The Bachelorette 5: After the Final Rose – Too Much Information

Last night on the season finale of The Bachelorette, three men bought rings, two men proposed, and one man got the girl, which you can read all about in Heather Fidler’s final recap of the season. Tonight, Jillian Harris and her final choice, Ed Swiderski, are reunited, but not before Jillian faces the two men she rejected – Kiptyn and Reid. We can also look forward to hearing from Melissa, the selected, then rejected bachelorette from Jason Mesnick’s season.

Following a rerun of The Bachelorette finale, our host, Chris Harrison, welcomes us back and invites former Bachelor contestant Melissa Rycroft to join him. Before catching up with Melissa, we get to take a look back at the ending of her relationship with Jason. Melissa looks visibly pained while watching the video montage of Jason dumping her on national TV and picking up with runner-up Molly Malaney. I have to wonder if Melissa is already regretting her decision to appear on tonight’s show.

After being dumped by Jason and vowing to return to her normal life in Texas, Melissa was shocked when an opportunity to appear on Dancing with the Stars was presented to her – which she accepted, and placed a respectable third, I might add. Apparently Chris visited Melissa several times on the set of DWTS and asked her about the gentlemen he met. Melissa blushes a bit as she admits the man Chris met was one of her best friends who supported her during the difficult time she went through – and to whom she is now engaged, Ty Stickland.

So what’s next for Melissa, Chris wants to know. Melissa has no idea! But she now recognizes the sky is the limit. When asked, Melissa slowly admits that Jason made the right choice and the audience applauds, because who doesn’t love a happy ending. Chris congratulates Melissa for being there and tells us to stay tuned for Kiptyn.

Following a short commercial intermission, Chris welcome Kiptyn to the stage and he, too, gets a big round of applause from the audience. Of course, before we can actually talk to Kiptyn, we need to take a look at another video montage – this one of his journey to heartbreak. Poor Kiptyn gets to watch Jillian reject him all over again. Kiptyn lets out a big sigh following the video and Chris asks him what he is feeling. Kiptyn says he meant the things he said and that he truly fell in love with Jillian. What he thought would be the start of “us” turned into the end of “us.”

Chris asks Kiptyn when he knew Jillian was going to reject him and Kiptyn tells him that Jillian is an open book and that before the words came out of her mouth, her expression changed and his heart just dropped. Also mentioned is the irony that Jillian was so concerned that Kiptyn had always been the dumper and not the dumpee and then she is the first girl that breaks his heart. Kiptyn says he has now experienced it from both sides and both sides suck.

Finally, Chris asks Kiptyn if he’s ready to see Jillian for the first time since leaving Hawaii and Kiptyn hesitantly agrees. Jillian appears looking darling, as always, and they embrace before she sits down next to Kiptyn. Kiptyn asks Jillian what he could have done differently and Jillian gives him the “it’s not you, it’s me” speech.

Chris interjects and not so subltely asks if Kptyn has any regrets, like wishing he had done something sooner, i.e., said the three little words Jillian was always fishing for. Kiptyn does not have any regrets because he waited to say “I love you” until he really meant it. Jillian gets a little choked up and wants Kiptyn to find happiness.

Our inquisitive host wants to know if Jillian knew Kiptyn had a ring and was going to propose, to which she says she didn’t know until she was escorting Kiptyn back to the limo and he touched his pocket. Kiptyn interrupts, “I was looking for my heart.” Ha! And with that we have to say goodbye to Kiptyn of the amazing abs *sob* as Chris thanks him for being there and tells us to stay tuned for Reid’s turn to confront Jillian and then to witness the happy couple (Jillian and Ed) be reunited.

So after another commercial intermission, Chris welcomes Reid to the stage, who gets an even bigger round of applause from the audience. Of course, we will need to watch a video montage of Reid’s last stand and rejection in Hawaii, because we like to torture contestants before interviewing them on this show! Following the replay of Reid’s heartbreaking rejection, Chris asks Reid what he’s feeling. Ummm… bad? Just a guess. Actually, Reid says he feels the same things he when he left that day.

Any regrets? Reid says he should have told Jillian he loved her in Maui. He really felt the connection they had would keep him around for another date and he would have the opportunity to tell Jillian how he felt, but he was blindsided and that opportunity never came. Chris reminds Reid that he had to pull a million strings to get back to Hawaii to talk to Jillian before she accepted Ed’s proposal and wants to know why he took the risk. Reid says he finally realized this was not the time to be indecisive.

Reid says he really did have a difficult time convincing the producers he was serious, but after the tenth phone call, they finally heard him out. He felt she was just waiting for him to tell her that he loved her, so he bought a ring and he really thought she would say yes.

Chris asks if Reid still feels that way and Reid admits that he does. He still wakes up sometimes feeling like an idiot, but she liked the other guy better and he has to believe everything happens for a reason. Not one to the let the subject die, Chris asks if Reid feels like a piece of him is missing. And Reid admits that he does.

Well we’ve probably kicked Reid around the stage enough, so let’s bring Jillian out and let her have a shot at it, eh?