BBs it is week 4 already! This week we are in beautiful Auckland, New Zealand! Jesse and Jenn are in a restaurant having a snack while Jesse explains that it’s all his fault they have Fake Dinner and can’t eat on dates! Apparently it was his season and he was scarfing all the food down and making so much noise that it drove production out of their minds! So no more eating on camera!
All the remaining guys are seated at an outdoor cafe. Jenn walks up and invites Sam M on a 1-1 date. They go to the Sky Tower and go up to the restaurant to see the views of the city. While there, the server tells them about how you can jump off the top of the tower or do the sky walk where you walk out on a ledge. Sam tells the server they’d like to jump, without consulting Jenn. This irks Jenn, and for good reason! Jenn is terrified of heights. She agrees to do the sky walk though. They get suited up and strapped to harnesses and cables and what not. They walk out on the ledge, which is 630 feet high!!! The whole time Sam is pushing for her to jump and not acknowledging her fear. This brings Jenn to tears. FINALLY Sam comforts Jenn. RED FLAG!!! They jump off the building one at a time.
Fake Dinner
That night Sam is wearing a nice, gray suit, a black shirt, and for some unknown reasons, WHITE socks with his black shoes. Who is dressing these men??? I guess I should be happy that he’s wearing socks at all at this point. Jenn opens up to Sam about how her absent father made her feel unworthy of love and a relationship. She wants to see if there is an emotional connection with Sam and not just a physical one. And he didn’t do so well today so he needs to step it up! Sam shares that he was engaged previously and his fianceé cheated on him, effectively pulling the rug out from under him and his dreams of being married and having a family. Sam gets the rose. Jenn says she’s falling for Sam.
Group Date
The group date this week is a rugby date! Makes sense with them being in New Zealand. Before the group learns how to play rugby, a Māori group performs a ceremonial Haka. It’s v impressive. Sam N is trying extra hard to sneak in extra time with Jenn. He’s all pumped up and says he’s making today all about Jenn.
Back at the hotel, the only two guys there are arch rivals Sam M and Devin. Sam M decides to confront Devin, asking what’s your deal with me, Bro? There’s a lot of cursing.
Back to the Rugby Royale….the guys are doing a great job! They are tackling each other and having fun and really putting in an effort. Sam N is being v aggressive though with his tackles. Grant scores the winning try (goal) and the blue team wins! That night at the after party, Sam N is rubbing all the guys the wrong way. He doesn’t speak to anyone on the walk over and walks ahead of them all carrying the rugby trophy. Then he won’t let Marcus sit on the sofa because Sam N wants the trophy sitting next to him! Marcus quietly tells Sam N to check himself. Sam N pulls Jenn to chat first. He’s still all puffed up and acting v aggro. He presents Jenn with a rugby jersey that he’s written Sam’s Wife on. Sam N says he’s “on that boss bitch energy”. Oooookay.
Jenn and Johnathon play some lacrosse later and we learn that they both played in college.
The guys sit Sam N down for a chat about his behavior tonight. They are trying to respectfully show Sam N how to win and behave with grace and respect, but Sam N is NOT having it and he walks away!
When Marcus is chatting with Jenn he gets vulnerable. He was hurt during rugby (but you’d never know it). He saw the medic before the after party. Jenn tells him that he doesn’t always have to be the strong one. Marcus shares that when he went through all of his hard times, he was alone. So it’s hard for him to let other’s help carry the load.
Thomas pulls Sam N aside to chat and it’s a no go. Sam N is still not hearing it and starts yelling immediately, not listening to Thomas at all. Sam N walks away. Note that Thomas has adopted Sam M’s catch phrase “I’m gonna keep the main thing the main thing”. Then, THEN!!! Thomas and Jenn are two minutes into their chat when Sam N interrupts. He walks straight up to Jenn and ignores Thomas, asking Jenn to chat. Thomas asks for 5 more minutes and Sam N says NO. So Thomas leaves the room. Sam N then asks Jenn for a kiss. It’s all v aggressive still and harried. It’s not a romantic moment at all. He sits down and launches into “this is a very important moment. Can I have a kiss?” What??? He might as well have asked her shoe size. Jenn pauses and says “I don’t know if I can see us getting there.” She knows it’s his first real kiss and says it should be a special moment. She then tells him she’s going to walk him out. In the car he’s v confused and feels foolish. As he should. Just be yourself Sam N!!!
Jenn rejoins the group and explains that she sent Sam N home. Marcus gets the group date rose and he gets emotional after Jenn leaves when he’s talking to the guys about it. They are all v supportive of him and it’s so nice to see. It’s such a good group of guys!!!
1-1 Devin
Jenn takes Devin to a Māori cultural center. They watch the Māori dance and sing and they play games with them. They all go into the center and the leader of the group explains to Jenn and Devin a brief history of the Māori’s values. The leader invites Devin to speak about his background to the group. Devin shares that his father immigrated from Mexico to the US, but never married his mother. He says his mother is super important to him. Jenn shares about growing up Vietnamese and Buddhist in the suburbs where no one else was Vietnamese or Buddhist.
That night Jenn is looking so pretty in a gorgeous lime green dress. Devin shares that there was a lot of instability and moving around in his childhood, and that he wasn’t the best behaved kid, but that his mother never wavered. Devin asks Jenn about her father. You know, I think this is the first time since I’ve been watching this show that they’ve shown an actual conversation!!! Usually it’s just: sit down at fake dinner. Share a vulnerable story. Make out. Get the rose. So, I’m thrilled right now! Jenn shares that her dad decided one day he didn’t want to be married or a father anymore so he divorced her mom, left, and never spoke to them again!!! How awful!!! No wonder she was looking for affection from emotionally unavailable men! Devin tells Jenn he’s falling for her and gets the rose.
The next day is Rose Ceremony day but all the sudden, while the guys are getting dressed for the cocktail party and rose ceremony, Jesse appears and tells us all documentary style, that there’s a guy from Jenn’s past here. That this guy flew himself to New Zealand on his own dime to see Jenn. Guy arrives. His name is Matt and he and Jenn dated a few years ago for a few months. They reconnected a few months ago as friends but Matt still loves Jenn. Jesse sends Matt over to where Jenn is filming with producers. Matt is a tiny man, btw. Matt surprises Jenn. Matt tells Jenn he loves her and wants to join her “journey”.
And that, BBs, is that! That’s all we get until next week! All I know is the other guys are NOT going to like Matt joining them!!! Until then, xo 🌹
Bless Your Heart 