Male model Jordan Kimball survived not one but two Rose Ceremonies in the fourth episode of The Bachelorette, which aired Monday night, despite there being no evidence of a romantic connection with show star Becca Kufrin.

Jordan has regularly been at the very bottom of our weekly Bachelorette Power Rankings, below even the riffraff that has been evicted from the mansion by Becca so far, so how in the world is he still a part of the competition? I have a theory.

I initially believed that Jordan, who is reality television personified, was being kept around by the showrunners simply because he’s entertaining. Just look at his body of work through four episodes – he’s stripped down to his underwear to impress Becca twice, he’s bragged about his 4,000 matches on Tinder, and he’s been awkwardly rejected after going in for a kiss (which, after consulting the video review, appeared to land on the cheek). He’s extremely quotable and fans love to make fun of him on Twitter. It makes sense for ABC to want him to last as long as possible.

Still, after Becca’s speech about wanting the guys on the show to be honest and open with their intentions, it’s only fair to expect her to reciprocate that honesty – and there’s absolutely no reason for Jordan to still be hanging around. At no point has Becca expressed any emotion toward him beyond mild amusement over his antics. She thinks he’s a joke, and she even got him flashy gold underwear as a gag gift in Week 4. So why is he still around?

Only after much reflection did I realize Jordan’s true purpose. He’s not here to win Becca’s heart – he’s here to protect it. Jordan remains on The Bachelorette not because he’s legitimately competing, but because he’s a plant by Becca to expose other undesirable men in the house.

Jordan has already completely torpedoed David’s chances to emerge as the winner, for example. David, the chicken guy, has been consumed by his feud with Jordan and will likely be eliminated shortly. In Week 4, Colton picked a fight with Jordan after the gold underwear incident, and is now at risk of becoming the next David. Meanwhile, contestants like Blake and Jason have avoided conflict with Jordan entirely, and their stock on the show is booming. After the devastating breakup with Arie, Becca can’t afford to be duped again, and Jordan is safety mechanism to weed out the bad apples from inside the bushel itself.

Or, you know, he’s just good for TV. That’s probably it.