This week, The Bachelor travelled from the South of France to Italy, where the nine remaining ladies hoping to win the heart of 24-year-old millionaire Spencer Matthews stayed in a 17th Century Tuscan Villa for the duration of the latest episode.
Last night's first task saw Spencer pick six of the hopefuls to join him on an “artistic” body-casting experience, in which the girls got to pick a part of their body to be cast from plaster. It was a great excuse for Spencer to take a sneaky look at the ladies in the nude in the name of art.
Marissa and Jess chose to bare everything, Jess opting for a cast of her boobs, nipples and all, and Marissa going for a bottom cast. When Spencer asked Marissa what the plaster felt like on her bum, she replied: “It feels like you can't fart,” but despite this unattractive comment, Spenser presented her with the first rose. “That's the finest arse cast I have ever seen,” he said.
Marissa's prize was a private evening with the Bachelor, where she violently slapped plaster on Spencer's intimate areas. “There you go, that's you bum. I love it,” she told him after a painful removal of the cast.
Later, three of Spencer's closest friends joined him in Tuscany to give him their opinions about the contestants. Tom, Hugo and Fraser sat down for individual chats with all nine of the ladies, including glamour model Brandy, who when asked to describe herself in three words said: “Fan f***king tastic”.
Meanwhile, Marissa told the three men that she thinks she and Spencer have good sexual chemistry, and Tabby got her claws out to tell them that she's “not putting anything on like some of the other girls in the house.”
A traditional masquerade ball followed that evening to mark the group's arrival in Italy, where the Bachelor spent some time alone with three girls picked by his friends.
First was Chloe, who Spencer took outside to speak to for the first time since she revealed that she is a lap dancer when she opened up to him earlier in the series. Spencer expressed his concern over the recently revealed secret, and said that he would have liked to have known sooner. Chloe was actually happy to hear that Spencer was worried about her night-time habits, because it shows that he cares enough about her to let it bother him, she said.
The second girl to be taken aside by Spencer was Brandy, who revealed the vulnerable side she usually hides behind jokes, revealing that she finds it difficult to open up to somebody.
Finally, Helen was chosen to get some alone time with Spencer, where he told her: “I'd love to get to know you better,” and presented her with the second rose of the episode.
But the night took a dramatic twist when friend Tom took Renay aside and told her that Spencer wasn't really doing the show to find a relationship, which left her feeling upset, confused and emotional about the situation. Renay has a young daughter and felt unhappy about “missing her life” if Spencer wasn't taking the show seriously.
The next morning, Khloe got invited to spend the whole day with Spencer in Florence, where the couple had a romantic date. When Khloe told him that she was worried about being too Barbie, Spencer replied: “I love Barbie. Barbie's cool.”
Khloe revealed to Spencer that she was feeling butterflies for the first time in her life, to which he responded saying that their date had been his favourite day of the show so far. What proceeded can only be described as a public make-out session, followed by him presenting her a rose and then another make-out session.
But it wasn't all smiles for Khloe, who kicked off an argument with Tabby at the cocktail party after Tabby stole Spencer away for a private chat. We got the impression that the green eyed monster has well and truly settled in among the contestants.
Renay also took Spencer to one side to confront him about what she had been told by Tom earlier in the episode. Spencer explained that Tom had been telling lies in order to discover which girls were on the show just to be on television, and which were really there in the hopes of having a relationship with the Bachelor.
The chat seemed to have cleared things up between the pair, but in a shocking twist at the rose giving ceremony, Reny refused to accept the rose she was offered by Spencer, because she felt she could no longer trust him.
Chloe and Gabby were left until last in the rose giving ceremony, both hoping that Renay's choice to leave would mean that no one would be left without a rose. But, having already made the tough decision about who to send home, Spencer decided to go with his heart and send Brandy packing.
So, that leaves seven girls remaining. We'll see gladiators, fireworks, massages and more kissing in the next episode of The Bachelor. We can't wait!
Spencer on The Bachelor
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