Well, we made it to hometown dates, everyone. And while there was a lot to look forward to, in light of some recent news, Jed Wyatt's Bachelorette hometown date was going to be especially interesting. Now, we know that his family was pretty dang surprised to see him make it so far. You know, just like his supposed ex-girlfriend was.
Jed came into this season being a "wrong reasons" suspect because of his music career. Then, he tried an unconventional tactic of showing he was there for the right reasons by admitting that he came on for the wrong reasons, but really did fall for Hannah. But then, a woman claiming to be Jed's girlfriend, Haley Stevens, told Us Weekly that they had a deal where he could go on the show to promote his music career and then he would return to her. Oops!
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What Haley said could be true and Jed could have really fallen for Hannah, deciding in his mind to leave Haley behind. Or, Jed could have been stringing Hannah along, thinking he was still there for his career. (At this point, the first option seems more likely, but still, Hannah surely won't like this situation.) But regardless of what the whole truth is, Jed made it to hometowns where viewers would get to find out if his family would make any mention of Haley. After all, Haley told Us Weekly that she knew them.
Well, it turned out that the family didn't mention Haley, but they were very concerned about Jed and Hannah's relationship, particularly because of his music career. When Hannah asked Jed's mom if she thought he would be ready to be engaged at the end of the show, she said, "I wouldn't know if I felt that way before, because he is a musician ... It's his heart and it's his soul." She added, "His path is different, it’s very different."
Jed's sister also spoke about his career when Hannah asked if she had any concerns over him trying to settle down in a relationship while still pursuing music. "Yeah," his sister said. "I'm very protective over Jed and making music makes him so happy. And honestly, him potentially falling in love with you, I'm not sure that it's a good thing." Can't get much more blunt than that.
On top of all of this, Jed's dad said he was surprised because he didn't have his "head around all of this," and Jed's mom gave a very ominous toast at dinner. "Here’s to everyone trusting their intuition and their gut everyday," she said. "When you stick to your truth, it’s beneficial to everybody." Um... does she know that Jed was — supposedly — just dating someone before going on the show? Because that toast is kind of suspish. These toasts are usually more like, "Here's to love and happiness and finding what you want."
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For his part, before the episode aired, Jed posted a message on Instagram explaining that he couldn't speak out explicitly about anything yet, but he urged people to stop harassing his family. "Threatening letters and phone calls have been sent to our homes," he wrote. "My parents and sister are being verbally attacked in public. I beg you to remember what seems like a harmless action is damaging to real people."
Jed ended the message, "I want to thank all of you who have reached out or reserved judgement until I am able to speak openly and I can only ask for your patience and kindness until then."
He's right that people should be patient and kind, but fans of the show definitely can't wait to hear what he has to say, whenever he gets a chance to say it.