The Bachelor officially made it to hometowns, and Grant Ellis went from meeting too many family members to count to one family opting not to show up at all.
Every once in a while there is a family that refuses to film for The Bachelor (more on that later), but it seemed like there wasn’t one Pasarosa missing when Grant met Juliana’s parents, sister, aunts, uncles, cousins and dog Charlie in Newton, Massachusetts. Hell, the guy who yelled her name on the street at the beginning of the date probably made it in time for the family cheers.
While Juliana’s dad briefly made it seem like he was going to be a tough guy to win over, it’s clear he is down for whatever will make his daughter happy. Juliana’s mom was another easy sell, listening to Grant talk about his “lone wolf” tattoo with only a slight amount of judgment in her eyes.
During a chat with her sister, Juliana declared “I know he’s my guy” and Grant returned the favor when he revealed he was “falling for” her.
“I feel like it could be a fit for me,” he told Juliana before he had to leave. Juliana set Grant off with a “bye, boyfriend” and seemingly a ticket to the final three.
Grant went to New York City to see Zoe next, heading straight to an engagement photo shoot that ended with Zoe in a full-on wedding gown. While the twosome make a ridiculously good looking couple (and I guess the point of the date was to introduce Grant to her job as a model), it felt slightly out of place as hometowns are the time to ditch the anatics and get real.
Once they changed out of their wedding fits, Grant prompted Zoe to do just that. Fans previously saw Zoe speak about being adopted and growing up as a Black woman in a predominantly white neighborhood. She explained on Monday’s episode that Grant will not be meeting her parents, revealing she cut ties with her “adoptive parents” one year ago. While she didn’t get into many details, Zoe didn’t seem confident she would be mending the relationship anytime soon while applauding Grant for making amends with his father after his struggles with substance abuse.
When Grant does spend time with Zoe’s sister, her aunt, uncle and some friends, there is a slight concern that Zoe hasn’t received a one-on-one date yet. No one pushes Grant too hard, though, and he leaves Zoe thinking that she has made big strides in the relationship.
Grant’s first real test comes with Litia’s family, as he’s the first person she’s brought home to meet her family who isn’t Mormon.The Garr family quickly rivals the Pasarosa family in size with 40 relatives — including her parents and brothers — coming out to meet the Bachelor for a get-together complete with “dirty sodas.”
While Litia’s parents tell Grant that he doesn’t necessarily have to be Mormon to be with their daughter, Us is plotting for Grant and Litia to join The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives.
Before that, however, they will have to get through fantasy suites. While Litia told her grandfather, “I think that I love him,” she also told her mother that she will not sleep with Grant and does not want him to be intimate with anyone else on the show.
As Grant prepared to say goodbye, the twosome exchanged “I’m falling for yous,” but did not tap into the sex conversation just yet.
For his final hometown date, Grant met Dina in Chicago. Us almost choked when we relearned that Dina has 11 siblings, thinking we hadn’t seen anything yet despite Juliana and Litia’s large showings. Dina subsequently revealed that her family did not want to film the series as her deacon father doesn’t approve of the journey, revealing that they “opted” out.
“The fact that her family isn’t here today is concerning,” Grant admitted, before he headed to the pumpkin patch to meet her friends.
The friend meet-up went well, with the girls definitely approving of Grant. However, things between Dina and Grant (or Zoe and Grant, TBH) certainly don’t seem as far along as they do with Juliana or Litia.
While Grant met up with season 28 Bachelor Joey Graziadei for advice (the long and short of it was “go with your gut”), the final four girls got together to talk about the anxiety spirals of a rose ceremony — and learned that Dina’s family backed out at the “last minute.” While she seemed concerned about it, Grant tried to spin it during his chat with Joey.
“With Dina, her family, actually, didn’t show up,” Grant told Joey of the situation. “At first … it kind of rubbed me the wrong way. But I actually think that we tackled it together. We met her friends, we had a blast. We tackled that issue together.”
At the rose ceremony, Litia, Juliana and Zoe got roses and Grant said goodbye to Dina.
“You taught me what to look for in a woman. I was developing feelings for you,” Grant said, thanking her for the time that they spent together.
Dina noted how close she felt to him, but acknowledged that he clearly had stronger feelings for the other women. She kept it together on her limo exit and had Us screaming bring back The Bachelorette and give Dina a shot! (If she can get at least one of the 11 siblings to show up.)
The Bachelor: The Women Tell All airs on ABC next Monday, March 10, at 8 p.m. ET.
