Leading Bachelorette Contestant Leaves Show In A Narcissistic, Gaslighting Fit
Did this shocking breakup give us one of the biggest Bachelorette villains of all time?
We’re now six days away from the season finale of The Bachelorette, and Katie Thurston’s road to finding love is hitting some serious bumps. During Monday’s episode, a fan-favorite contestant (and the clear frontrunner), Greg Grippo, self-eliminated in spectacular fashion: By gaslighting the absolute fuck out of Katie on his way out the door. Don’t let that door hit ya, Greg.
Greg spent the season seeming like a sweet, emotional dude, albeit with a fair amount of baggage left over from his dad’s death two years ago. Katie has also lost her dad, and the two bonded over that — and their pretty palpable chemistry — from their first one-on-one. Greg was one of the final three men who had their hometown dates with Katie during last night’s Bachelorette episode. And that is where it all started to unravel.
After Katie met Greg’s mom, brother, and best friend (and after he confessed to them that he thought she was the one and planned to propose), Greg and Katie sat down for a talk that quickly turned intense. While opening up about his dad’s death, Greg told Katie he hadn’t been this happy in a long time, that she “filled a hole in [his] heart,” and that he loved her.
Honestly, it all felt pretty love-bomby. It’s not Katie’s (or any woman’s) responsibility to make Greg whole again after past trauma — the boy needs a therapist, not a wife. And aside from that, Katie has been pretty upfront about not wanting to say “I love you” until the very end of this mess, when she only has one boyfriend left. Seems reasonable, to the average Bachelorette viewer. But, uh, to say Greg wasn’t down with that would be a little bit of an understatement.
The hometown date ended on a sour note, when Greg completely shut down. Katie saw it happen and tried to get him to open up about his feelings, but he started to get verbally aggressive toward her, even as she hinted as heavily as production would allow that he would be the winner. Seriously, she said things like, “Just hold on,” and “We’re almost to the end.” Like, how much more clear could she be that she was going to pick him?
Later, after the date, a visibly agitated Greg went to Katie’s hotel room to confront her again. In one of the ugliest breakups we’ve ever seen on this show, he manipulated, steamrolled, and gaslit her for like, 20 minutes of screen time. Even as a crying Katie apologized on her knees in front of him, Greg insisted that she didn’t care about him and that he was done with the show. At one point, this man had the audacity to tell a woman who has been nothing but open, honest, and loving with him, that he “deserves” more from her. It was…rough. And Bachelorette Nation had plenty of thoughts about how it went down.
The episode ended on a cliff-hanger, with Katie asking to leave the show. Next week is the finale, and with only Blake and Justin left at the resort after that jerk broke Katie’s heart, it truly feels like anything could happen.
