The final rose was handed out on last night’s season finale of “The Bachelorette” ... and we’re still sorting out how we feel about what went down.
Simply put, it was one of the most dramatic episodes in “Bachelorette” history (to paraphrase an often-used line by host Chris Harrison). A short recap: Rachel Lindsay broke up with Peter Kraus, who wasn’t ready to propose to her, and instead chose Bryan Abasolo, who was very much ready to propose to her.
A happy ending for Lindsay, right? She certainly seemed happy, but TODAY’s resident “Bachelorette” expert wonders if she made the right decision.
“I feel like she went for jewelry instead of love,” producer Amanda Avery said on the show this morning.
Lindsay did press Kraus to make a commitment to her by popping the question, but he was just too reluctant to do so; he wanted to give their relationship more time before taking such a big step. Lindsay understood where he was coming from, but she was eager to get married.
“And Rachel left him,” Amanda explained to Kathie Lee and Hoda. “That was a mistake,” Hoda responded.
Amanda noted that Abasolo was the winner “by default.” “I feel bad for him now,” Hoda said. Hoda doesn’t hold back when it comes to “The Bachelorette”!
Amanda was stunned by the way Lindsay handled her romance with Kraus. “Peter was just being honest. He’d been dating her for two months,” she said.
As she later explained in a live chat on the Kathie Lee and Hoda Facebook page, there was also something about Abasolo that just rubbed her the wrong way.
“I think Bryan is probably a very nice person, but I felt the whole time on the show there was something a little —for me, personally — disingenuous. It was like he was scripted,” she said.
Regardless of her feelings on the Rachel-Bryan engagement, she wrapped up her conversation with Kathie Lee and Hoda by wishing the couple the best of luck.
“They’re going to need luck!” Kathie Lee chimed in.
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