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This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Manhattan chapter.

‘Twas the week before Hometowns, when all through the mansion, not a viewer was resting, not even a spouse. The final roses were handed to the women with care, in hopes that Joey might soon be theirs. Now, before I talk to you about the final four, let me catch you up with all the drama that has ensued this season. To start, Joey Graziadei is not a new face to the Bachelor franchise, and he was a part of the final two during Charity Lawson’s season of the Bachelorette. Unfortunately, Joey was not Charity’s perfect match, instead, she got engaged to Dotun, the other of the final two. Fortunately, we are now graced with the presence of charismatic, loving, and kind Joey for another season. This season has not been without its twists and turns, which has to be expected given the looming “unprecedented ending” that we have never seen before. The season starts with a bang, on the first night alone, we find out that two of the contestants fighting over Joey are sisters, a date card is thrown into the fire, and drama ensues, leaving us to imagine what is yet to come. 

The biggest drama of the season, and quite frankly, the stupidest drama I have ever seen, revolves mainly around four women: Madina, Sydney, Lea, and Maria. After one of the group dates in Week 2, Madina, age 31, discusses her insecurities in the house as one of the oldest women in the house. Maria, on the other hand, does not fully understand Madina’s insecurities and rants to her friends saying “Madina you’re 31, own it. Joey probably loves it. I think it’s hot.” Nothing of ill intent, however, one of the other contestants, Sydney overhears and decides to tell Madina as she feels the comment is mean-spirited. After Madina finds out, Maria apologizes to her but is now concerned about who is spreading all these rumors about her. Maria and Sydney do discuss this issue, and just when you think it is resolved, it starts back up again. Madina discusses with Joey, how she feels she is being “bullied” in the house without naming any “names,” but Maria realizes that this has to do with her and her comment. Sydney, additionally chimes in, claiming that Maria is bullying her, and continues to talk to Joey, manufacturing all the outlandish lies about Maria’s character to convince him to remove her from the house. To figure out which one of them is telling the truth, Joey takes Sydney and Maria on a two-on-one date in Malta, ultimately resulting in Sydney being sent home. Just when you think the drama is over, Lea decides to take Sydney’s place as the ultimate Maria hater, even getting mad at Madina for being friendly to Maria. All in all, karma is shown to Lea, when she gets shown the door in the sixth episode.  Not to jump too far ahead, but I think now with a little bit of this background. We can get into the final four: the hometown roses. The first hometown rose was given to Daisy Kent, she has had amazing chemistry with Joey since week one and even received the first one-on-one date. This is where she ultimately opened up about her experience with Lyme Disease, losing her hearing, and getting a cochlear implant. She is definitely a top contender for endgame with Joey, but I am not one hundred percent sure if she will be the one, yet. Next, we have Kesley A, she is a hilarious and beautiful girl from New Orleans, who has off-the-wall charts chemistry with Joey. She is my top choice for Joey at the moment, especially after seeing some more of her personality on her TikTok account. The third rose went to Rachel, an unexpected rose in my opinion. I won’t lie and say that she and Joey don’t have chemistry, but I thought his chemistry was stronger with Jenn, this may be because she has had hardly any screen time. Even so, she is not my top choice, given her choice of friends on the show: Lea and Sydney, absolute drama instigators, who often she encouraged in their delusion. The last and final rose went to my queen Maria, a fellow Canadian gal!! This episode was a whirlwind for Maria’s fans as she contemplated leaving due to her growing jealousy of seeing Joey with other women due to her immense feelings for him. I am not sure if they will end up together (I would love it if they do), but you can’t pretend they don’t have undeniable chemistry. I guess we will have to wait and see who will get that final rose!

Cara Loganadhan

Manhattan '26

Hi I am Cara! I am a sophomore at Manhattan College majoring in Finance and Global Business. I love creative writing in my free time, in fact, growing up my dream was to become an author. I grew up in Toronto Canada, but was born in Houston, Texas. Living in a city for all my life, has only made love for all things New York so much stronger. In my free time, I love exploring new thrift stores, flea markets, restaurants, museums, and parks. I also have a strong passion to travel, I have participated in 2 different study abroad programs, one in Summer 2023 to Vienna, Salzburg and Prague, and then finally one this Winter 2024 to Singapore. I hope to continue to travel and explore the world through my college career and future endeavors.