the bachelor

With the final installment of The Bachelor just ending, I am sitting here speechless! Actually, make that type-less! Okay, viewers were warned that this would be the most dramatic ending on the show ever. Don't we hear a teaser like that every week? With that said, I thought to myself "whatever!" What outcome could actually happen that would leave us hanging on the edge of our seats? And then came the BOMB! Brad picks neither lady…

About 20 minutes before this event, I turned to my better half and suggested a unique twist. What if Brad turns Jenni away, picks DeeAnna and then she has a change of heart and doesn't want to be with Brad? She then suggested and wondered when the last time a Bachelor made it this far only to just walk away. I then suggested, what if Brad chooses neither one of them because the choice is much too difficult? How in the world would you choose between two women who are equally awesome when you have equal affection for both? Talk about a difficult decision! Brad's mother kept endorsing this premise and was glad she wasn't in Brad's shoes. And speaking of Brad's shoes, he put those babies on and ran!

The "debriefing" airs tonight. With that said, this will be reserved, yet opinionated column as I am not a psychic or producer of the show so I don't want to speculate too much. After the show, we discussed possible options for why Brad didn't pick Jenni or DeeAnna…

Cold feet would be the easiest and best possible explanation. Body language and Brad's pacing before dropping the bomb on DeeAnna would suggest nerves overwhelmed him. At the last minute he couldn't possibly go through with it.

Indecision could be another possibility. Brad asserted something quite striking and even more profound. He said that when he was with one of the ladies, he could not stop thinking about the other. Apparently, he could not match the appropriate thoughts with the right woman, at least when they were in his company. Gee, how does this make DeeAnna and Jenni feel knowing much of his thoughts were spent on "the other woman"?

Perhaps Brad came to his senses and actually rationalized the precariousness of this show. Just in heaven's name are you suppose to pick from 20plus women in such a short period of time and realize this is "the one"? I am not saying it is easy for the women on this show, as they have to "compete" for the bachelor; however they are not forced into making "final decisions" each week. A woman's thoughts/emotions on this show are focused on just one guy. The bachelor has thoughts for multiple women. How in the world can this remotely resemble sanity in any facet? In the end, perhaps Brad couldn't make the decision because his emotions were never weighed appropriately.

Perhaps Brad was altruistic. This follows the last line of logic. Just maybe he realized how authentic the feelings the girls had toward him were and he couldn't hurt either one after realizing he didn't share them at the same level.

Maybe Brad thought he was in a "damned if I do, damned if I don't situation". Regardless of either woman chosen, he would still be thinking about the other. Perhaps after sending Jenni away and seeing DeeAnna, he couldn't stop thinking about Jenni.

Finally, it's quite possible Brad is a very immature guy who has no desire to settle down or commit. This exercise on The Bachelor may have reaffirmed how scared of commitment he is. Albeit how unfair it was for him to get the ladies to open up to him and share their true feelings, thus making them vulnerable, it served to show Brad is afraid of the final relationship! Last night Brad Womack made The Bachelor history by failing to present his final rose to either one of his final two suitors Jenni Croft or DeAnna Pappas.

DeAnna said that "The fact that he didn't pick either one of us is harder to deal with; this is one of the worst feelings in the whole world. When you tell someone how you feel about them and they kind of just reject your feelings," Jenni, a 27-year-old Phoenix Suns cheerleader from Wichita, KS, said following her elimination. That's the reason why it's so hard for me to tell people how I feel."

So after taking the girls to meet his parents and going on dates Brad still faced two big decisions the next day picking out an engagement ring and giving one of the women his final Rose Ceremony Rose.

Brad said that "To say it's a big day is a mild understatement, it's huge."

Brad said he could see both DeAnna and Jenni being his wife and found himself in quite the quandary. He said that "I never in a million years thought it's be this tough," said Brad. "But I know exactly what I'm going to do today and I am so confident in that decision. I have to follow my heart."


When the Bachelor 11's final Rose Ceremony started Jenni was the first one to step out of her limousine. After Brad said goodbye to Jenni she got back into the limo and said "I honestly don't know what went wrong, my dad told me before I came here, 'there's one person in this life for you and you'll find him.' Obviously it's not Brad… I know there's someone waiting for me. I know that there is."



After Jenni left, it was DeAnna's turn to meet with Brad. After she exited the limousine, Brad told her that "I can't give you a promise that I can't keep, I refuse to do that I have to tell you goodbye."

Once DeAnna got back into the limo she said "To be so hurt and mad. Half of me is looking at him like I don't give a f**k what he says, than the other half just could not understand. I definitely didn't think he'd be the next person to break my heart. Stupid me."

The Bachelor 11's finale broadcast concluded with Brad sitting on the edge of the final Rose Ceremony altar and staring at the unused engagement ring he had selected earlier that day.

Tonight ABC will air a special in which the girls get to ask Brad some additional questions at 10PM ET/PT.