Because she's been there and done that, literally, former Bachelor contestant/tear fountain Ashley Iaconetti is recapping this season of for Cosmopolitan.com. With insider insight (she and Nick are buddies, for real) as well as a clear eye for what's going down in the love connection stakes, read on for her thoughts.

First things first: I'm still in a state of confusion as to why we've been given the grand reveal of Rachel as the next Bachelorette while she's still in the running for Nick's heart. We know this mean she's not the winner, and that distracted me a lot of what was happening in this week's episode, especially because I feel like Rachel was finale-worthy. But we'll just have to deal with it — I'm sure she'll be a phenomenal leading lady, and I think it's fantastic that ABC is bringing more diversity into the show.

Picking up where we left off last week, an emotionally distressed Nick has his little pow-wow with Chris Harrison, and expresses real hesitance with moving forward on the show. He's afraid of making a mistake again, and fears feeling something that isn't authentic or as strong as he believed.

This content is imported from Instagram. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.

Chris Harrison is an expert at easing a Bachelor's worries and, voila, Nick decides to march forward and goes to tell the ladies the good news. That said, if this "decision" left you in a state of suspense, I'm judging you.

The six remaining ladies — Kristina, Vanessa, Danielle M, Rachel, Corinne, and Raven — say goodbye to St. Thomas and head to Bimini without having to endure a rose ceremony. (Remember, Nick eliminated half of the cast last week so yeah, fair enough.) There's three one-on-one dates ahead of us, as well as three women stuck with a group date — let's start with that one, shall we?

The group date consists of Raven, Corinne, and Kristina; even at the final six stage, it's worth noting that Corinne has never had a one-on-one date with Nick. Here, the foursome are going swimming with the sharks and, come on, you couldn't have kept Alexis and her onesie around for this, Nick?! Kristina only stays in the water briefly before hopping back on the boat in fear, and look at that, holding on tight to Nick — speaking of tight, shout-out to those floral swim trunks, Nick — for comfort.

This content is imported from Instagram. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.

Still, it's Raven who gets the group date rose (see you in Arkansas for the hometowns, Raven!) and, in the most creative shot of the season, Corinne and Kristina are shown through a window looking defeated AF while Nick makes out with Raven behind a door — kinda like that scene where JoJo and Jordan snuck a sneaky makeout out a group date last season with the other clueless guys in a room next door. Anyway, Nick and Raven then go off to a private concert, because that's the official way to celebrate rose receiving on The Bachelor.



Nick and Vanessa enjoy this week's first one-on-one date, out on a yacht. Never afraid to of #srsconversation, Vanessa tells Nick she doesn't understand why he would want to run away from the show if he had strong feelings for her. It definitely makes her question the direction their relationship is headed, but she's still prepared to drop the "falling in love with you" line at dinner. And then she's disappointed at Nick's response — he says that he really, really likes her. While I appreciated her honest reaction, I was also thinking, "girl, you're on The Bachelor. You know he can't say I'm falling in love with you when there are still five other women around."

I'm not sure if they left out some flirty, hot moments, but I wasn't feeling the two of them as strongly as I had during their first date. Their connection just didn't seem the same when Vanessa's stomach is settled?

Look, I've called out what I've felt as a lack of connection between Nick and Danielle M. before, and their date this week proved my point (again). They can't get a decent conversation going — and when Nick flat-out says they're struggling today, well, it's a warning siren. He hopes that they can turn things around during their dinner, but, I'm like, c'mon dude you can't go to everyone's hometown. Despite Danielle M. putting her heart out there (just like her namesake Danielle L. a week prior), Nick has to tell her that he doesn't reciprocate the feelings.

This content is imported from YouTube. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.

She's clearly crushed, and shocked, and sad, and so shaken — not to rub it in, but if nothing else, it's a further illustration of her and Nick just not being on the same page. Ask any girl who left the show between 8th and 5th place, we usually see it coming. We've developed an idea of where the Bachelor's head is at, and where his heart isn't. We're running around the house saying our goodbyes. By this point just you know, deep down, which girls have the strongest connections with the Bachelor. If it's not you, keep your suitcase packed, OK? (That said, things get more tricky once everybody splits up for hometowns. At this point, the girls only see each other when they're standing next to each other at rose ceremonies.)



Anyway, from one mortifying rejection to another, Corinne cooks up another sexy scheme and, yes, it's the "platinum vagginnnnee" we've been seeing in teasers all season. She tries to seduce Nick after "sneaking" into his hotel room, but he rejects her advance.

This content is imported from YouTube. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.

He's seen the drama sleeping with a contestant before the fantasy suites can cause (because, you know, he was guilty of it during Kaitlyn's season). He wants to respect the other women and himself, I'd say.



The final one-on-one is a quick day date with Rachel, and the bartender gives her some great advice: "You make sure this guy really needs you, not just wants you." Oh hey, look Rachel is The Bachelorette now and no doubt keeping lines like that in mind. After coming back to the house on a high, a rattled Corinne confides in her — she's convinced she's going home after the sex flop, and I LOVE that she goes to Rachel in this nerve-wracking moment. I want Rachel in my life to calm me.

Nick, meanwhile, enters the girls' abode and asks to speak with Kristina. Immediately, she knew it was bad news: a tearful Nick explains that he's letting her go now because he wants to protect her from being hurt even further down the road.

This content is imported from YouTube. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.

You can tell he truly cares about her. Even though it was sad, this was one of my favorite moments of the season because it felt full of love, albeit not romantic.



Follow Ashley on Instagram and Twitter.



Ashley Iaconetti Ashley Iaconetti is our resident Bachelor recapper.

This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io