Though The Bachelorette‘s season 17 Men Tell All special took up the majority of last night’s episode, Bachelor Nation still received a heartbreaking scene as our favorite contestant Michael Allio decided to end his journey with Katie Thurston days before hometown visits.
If you weren’t able to catch last night’s episode but saw this major spoiler, you were probably as shocked and devastated as we were watching. Above all, you were most likely desperate to understand why a man who was almost at the home stretch decided to cut his time short. Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered as we tell you all about why
left
The Bachelorette
season 17 below.
Why did Michael leave The Bachelorette?
Earlier in the season, Michael revealed to Katie that he had a young son back at home, which let both our leading lady and the audience know that he was giving up quality time with his baby boy to find love again. This huge sacrifice didn’t come with notable hardships in the beginning, but as the weeks went on, the consequences were unmistakably apparent.
Last night’s episode showed the season 17 contestant on a routine FaceTime video call with his son James. The conversation seemed to be a normal one at first but soon took a sour turn as James expressed a heartbreaking statement—“Maybe Daddy left because he doesn’t want to see me.”
The four-year-old couldn’t quite understand why his father’s trip was taking so long and wondered if this was just his father’s way of saying he doesn’t like him. (Cue the tears!) Michael did his best to reassure his son that this wasn’t the case and that he missed and loved him so much, but, being that James is just a kid and would have a hard time truly understand his father’s absence, Michael knew that leaving the show was something he had to do.
As soon as Michael Allio made his decision, he paid Katie Thurston a visit. It was a tearful goodbye, but, thankfully, Katie understood completely and admired her contestant’s strong sense of duty and fatherhood.
We’re going to miss seeing this adorable father’s smile and his bright, optimistic nature, but we’re crossing our fingers that we’ll see him again sometime soon—hopefully, in love and, hopefully, with his just as adorable son holding his hand.
What did you think of Michael’s decision to leave? Feel free to let us know your thoughts in the comments below!