No hometown spoilers are ahead; just some sleuthing. After back-to-back weeks of painful, tearful goodbyes, The Bachelorette could use a lighthearted, romantic episode, but no. According to a new promo for next week’s hometown dates, there’s even more heartbreak ahead. And this time, Bachelorette Katie Thurston might be on the receiving end of a difficult breakup. “All I’m looking for is to be in love and find my person,” a visibly crying Katie says in a confessional interview. “And it’s very possible that my person just left.”
There isn’t necessarily one obvious frontrunner this season. After their first date, Katie said that she could envision herself walking away with Michael Allio. She told Greg Grippo she’s falling for him, and she also told Blake Moynes that it feels easier to be with him than anyone else. Her relationship with Justin Glaze has been a bit more of a slow burn, but he’s only gotten more and more screen time since his one-on-one. Any of these four guys could ostensibly be Katie’s person. But who could actually leave the show?
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Let’s start with what we know: It’s unlikely to be Blake. “I know that Katie’s the one,” he says in the Bachelorette midseason promo. “And nothing’s going to come between us.” It’s hard to imagine someone with that kind of confidence in his relationship walking away after hometowns, Serena P.-style. And Justin seems pretty safe, too. In various promos, both Blake and Justin appear to receive flak from family members for not telling Katie how they feel.
Greg and Michael, though, have very different conflicts ahead. Greg might become that one contestant we seem to have every season — that is, the contestant who’s forgotten what show they’re on — who can’t deal with the lead dating other guys. “You want to feel like you’re the only one, but you’re not,” he says in the promo for next week’s episode. Footage from the midseason promo also shows Greg fending off the cameras while walking away. “Can I leave?” he asks.
Katie has been smitten with Greg since night one, but she’s also sensed his hesitation. More than once, she’s asked him about his comfort level with the show, and she even asked him to promise not to self-eliminate. “One of my biggest fears is you wanting to leave,” Katie said.
For what it’s worth, he did say he would “never.” But his exact words weren’t necessarily encouraging: “I’m going to tough it out for you, as hard as it is,” Greg told Katie during Week 5. “Trust me, it’s so hard. You are so worth it.” He could self-eliminate, and that elimination would probably make Katie emotional. But, if his angsty exit footage is any indication, this breakup might be more dramatic than sad.
The likeliest bet seems to be Michael. So far, he’s been solid, but we’ve also seen teasers and promos indicating that he’s having a rough time away from his son. “I feel conflicted. I’m just at war with myself,” he says in the promo for next week’s episode. However, it’s the midseason preview that really tells us what we need to know. In one clip, he’s seen FaceTiming his son, who wonders if “Daddy don’t want to see me.” Then, we see him fighting back tears, telling someone with a French manicure (and light blue sleeves) that he feels torn apart. “I can’t focus on anything else,” Michael says.
The most telling part? Check out the shirt Katie’s wearing when her “person just left.” It’s Bachelor breakup blue, but more importantly, the same shirt she seems to be wearing when Michael feels torn up and unable to focus on anything. It’s hard to say if this is really the most dramatic season yet, but it might just be the most heartbreaking — and we still have three episodes to go.