Monday night, The Bachelor traveled to the heart of Texas when local contestant JoJo Fletcher brought this season's hunk of burning love, Ben Higgins, home to meet the family. And to be frank, it could not have gone worse.
From the moment Fletcher welcomed Higgins to town, things were off.
"Welcome to Dallas," she said through gushing tears.
Moments earlier Fletcher had arrived home to a dozen roses on her doorstep. She assumed they were from Higgins, because that's what you come to expect after eight weeks living a fantasy and cut off from reality. But -- plot twist! -- they were from an ex-boyfriend, reportedly Chad Rookstool, who said he had matured and wanted her back -- "not because you are on a show," his note said.
"The reason that letter made me so upset is because I'm just the happiest I've ever been," Fletcher told Higgins. "I don't want you to think for a second that my feelings are elsewhere 'cause they're not."
Luckily Fletcher was able to call her ex and tell him it's over.
The event ended up bringing Fletcher and Higgins closer; Fletcher even let a casual "I love you" slip. But the happiness was short-lived. At dinner with the fam at their home in Argyle, Fletcher's brothers berated Higgins, asking questions about his feelings and letting accusations about his intentions fly.
"My read is he's not as emotionally invested in it as you are," one brother told Fletcher.
They went as far to say Higgins "brainwashed" the women on the show, which is quite hypocritical considering Fletcher's brother, who is also named Ben, participated on reality dating show Ready For Love.
JoJo's mom, however, was a great sport. She won over fans with her candid coping mechanism -- when things got awkward, she drank that bubbly straight from the bottle. She definitely made North Texas proud and Twitter explode.
JoJo got the rose. JoJo's mom got the rosé. 🌹🍷 #winwin #TheBachelor pic.twitter.com/IKwVMlq8RQ
— Olivia's Mouth (@BachelorOlivia) February 23, 2016
Tough night.... #mamaknowsbest #TheBachelor pic.twitter.com/6uytglTeow
— JoJo Fletcher (@JoelleFletcher) February 23, 2016
Luckily the whole hot mess wasn't enough to scare Higgins away. Fletcher ended up with a rose in hand after the rose ceremony.
Higgins also traveled to Laguna Beach, California, Hudson, Ohio and Portland, Oregon for the other hometown dates, which went much more smoothly than the one in North Texas. But ultimately he had to cut one woman.
Amanda Stanton's mom ended up calling Higgins' bluff. Is he ready to be an "insta-dad," as she put it, to Stanton's two adorable little girls?
Microwave for 30 seconds and the answer is clearly no.
Higgins sent Stanton packing; however, when he walked her out to the limo to say goodbye, the look on his face screamed, "I've made a terrible mistake." Too late buddy, too late.
That means JoJo, Lauren Bushnell, and Caila Quinn fly to Jamaica next week as the top three finalists. Will Higgins return to Dallas and face the brothers' wrath an engaged man in the coming weeks? We're anxiously waiting to find out!
