel the passion for Ryan that she felt for JP and Ben.
Since Ashley had two roses to give to her final two guys, the rose ceremony wasn't an elimination ceremony. But, Ashley wanted to go through the rose ceremony to give JP and Ben a chance to accept their roses or leave if they didn't feel like continuing the journey. They both happily accepted the roses.
"I have so much more hope that I will have my happy ending." Ashley told the guys they were staying in Fiji and that next week they'd meet her family. ABC will air "the men tell all" episode on Sunday and the final episode of "The Bachelor" in just one week, next Monday night.
Here's a recap of the episode:
Ryan, who was eliminated week seven, returned to "The Bachelorette" to fight for Ashley one more time. He flew to Fiji hoping that Ashley would give a second chance. "All I'm asking for... I feel that we didn't have a full chance," he told Ashley. He said when he returned home, he threw himself into his work but quickly realized he couldn't stop thinking about Ashley. He said from the moment he stepped out of the limo on day one of the show, he felt something for Ashley. Ashley seemed shocked and said it was good to see him. She didn't give a hint to whether or not she'd agree to spend more time with Ryan.
The 31-year-old solar energy executive from Fresno, Calif. gave Ashley a note with the address where he was staying in Fiji. He told her to contact him if she wanted to spend time with him. He said he didn't need a response but he needed to try one more time. "This is completely catching me off guard," Ashley said.
Ashley told cameras that she did think about Ryan after she'd eliminated him. "I did wonder if I made the right decision."
Ryan said, "I'm more open than I've ever been and determined."
Ashley's final date of the episode was with JP, the 34-year-old construction manager from Roslyn, NY. "JP has been my rock," Ashley told cameras. JP told cameras, "making these kind of memories with her, I mean, it's priceless." He told Ashley that his family loved her and that his dad said she'd be a welcome addition to the family. She seemed very pleased to hear that.
JP told Ashley, "I'm ready for the end... I want this to be over," he said he wanted Ashley to pick him. "Do you want to live in New York or Fiji?" Ashley asked.
"Today has been one of the best days of my life," he told cameras. "When I look at Ashley I see the woman I want to spend the rest of my life with," JP said. "I think it's pretty safe to say that I'm definitely falling in love with Ashley."
Over dinner in the middle of the jungle, Ashley told JP that Constantine left the show and that Ryan came back to ask for another chance but Ashley said no. "I'm waiting for everything to be right," JP said. "I want to be the last guy standing not because I want to beat him. I want you," JP said.
"I want Ashley to be my wife but it's completely contingent upon how she feels about me. I need to know that she's in this. That she feels what I feel," JP told cameras.
"Yeah, I think I'm into that. What do you think," JP said after reading the fantasy-suite card.
"When I look at him, I feel like I could smile forever," Ashley told cameras.
JP said "I'm still afraid," to tell Ashley how strongly he felt. "But I know I'm there. I know I'm in love with her."
Not continuing:
Constantine: The 30-year-old restaurant owner from Atlanta.
Ashley's second one-on-one date was with Constantine, the 30-year-old restaurant owner from Atlanta. They took a helicopter ride to a waterfall where they "took a leap of faith" and jumped into the water from some rocks near the waterfall. Ashley hoped the literal jumping would encourage Constantine to "jump headfirst" into their relationship. He didn't seem to. Over an afternoon picnic, Constantine said he missed Ashley after the hometown date, but that's as romantic as the conversation got.
Over dinner, Ashley asked Constantine "Are you ever overly consumed by your emotion?" She told Constantine that she didn't feel like he wanted to hold her hand or be around her all the time. Constantine told Ashley that it had to come "instinctively" for him and he didn't have that yet with Ashley. She asked if was the process or her. He said, "I haven't held back." "I don't have that yet." He told her that he knew that if he got to this point of the fantasy-suite date and he wasn't in love with Ashley that he wouldn't stay with her. "I'm not pretending. I haven't pretended to begin with," he said. "I respect you too much as a person to make this any harder than it needs to be..." After an interruption by the ABC news report featuring President Obama, Ashley thanked Constantine for being honest. They hugged and Constantine left the show. "This is a two-way street," Ashley said. She said she worried that Ben and JP would also not fall in love with her.
"The last thing I wanted to do was to walk out on her. My biggest fear was hurting Ashley or embarrassing her. That's why it kind of took me a little bit of time to figure out that it wasn't going to the next level... I was absolutely ready to find love, if it had been there."
Ashley's first one-on-one date in Fiji was with Ben F., the 28-year-old winemaker from Sonoma, Calif. They went on a yacht. "I'm happy. I'm very happy," Ben said after the boat ride. "He has this kind of hunger for life and I feel like there would never be a dull moment with him." Ashley said she felt protected with Ben. Ben said, "it just felt right."
"I'm falling for this girl, I really am," Ben said.
Before dinner, Ben told cameras that he wanted to tell Ashley that he was going to tell her that he loved her. Ashley said she felt very comfortable. "Every time I'm with you I think I can see myself with this guy," Ashley said. "I feel committed to you at this point," Ben said. Over dinner Ben told Ashley, "I'm on my way to the whole I love you thing."
Ashley and Ben decided to stay in the fantasy suite together. "I'm really falling in love with him," Ashley said.
After Constantine left Ashley knew what she wanted to do about Ryan. Ashley said if she was writing down what she was looking for in a man "you are exactly it," she said. "Saying goodbye to you was the hardest goodbye I've had," Ashley said. She said it was premature to let Ryan go and his coming to Fiji reassured her that he was one of the best guys she'd even met. "I didn't feel like that passion... The truth is I found that... with two people," she said.
"So you're happy?" Ryan asked. Ashley said she was. They hugged.
"It hurts to hear 'no'," Ryan said. "She's an amazing girl," Ryan said. "My life's great but it's missing one thing. It's missing real love." He said his heart was now open to find real love. Those sound like the words a future ABC "Bachelor."
Here's a recap of the portion of the week-seven episode with Ryan:
Ryan went on the last one-on-one date of the episode with Ashley. "I'm not sure I'm ready to meet Ryan's family," Ashley said. They threw some matchmaking rocks, and Ryan's came up on the same side which was a bad sign. At their lunch picnic, Ashley confessed that she didn't know very much about being environment friendly. She asked him to teach her something and Ryan told her tankless water heaters. She seemed bored. He told her about his family and how much he wanted her to meet his family. Ashley "I just don't know if I see you as my husband," Ashley said. "You don't want to meet my family?" Ryan asked. "I'm just not feeling it. I'm just not. You know?" Ryan clearly did not know. "Wow," he said as they walked off. "I'm not a hundred percent confident that I made the right decision," Ashley said.
"I don't want to be alone. I want to share this life with someone... I felt like she was the one for me... I didn't see it coming," Ryan said. "I want to find that person... I want to love someone unconditionally. I want real never-ending love." He said he wanted to meet someone who wanted to do great things and be a great mom because he wanted to be a great dad. He was very emotional and took several breaks from the cameras when he was saying goodbye.
This story was originally published July 25, 2011 at 8:13 PM with the headline "The Bachelorette: Ryan returns to ask Ashley for another chance, Constantine chooses to leave."