Entertainment

Spill The Beans, 'Bachelorette' Dudes

by Elyse Roth

It's hard to believe that Andi's nearing The Bachelorette's altar of proposal, and just a few men are left to contend for her hand and heart. All we have left between now and the big day are fantasy suites and Andi's family's test of the men, but before the fireworks and happy ending comes the Bachelorette tradition: The Men Tell All. And, oh boy, do the men have a lot to tell.

Though the season has come this far with a relatively low amount of drama and the men have been straightforward about their feelings and intentions, what we've seen on-screen can't be all there is to these guys and the whole story (or should I say "journey"?). When familiar faces like JJ "Pantsapreneur" O'Brien, Cody "Strung Along for Too Long" Sattler, and Marquel "Should Be the Next Bachelor" Martin return, they'd better spill some serious beans. There are some specifics that we must know on Men Tell All when a live audience will be present and Chris Harrison puts all the rejected men in the hot seat for some truth time.

Naturally, as a Bachelorette fan who's been sitting through this process all season and waited through every kiss, I've got quite a few questions of my own for these guys. Here's what they need to cover when the Men Tell All airs:

Let's discuss Eric, but not how you think.

First, we need to get the Eric Hill discussion off our collective chests. A large chunk of this special will probably be spent discussing the tragedy and how the guys, who spent weeks in a house with him, feel about his accident. That's to be expected, especially based on how the producers have treated his death throughout the season.

Andi chastised herself upon hearing of his death during the hometowns episode; she felt like she couldn't keep him around because he wasn't in it to win it in the way the show's format demands. She was understandably upset about the way she had him leave the show, but it would be interesting to hear the guys' take on how Eric was outside of the edits put together by Bachelorette producers. We should hear about the adventurer from the guys who knew him best in the context of the show.

Andrew, explain yourself.

A lot of the house drama came from Andrew, who was accused of not only making racist remarks about Marquel, but also getting a waitress's phone number while some of the guys were at dinner off camera. The rumor is that Andrew proceeded to brag about said phone number.

Both of these issues came up weeks after they originally happened, and seemed like an ernest effort by the guys to let Andi know that Andrew was not a good guy. Andrew, obviously, denied making the racist comments and claims the waitress volunteered her number and he may have mentioned it casually, but wasn't sure why the guys were bringing it up later, especially so long after the fact. Andrew might not be a contender anymore, but this was one of the season's biggest disruptions, so as an audience, we deserve to get to the bottom of this and hear from Andrew and the guys who witnessed these events. They'll be out of the context of winning Andi's favor and in front of a live audience, so it's basically the perfect opportunity.

Marcus, did you take it too far?

Despite his many declarations of love for our Bachelorette, Marcus was sent packing after hometowns. Marcus seemed like a great fit for Andi while the two explored Dallas, including a rerun of his group-date striptease. She was charmed by the life they could have together, and the idea that she could be moving from one Southern city to another to live an urban life with a loving guy.

Andi said something didn't seem right to her, though, and she let him loose. As a very real contender who was one of the first and most fervent to say "I love you" to Andi, it will be interesting to hear his side of things, if he's still in love with Andi or if the rumor that he's engaged is true. We always love to hear from those most freshly rejected.

Clear up this Nick situation, please.

As so often happens, the "villain" in the house, who's just there to play the game and win for the competition of it all, has made it to the final dates. This time around, Nick seems to be that guy. For weeks we've heard the other guys complaining about him for all kinds of reasons, but essentially I'm getting the idea that he's not a good guy and Andi should look elsewhere for her final choice. I heard what the guys said, and even Andi has had some questions about him, but the viewers haven't gotten to see much concrete evidence that Nick is the supposed monster the other contestants make him out to be.

It's possible that Nick won't be in attendance if he's one of the final two, so it's the guys' chance to let their feelings air without the editing of their interview confessionals and concerns that badmouthing will get them booted from the house. It's the perfect time to find out once and for all if Nick was around for the "right reasons," if Andi has kept him as a final option, whether or not we should go into the finale anticipating a potentially huge mistake.

Image: ABC (4); instagram.com/marcus_grodd