The Bachelor Season 27 comes to a dramatic end!
We have made it to the end, Bachelor Nation! The final episode of Zach Shallcross‘ season of The Bachelor. While this season may not have been as dramatic as previous seasons, it wasn’t without its ups and downs. From the drama with Christina to Covid to Kat showing her dominance to the broken promise at fantasy suites last week, The Bachelor Season 27 has had its moments. But it all comes down to tonight.
Zach is set with two women left to meet his family before deciding who he wants to spend the rest of his life with. After last week’s dramatic fantasy suite episode, Gabi and Kaity were the only two left holding roses. Zach ended up having sex with Gabi and told Kaity what had happened. Now Gabi feels betrayed, and Kaity doesn’t know how to feel about Zach. Who does Zach end up with, if anyone, in the end? Let’s discover what happened on The Bachelor Season 27, Episode 11!
The Bachelor Season 27, Episode 11 recap
1. Live Finale!
Jesse Palmer welcomed us all to the live finale for The Bachelor Season 27, and he prefaced the episode by noting it would be a bumpy ride to the finish. He also stated that if Zach gets engaged at the end of this, he will be the first to do so since Peter Weber’s season of the show, The Bachelor Season 24.
Next, he welcomed Ariel to center stage to get her thoughts on what went down in Thailand and how she felt seeing all the drama unfold afterward since it was unclear whether she knew Zach had sex with Gabi. Ariel stayed cool, calm, and collected through the end of her time on the show, and she talked about keeping her composure during the end. She then proceeded to let everything loose in the car ride away.
She then went into detail about how Zach made her feel comfortable and that she could be her true self. She doubled down on the fact that she could not have done this process with anyone else. Jesse asked Ariel about Zach’s promise and what she thought of that. She noted she was on the same page with Zach and didn’t want to pursue an intimate connection knowing other women were there.
She felt disappointed hearing that Zach had sex with Gabi during Fantasy Suites. She thought she was in the dark and lied to, hearing what happened significantly afterward. She would get her opportunity to confront Zach about these feelings as he was also set to join the live finale.
“By putting sex off the table, you make the entire week about sex” AMEN ARIEL AMEN #TheBachelor pic.twitter.com/yXOHTdMh37
— AP (@APsomaras) March 28, 2023
2. Zach is Back
Zach joined Ariel in the hot seat and was ready to face Ariel’s questions. She mentioned that it was difficult watching everything back and seeing how everything unfolded. She told Zach that she was in an open, honest relationship with him and felt disrespected because he didn’t fill her in or explain his rationale before sending her home.
Zach said he remembered that experience with regret and how he handled it that week. He admitted he didn’t know how to handle that situation and wasn’t in the greatest headspace. He noted he should have told Ariel first, apologized for not telling her sooner, and said there was no excuse.
Ariel noted that there was no excuse for that, but Zach owed her and the other two women remaining on The Bachelor Season 27 an apology. She also made a great point about how he said no sex made the whole week about sex which was the opposite of his goal. He intended to make the week less messy but instead made it worse. Jesse asked if he regretted setting those parameters, and Zach said he did.
She also noted that by making that executive decision, he took away the agency from the women and their ability to express their decision and made it a “couple” decision. Instead, he decided without consulting them. Ariel said that she would have just appreciated the truth, knowing that Zach had plenty of time to tell her before, during, and after the events of that week.
Zach doubled down on his mistake and apology and reiterated his respect for her and how he truly valued their relationship. Ariel noted that she was still grateful for their relationship and remembered it fondly. Since then, Ariel has felt more open and ready to pursue another relationship and put herself out there more.