With Ben Higgins down to six women on The Bachelor, Season 20 is about to get more dramatic and tear-stained than ever — at least according to the sneak peek released by ABC for the rest of Ben's season. The preview showed Ben having massive regrets about eliminating a woman and I think the contestant who could have been sent home too soon by Ben is Caila on The Bachelor . The 24-year-old has been a frontrunner since the beginning as she was awarded the first one-on-one date, but after Feb. 8's episode, she admitted to having some confusing feelings toward Ben that could be her downfall.
In The Bachelor promo from ABC, Ben says:
"I have to say goodbye to a woman who doesn't deserve it. Saying goodbye to her doesn't feel right and this is the biggest mistake I've made. I wanna keep her in my life. I don't want to say goodbye 'cause that's how much I love her. I'm about to get on one knee and ask a woman to marry me. Unfortunately, I just love somebody else ... more."
Of course, Bachelor Nation is dying to know who the woman that Ben sent home was — especially since the promo implied that Ben is going to call her back and end up proposing to her. The only hard evidence that The Bachelor has given fans to go on is a woman saying "Hello?" when Ben calls at the end of the below promo video. And unfortunately, I'm not that good at voice detection to figure out who is on the other line.
Caila is obviously a favorite of Ben's since he has given her not one, but two one-on-one dates. He justified giving Caila the extra one-on-one date over someone like Leah (who did not handle going another group date well and ended up getting the boot early for lying about Lauren B) because on their last date, Kevin Hart and Ice Cube accompanied them. Of course, that's understandable, but he also clearly really likes Caila — he did call her a sex panther after all — and wanted to get to know her better to see if he should definitely keep her around.
That conflicted feeling of being sexually attracted to Caila, but not knowing where she stands is one of the main reasons I could see Ben sending Caila home too soon and then regretting it. And I have more evidence to back this theory up. First off, while this may not bother Ben, it's crazy to me that Caila broke up with her boyfriend when she saw Ben on Kaitlyn Bristowe's season of The Bachelorette. That's certainly a warning sign to me, even though on the show she (for the most part) comes off as genuine and level-headed.
Another red flag was the content of their conversation during their second one-on-one date from the Feb. 8 episode. Ben made it his mission to get to see if there was more to Caila than her pretty smile and I was rooting for her right along with Ben. Not only is Caila really beautiful, but the software sales rep (OMG, just like Ben) has a positive attitude that I appreciate, so I also want to know more about her. Ben dug for more information about Caila's past (kind of rudely) and what did he get? A warning that she thinks she might break his heart. Confusing indeed.
While part of me loves that a contestant on The Bachelor isn't so eager to say that she already loves Ben with no caveats, if you think you aren't into Ben as much as he is into you, then maybe you should bow out of the show? However, Ben somehow found that Caila's confusing emotions made her even more attractive and she ended up with a rose at the end of the date.
Any mature relationship can't be sustained on just attractiveness and confusing emotions, but in the preview for the rest of the season, Caila does say — without any "buts" or "howevers" — that she loves Ben. Yet, as it gets more difficult for Ben to choose which women to send home, he may be reminded of when Caila said she might hurt him. She pretty much admitted that she could end up breaking his heart and if he's not 100 percent confident in how she feels about him; that could be enough to send her home. And because Ben has shown throughout the first half that he's into Caila — even if it's for more physical reasons than emotional reasons right now — he could later regret ending things with her, especially if she continues to show that her feelings for him are legitimate.
As the seasons progresses, I hope The Bachelor will show less of the superficial reasons Ben has connections to the six women left and show why these people actually care for one another (although I won't hold my breath). This wish is especially true for Caila. And if she is the one that Ben regrets eliminating, it's still possible they will both get a happy ending (even if may be short-lived) at the end of this season of The Bachelor. And if I'm wrong, there's always The Bachelorette for Caila.
Images: Rick Rowell/ABC (2)
