Grant Ellis Wanted To Be “Responsible” During Fantasy Suites

The final weeks of The Bachelor are a gauntlet. After making it through hometown dates, Season 29 lead Grant Ellis hit the fantasy suites stage — a “really tricky” part of the process of finding his future wife. To make the situation easier on himself, Ellis shared on The Viall Files podcast, he “tried to be responsible.”

Grant’s Approach To Fantasy Suites

Leading up to the fantasy suites episode on March 17, Ellis offered hints to Nick and Natalie Viall about what did and didn’t happen on his overnight dates with Litia Garr, Zoe McGrady, and Juliana Pasquarosa. The former basketball pro shared that thought he “handled [himself] very well” in the “really tricky” situation. His approach was to be cautious with physical intimacy because, as he put it, “it changes things,” but he did not necessarily have a no-sex rule.

“My expectation was, I wasn’t going in there saying I’m not going to,” he said, “but … I had to know that this person was my person in order for me to engage.”

So did he “engage”? Ellis hinted that he did not by admitting he still “didn’t know” which of his finalists was his person during fantasy suites. But that’s not to say there was no physical intimacy at all. When pressed by the Vialls, he added, “I didn’t say I didn’t do other things.”

Ellis noted he’d “been celibate for a year” prior to his Bachelor season. He was “hurting” after the end of a seven-year relationship and wanted to take his search for his future wife seriously. “Sex is great, but I wanted to make sure it was with somebody who was my person, and then we could f*ck all the time, you know?” he said.

Grant’s Tough Decision

The show started hinting early on that Ellis’ final choice would come down to the wire. In a December teaser for the season, he could be seen telling host Jesse Palmer, “The truth is … I don’t know,” while the final two women are “on standby.” His Viall Files interview shed more light on how torn he was and how he ultimately made his call.

“It just came down to what I was looking for in my life,” he said. “Who could I relate to the most? … You have to go with your heart. And I think I did that. I just need a little extra time to sit and really think things through because I wanted this decision to be final.”

Ellis previously told Bustle he has “no regrets, only lessons” from his Bachelor journey. “You have to make decisions in such a short time frame, and the process is sped up, but it’s right up my alley,” he said. “I would rather have done it this way than the traditional route in the ‘real world.’”