The countdown is on for Grant Ellis’ finale of The Bachelor, which will see the lead torn between his final two women.
“In the position I am in, I’m going to get backlash regardless,” the 31-year-old lead told Us Weekly about the upcoming finale during an exclusive interview at the Women Tell All taping. “I think a lot of people don’t know how hard it is to be in a relationship with different people — for the best, I wouldn’t recommend it.”
Grant noted that he did “the best that I could” as he developed feelings for multiple women.
“But what I want people to know about me is that I love hard,” he said. “I lead with my heart, and when you are in a situation and you are very open, you are bound to develop feelings.”
Grant is currently down to his final three: Juliana Pasquarosa, Litia Garr and Zoe McGrady. Fans will have to watch the finale to see who gets the final rose — and whether watching back his feelings for his runner-up will affect his relationship with his fiancée.
Contestant Alli Jo Hinkes told Us at the Women Tell All that “it would definitely be hard to hear” how torn Grant was if you were his winner.
“At the end of the day, this is what we signed up for and it is going to be a difficult decision,” she explained. “And these are the biggest decisions that you could make in your life. I would have concerns if he wasn’t concerned — it’s your future.”
Alexe Godin, who got the first impression rose, also had empathy for Grant.
“You have two different girls. So if he fell in love with two different parts of these women for two opposite different reasons, I can see how hard it could be,” she said. “Putting myself in his shoes, they are so different, but in such great ways. I don’t know what I would have done either. It would sting because you want that person to be so sure, but you are also on The Bachelor, so yes, he’s going to have feelings for more than one person. I would focus on developing that relationship post-show.”
Sarafiena Watkins also understands, calling Grant an “empathetic and a caring person.”
“Understanding the process and knowing that Grant is a person that gives 100 percent of his heart, I could understand why he would have such a tough decision between two beautiful amazing women,” she said. “I feel like it would be something to talk through, but I can see why it is so hard. … I think he genuinely can fall in love with two women.”
While the promo for the finale hints that Grant was down to the wire when it came to making his final choice, he denied it was that close in a separate interview with Us for his cover story.
“It definitely wasn’t [down to] one hour. There were external factors that played into me being hesitant,” he said. “You don’t wanna hurt people. You have a lot of weight in terms of being a lead of a different ethnic group. There’s a different level of pressure that comes with being a man of color in this role — and a different expectation. It leads to some added thinking that deserves a little extra time. There were some things that really weighed and were hard for me. But ultimately, you go with what makes you happy and you go with what you feel is gonna be the best decision for your future.”
The Bachelor airs on ABC Mondays at 8 p.m. ET.
With reporting by Sienna Leone
